What do you guys think of this 190D 5-speed?
 

Since I just bought a gigantic garage that's begging to be filled with MBs ... I'm toying with the idea of buying this 5-speed 190D for sale in the cars section: http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/mercedes-benz-cars-sale/269669-fs-1986-190d-2-5-5-spd.html. I bought most of a 300E parts car from this seller a few months ago and he's a stand-up guy, I trust his word. He wants $1,600. My intentions with this car would be to drive it around a little, have some fun and when the rust gets to be too much, use the 5-speed set-up for a conversion (or maybe the whole drivetrain) and part the rest. Not that I'm afraid of rust, but I've got enough rusty projects to deal with.
Basically, I like the idea of having a full factory 5-speed setup to play with someday. And the car looks worthy of a few fun miles before I get to that point.
What do you guys think of the price? I know this is a fairly rare car and I'm confident Hanno has taken good care of it. The head gasket kind of worries me, as that's not something I'm about to address anytime soon (although I know have PLENTY of garage room to do it).
Just wanted a little input. Car is very close to where I live so it's nothing for me to check it out.

1 project at a time is my advice.

Probably sound advice. Although I'm kind of a project myself right now, so ... ;)
My thinking with this car wouldn't be to make it a project now, but to use it for a project down the road. I.e., it wouldn't hurt to have a 5-speed setup lying around.
I'm willing to admit the danger here is that I'll fall in love with the car, and won't have the heart to part it out, and it'll end up being another Chase.

The only downside of this new garage is that I can no longer tell myself "No. You don't have anywhere to put that." Dangerous ...

Is that 5-speed compatible to a 603? I'm pretty certain its a no-go on a 616-617.

If I were shopping for number three, and rust was the biggest issue with my other two, I wouldn't want a rusty trifecta. It seems almost masochistic. :DPlus you don't want to be on "Hoarders" for a Mercedes parts collecting addiction.

No offense to Hanno, but the car seems way overpriced to me. The only valuable part is supposedly the 5 speed, and with bad paint, rust, a motor that could fail any day, etc, its a sub 1k parts car.

You can do better.

5 speed is nice, but you do realize that it goes with a later series engine OM60x that has the starter on the left...not the W123s

I thought it would go on a 603? I would probably want to put it in a w124, or even just a better w201 body.

Tyler's probably right ... I might end up like the "crazy cat lady" of the Mercedes world.:P

You can choose whether to be a discerning collector or a Mercedes cat lady. This is your chance to start a sustainable pattern of behavior. You don't want a repeat of what happened to the last place.

Sorry if that post seemed preachy. I just saw the photos and couldn't picture a parting out operation going on there. :o

I agree with many sentiments stated - I would pass on it were it me.

Price isn't the only consideration to me when contemplating most any substantial purchase or sale - be it a new diesel-motorcoach, cars, home, stocks, etc. You want to be aware of your time and focus abilities going forward with that item, not just price and value. At least that's what most of my evaluation process is.

I just dismantled the 2.2 in my sig. The engine was was worn out, 1/2 pistons useless 2 sets of rings broken / stuck, cylinder walls worn / wavy .... its over.

it has the same mileage as that car.

its barely worth the 5 speed

(sorry seller)

Thanks for the advice, guys. I should probably be focusing on my move, anyhow. It's occurred to me I may want to buy some furniture.

Tyler ... don't worry, I wouldn't trash this place under any circumstances. It's beautiful and I'm really proud of it (both house and garage). I'll basically treat it like I treat the interior of my 300D, and you can ask anyone who's seen the interior of my 300D what that looks like.:o With plenty of storage space, I'm going to make a point of being organized and tidy, regardless of what kinds of projects I have going on. Last time I had way too much going on in a small townhouse, it was sort of an overflow situation. In this place, my neighbors won't have to see a single part.:D

At present I'm juggling about 5 different project (vehicles) as well as a house rehab that hasn't seen any significant improvement in over a year now. I know too well that it's easier to adopt a new project while you're working on another without thinking about exactly where the time will come from. My W140 300SD is vying for time against a VW Fox diesel conversion and repairs to a Golf diesel AND my other Golf diesel needing something fixed etc etc.

At some point it's all going to overwhelm me. That time however, like the collapse of our financial system, has yet to come.

steve a

No furniture needed! Just use the rear seats from the rusty MB's for a couch and driver and passenger seats for comfy chairs! Problem solved! :eek: :D

BTW great job on the house! Welcome to home ownership!

LOL ... I actually have the red leather rear seat from a 300E that would make a cute love seat. I might actually set it up as shop decor in the garage, give friends a place to sit down.:o

Great minds think alike!!!:eek: or ;)