1985 300sd compaired to 1998 300d
 

I have been driving a 1985 300sd for 3 years now and blending vegatable oil. I bought the car because people said that mid 80s cars were tough and they made a believer out of me. I have been looking for a nicer car for my wife and have found that I can buy a 1997 or 1998 300d for about the same price as a 1984 or 1985 300d. Can someone tell me the difference? Am I making a mistake even thinking about running vegatable oil in the newer models? I have put over 75000 miles on the 1985 blending vegatable oil with kero, gas, and diesel kleen. Comments and suggestions welcome. Thanks Jack:(:)

Come on experts. I need some advice. I just want to do the right thing.

I too want t buy a newer diesel.I've heard that the 96 and the 99 are the best.96 maybe some wiring problems,you can splice in better wire for heavy amps.96 the durable 4 speed automatic.
The 99 they finally got the bugs out of the 5 speed auto.The only thing I would do is purcase the sensors that can leave you stranded,and fuel pumps.
Really I'm thinking to put fresh engine trans,upolshery,and paint on my SD.The 126 diesels are the best.

I personally would not try and run WVO or SVO in a 1996 or up diesel. Bio would be fine IMHO but the others I wouldn't try.

The difference in the 1996-99 diesel is newer engine more effiecent. More saftey/creature comforts, and I really would love to have a diesel and working AC :D but really though have only heard good things about them except for the glow plugs!

I cannot help but wonder why you can buy a 1998 or 1999 300d for the same price range of a 1984 300d. Please chime in. Thanks Jack:confused:

Where? If I could purchase a 1998 E300D for $2500 I certainly would do so today.

Craiglist Florence S.C.

Post it up for all to see.

You can't.

617s run from the hundreds of dollars up to a couple thousand for a nice example.

The cheapest 97 and up diesel I have ever seen was $5k. You can find 95 and 96s a bit cheaper.

I searched Florence craiglist and found a few 617s but no later model diesels.


There was a member on here (handle is notfarnow) that had an extensive blog of his 99 diesel conversion to a two tank system. Probably about the most information you'll ever get. http://jakesbenzconversion.blogspot.com/

Exactly. I am still awaiting the OP's link to this elusive E300D.

Only sense I can make is if the vehicle is clapped out, dead HVAC, dead suspension, glow plug issues, potentially dirty title, etc.

The W210 Diesel is superior is all aspects. Performance, suspension, HVAC, economy, response, etc.

I just did a Cars.com search for a 98 or 99 Mercedes and entered 'diesel' in the keyword. It kicked back 18 models across the entire USA. The lowest price was $8450 and the highest was $17995.
I don't know if the search link will work or not but here it is- http://www.cars.com/for-sale/searchresults.action?mkId=20028&kwm=ANY&crSrtFlds=stkTypId-feedSegId-mkId-pseudoYear-kw&rd=100000&zc=29577&PMmt=1-0-0&stkTypId=28881&yrMn=1998&kw=diesel&yrMx=1999&alMkId=20028&rpp=50&feedSegId=28705&searchSource=SORT &pgId=2102&sf1Nm=price&sf1Dir=ASC


Now that I think of it the $5k one I thought I saw was a 95. I did see a 98 about a year ago here in town for $6-7k. There is one for sale on Minneapolis Craigslist for just under $8k at the moment.

W210 Diesel is superior is all aspects. Performance, suspension, HVAC, economy, response, etc.
Lets see their 500,000 -750,000 km badges then,or their 400,000 mile transmissions.

Do a search on some of the Uk Mercedes forums and have a read up of the problems they suffer from.

Wiring/rust/engine management problems.

I had a Bmw 525tds,a 2.5 6 cylinder turbo diesel with just under 150 horse power.

A lovely car except in 4 years it had recon injectors and a recon vp37 pump (edc control) and various engine sensors plus numerous in tank lift pumps.

This type of euc controlled system runs well but when it goes bad then it will empty your wallet very quick.

If you have rough running but there is no warning lamp up on the dash or no codes then it starts to be hard work.

They run more like a petrol engine than a diesel and fault finding is very hard work,slacken two injectors off and the ecu will raise the tick over instantly back to where it should be,hardly a hiccup from the engine so very hard to even diagnose a bad injector .
In the 40k odd mile I put on mine about a 1/4 of those miles there was some problem or another with rough running issues,be it air in fuel or a sensor giving a bad reading but not flagging the management light.

And it is well known that the newer Mercedes are worse.

I now have a 1990 300d,no turbo like you boys have as I am in the Uk,and the strangest thing is that although I have only had it near two months and covered around 1700 miles I notice drivers of newer Mercedes looking at it with envy as if they know it will still be running when theirs have long given up.

What models are the w 210s. What year?

In the diesels you are concerned about it would be 96-99. 98 and 99 have a turbo where as the previous two years did not.

You don't have to show me a link or anything, but I'm curious as to the price on the 98 you found that you stated was the same price as an 85 300SD. Care to share some details about it?