My 300E has been pretty cheap....more so than my diesel when comparing the first 20k miles of ownership. It has yet to let us down. The M103 is one of the simpler and more durable gassers though. The V8's are expensive to maintain.

My wife averages 22-24mpg in the 300E....I get about 24-27....fuel prices are almost the same ususally.....so the cars seem to be about equal in cost to maintain and drive overall. The gassers are more of a pain to figure out what is wrong when not running right.

__________________
-diesel is not just a fuel, its a way of life-
'15 GLK250 Bluetec 118k - mine - (OC-123,800)
'17 Metris(VITO!) - 37k - wifes (OC-41k)
'09 Sprinter 3500 Winnebago View - 62k (OC - 67k)
'13 ML350 Bluetec - 95k - dad's (OC-98k)
'01 SL500 - 103k(km) - dad's (OC-110,000km)
'16 E400 4matic Sedan - 148k - Brothers (OC-155k)

It all depends on who engineered the car, what era its from and the amount of info available.

A model T engine makes the 617 look like the space shuttle. and a new Mercedes V8 is like something off Star Trek.

If you are trying to maintain an old Ponton with a gasoline 4 cylender its likely easier then a Ponton with a Diesel... as it is really a no brainier to tackle any problems the little carbureted engine would present. there is no high pressure fuel lines or any injectors. systems that in its day were highly advanced. especially to the average mechanic of the day...

If you are talking about cars of the 80s vintage, you are looking at diesels with no electronics on them, verses gasoline engines with some of the first ever electronic fuel injection... the highly advanced technology of its day.

Modern engines are designed to be hard to work on, that way the dealerships make more money, and you eventually have to replace the car not repair it... so maintenance wise they are both terrible. Diesels are stronger by nature and will out last a gasoline engine... that the only advantage they have in my opinion.

__________________

I wouldn't go a far to say that. They're trying to stuff more into less (computers, wires, etc). I will say that the OBDII system in the mini van has made diagnosing problems a lot easier once I got a code reader.

Now, if the car had special dealer only bolts, screws, and other proprietary stuff and refused to release maintenance manuals then I would say that.

__________________
-Typos courtesy of my mobile phone.

In fact, except for the fuel mileage, most of the gassers I've owned have been a pleasure to drive (especially the old inline sixes) and fairly simple to keep going. I'm referring to 60s and early '70s carburetted Fintails and W114/115 sedans. But the original post described a V8 SLC. The early versions came with one of the first electronic fuel-injection systems, very similar to the nightmare electronic injection fitted to my parent's 1970 Volkswagen Squareback. So when it came time to upgrade from my old, worn and rusty Benzes to a newer one, a relatively-simple early '80s diesel was the logical choice.

Happy Motoring, Mark

__________________
DrDKW

The MB gassers will run just as long as the diesels.....my 300E has 149k on it and it idles so smooth and quiet you cannot even tell it is running when at a standstill....and it burns no oil, and has plenty of power.

__________________
-diesel is not just a fuel, its a way of life-
'15 GLK250 Bluetec 118k - mine - (OC-123,800)
'17 Metris(VITO!) - 37k - wifes (OC-41k)
'09 Sprinter 3500 Winnebago View - 62k (OC - 67k)
'13 ML350 Bluetec - 95k - dad's (OC-98k)
'01 SL500 - 103k(km) - dad's (OC-110,000km)
'16 E400 4matic Sedan - 148k - Brothers (OC-155k)

I'd say generally a diesel is easier to keep up.

But on the other hand my 1979 280CE has almost 220K on it and it runs as good as it did the day it was new. I have no doubt that the motor will make it to 300K+. The fuel injection system is all original, the car is used pretty regularly so the fuel injection system is in good shape, sitting is what causes them to start to fail.

__________________
1985 300TD Turbo Euro-wagon
1979 280CE 225,200 miles
1985 300D Turbo 264,000 miles
1976 240D 190,000 miles
1979 300TD 220,000

GONE but not forgotten
1976 300D 195,300 miles
1983 300D Turbo 175,000 miles

http://i42.photobucket.com/albums/e3...e485-1-2-1.jpg

If it has no documentation for replaced a timing chain, tensioners, and guides, then yes. Unless you can do it yourself there's a grand or two out the door right of the bat, even worse if it lets loose.

I'd also be highly suspicious of the mileage unless it came with alot of documentation.

__________________
1985 500SL Euro w/ AMG bits 130k
1984 300SD Turbodiesel 192k
1980 240D Stick China 188k
2001 CLK55 AMG 101k
2007 S600 Biturbo 149k Overheated Project, IT'S ALIVE!!!

Crikey, man, get what you want. These two cars are so different. It's like agonizing over whether you want a Mustang or an F-250.

An SLC with 50,000 real miles on it (carfax, anyone?) will work just fine for probably longer than you want it to. And it will do powerslides to boot. If you want that, and don't mind the thirstiness and the higher insurance premiums, I'd say go for it!

x2

__________________
http://i136.photobucket.com/albums/q.../ForumSIg2.jpg

Depends on the car I suppose.
'85 Audi quattro, timing belt and plugs every 60k miles, sold at just shy of 200,000miles, with original V-belts and hoses, only fluids/filter/tires replaced regularly. Driven hard, track time, ...
'96 Ford E150, one serp-belt, one set of plugs and wires, one fuel-pump, other than that lots of fluids and filters, tires, brakes, ... still have it at 130,000 miles.

In stark contrast would be my '91 300TE 4matic, transfer-case seals twice, alternator, blower regulator, rear wheel bearing, brakes, crappy dealer service, ... sold at 119,000miles and only 5years old at the time. Was $74,000 and I swore I'd never own another Mercedes. Ironically none of the maintenance issues (including breaking down in a snow-storm Christmas Eve) were ever (gas) engine related.

I drive my old Mercedes diesels because I enjoy them, the engineering, and the safety, not because they're the cheapest vehicle per mile. My Fiats were lower maintenance.

So the gas vs diesel question? I've never bought a diesel M-B new, so IMO there's no way to compare the maintenance and failures of the two, but it is my opinion that they are both robust, yet both plagued with issues such as head gasket leaks, '90s wiring harnesses, etc., ... I'll buy what I enjoy so that working on it is a hobby, and that's the diesel.

__________________

Gone to the dark side

- Jeff

Yeah, right! hehehe

__________________
In the Garage:
'84 300SD, 85K "The Princess"
2011 BMW 328I XDrive, DD

Thats more of what I was getting at. the newest car I've worked on lately was my sisters TDI. the engine its self is not that far off from an old Mercedes diesel. I look at the engine and I know what I'm looking at. she had a odd sound coming from the front of the engine. I changed the acc belt and inspected all the pulleys. no luck the sound was coming from the timing belt tensioner... On my Toyota the tensioner is $20 and takes about an hour to change. On her VW they don't have fixed timing belt cogs with alignment marks. the pulleys are cone type and must be removed to change the belt (so says the VW tech I talked to) and can easily be thrown out of wack. also there is the IP to worry about. in order to change the belt you need about $300 of special tooling, just to keep everything in time.


I'm a fan of history, and if I recall correctly the VW was original a government car, and one of its mandates was that it should be repairable by the man of the house with simple tools............

__________________

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AcB5-jSqdH0

__________________
John HAUL AWAY, OR CRUSHED CARS!!! HELP ME keep the cars out of the crusher! A/C Thread
"as I ride with my a/c on... I have fond memories of sweaty oily saturdays and spewing R12 into the air. THANKS for all you do!

My drivers:
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 190D 2.5-5SPEED!!!

1987 300TD
1987 300TD
1994GMC 2500 6.5Turbo truck... I had to put the ladder somewhere!

lol, but I bet you an E320 with the m104 will spank the diesel off the line.... buuuuttttt not at the pump!

Would that be a 616 or a BlueTec?

__________________
1982 240D, sold 9/17/2008
1987 300D TurboW124.133 - 603.960, 722.317 - Smoke Silver Metallic / Medium Red (702/177), acquired 8/15/2009
262,715 and counting