W140...Quest begins, total confusion
 

OK so Im really considering a W140 but know virtually nothing about them.

Ive got an 87 300D right now and would never sell it except that I need 3 car seats across the back. So I bought an awesome 87 SDL...which sat in my driveway for 6 weeks while I tried to sell the 124.

The moment I put the SDL up for sale to free up space in the driveway (and not keep worrying about it getting broken into), it sells.

So now Im back to square 1. The 1st step (this time) will be to get rid of the 124. But my next step would then be to acquire another diesel big enough for 3 car seats across.

Oh yeah..Im kinda stuck on the monowiper thing. Crazy I know, but I'd be really sad to depart with that. Ive thought about a wagon but cant for 2 reasons - 1, the oldest isnt old enough to ride back in the jump seat. 2, a wagon isnt a good WVO candidate because the tank would be in the passenger cabin. So its got to be a sedan (I think)

Which leads us to the W140 faster than you can say "rod bender".

I checked some vehicle dimensions, unless Im reading this wrong, is the W140 91-92 300 SD actually WIDER than than the SDL ? It says its 74.3" wide, versus 71.7" wide for the SDL. But from pictures, the W140 looks tiny compared to the SDL. Like a 4 seater, max. What years did this rod bender diesel come to the US?

What else (other than rod bending) should I be worried about? Is there a good W140 site I can reference to learn more about it? Ive seen all wikepedia has to offer, which aint much.

I can help with some things
 

Paul,

I just measured, 57.5" arm rest to arm rest in the back seat of a '93 300 SD. I know the drill, years ago I wanted a Mustang 5.0 convertible real bad. It had to fit 2 car seats in the back. Well it did, but I skinned a knuckle or two each time getting them snapped in.

I'll give you a deal on this '93, rods already prebent, 8-(, will include an '87 300D parts car with a good 603.

Chuck

In your search you might be able to find a car whose engine has been replaced. That's what I did and what I suggest you do as well.

-Jason

I can speak to the W140:

I owned a '94 S320 gasser that I bought as a Starmark certified car w/ 35k miles on it.

Good thing I bought an extended warranty on top of the Starmark warranty; trans went bad, multiple HVAC problems, window motors, seat motors. Never had any engine trouble.

I sold the car before the warranty was up. Too many problems.

Great road car otherwise. I REALLY liked the car.

Just too complicated/sophisticated for it's time. I wish that wasn't the case.

Recommend you confer with Sixto; he has 140-itis also.

Got a 95 S320, and have had minimal problems with it... SDL is easier to repair though....

Great cars, I wouldn't buy one in diesel though, we didn't get the good motor in this country. Get a 97-99 S320 or one of the V8's if you want power.

Find and pay for the best lowest milege example you can come up with. I would look for one with under 70k miles and records in perfect shape.

I bleieve he's talking about dropping the 3.0L 603 into is. would be a great car then, and meet his expectations with bio diesel, or wvo...

57.5" across the rear bench seems small. Could you even fit 3 car seats across that?

I will measure the SDL again before the buyer pics it up, I belive its much wider. The stats I found on the W140 state that its 74.xx inches wide, about 5 inches wider than the SDL so Im not sure how back seats could be more narrow...

I donno, maybe W140 is not an option either. Far as I know, the 210's are more narrow than 140's right? Or are they same.

See, Im confused.

And yes, I could drop the 603 engine from my 124 into it, if it were not too bad. I wonder what all that would entail? The 603 engine in my 124 is a rocket ship, MB slapped a new turbo on it for that trap ox recall and Ive never driven 1 as fast. Even on wvo it will pass about 90% of the old MB diesels so the engine is good. I guess I'd rebuild it though if went thru trouble of swapping.

he's measuring the seat area, where the stats measure elbow room...
a wagon makes a very good candidate for WVO... you just have to find a place to put the spare, or put a tank in the toolbox area.

vstech is correct
 

I was measuring inside of the arm-rest to inside of the armrest. The shape of your child seats may be narrower on the bottom and wider on top, so they fit over the arm rests. I can measure inside door panel to inside door panel tonight.

I put the same 3 child seats in an SDL and 93 300SD and the 300SD is notably wider. No contest. The W140 might look smaller than the W126 because it resembles the W124. Try one in your garage so you see how big it is. IIRC, the W220 and W221 cabins aren't wider than the W140.

The W140 Diesels have a 722.4 transmission which should be as robust as any 722.4. The 300SE/S320 through '96 has the 722.5 5-speed transmission which isn't as robust. The 722.5 is in limited supply since it was only available in the 300SE/S320 and maybe the 300SL/SL320. Later W140s have the 722.6 which I hear is robust once you're past the first year ('97?) teething problems. Someone in the Seattle area has a module that lets you run a 722.6 behind any block it'll bolt to. That should include the M10x and OM60x engines.

Sixto
87 300D

And just so you don't miss the monowiper, the W140 driver side wiper does the extend-contract dance like the W124 wiper. It doesn't sweep quite 180* as in the W124 since there's a passenger side wiper.

Sixto
87 300D

You wouldn't happen to have contact information for these people, would you?? I was looking into bolting a 722.6 into a 95 S320. If it'll just work with a module, I might just not bother fixing my 722.5 tranny b2 piston problem...

Width
 

Armrest-to-armrest:
W210 53-1/2 inches
W124 52-1/2
W123 52

Based on the three cars in my signature box. These are worst-case measurements. If you could work around the armrests you would gain a couple of inches.

Jeremy