I originally was going to do the WVO thing, but realized that for the amount of driving I do, it would not be worth the effort. Then I started to appreciate how satisfying it is to work on these cars. Then I discovered this forum with like minded gearheads.

I have an 84 300D with 320K miles on it. (It goes by the name of Rufus in our family.) It runs really well and has no rust to speak of. When I tell people how many miles I have on my car, they are in awe or disbelief. Rufus has a leather interior and I absolutely love getting into it and smelling that leather. It was on "sabbatical" for April, May and June (I keep my cars off insurance for 3 months of the year to save a little money) and I could almost not wait until it was time to drive it again.

My 85 has only 48K on it. It looks and drives like a new car. It was a rare local find and I jumped on it when I heard about it. (It goes by the name of Rutherford.) I just love the way it drives. The suspension makes the car feel like it floats.

And did I mention this forum? I think so, but it is worth repeating. I have gone to a couple of get-togethers and the people I meet from this forum are just fabulous people.

Richard

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85 300D 75K Anthracite Grey 0-60 in 13 seconds **For Sale**
84 300D 333K Black (The Velveteen Rabbit) 0-60 in 14 seconds
00 Toyota Sienna 208K (Sold)
15 Subaru Outback 43K
11 Subaru Outback 67K
98 Ford Taurus 100K (Gertie - Was Grandma's - drove it to church and shopping - really) Daughter's car now.
30 Model A Ford 2 Door Sedan (Sold) 0-60 in . . . Never reached 60

and some 13 Thousand posts later!! Thanks, John.

Richard

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85 300D 75K Anthracite Grey 0-60 in 13 seconds **For Sale**
84 300D 333K Black (The Velveteen Rabbit) 0-60 in 14 seconds
00 Toyota Sienna 208K (Sold)
15 Subaru Outback 43K
11 Subaru Outback 67K
98 Ford Taurus 100K (Gertie - Was Grandma's - drove it to church and shopping - really) Daughter's car now.
30 Model A Ford 2 Door Sedan (Sold) 0-60 in . . . Never reached 60

Well, my 300D has been in my family for 17 years. It belonged to my mother and since it joined the family, I fell in love with it. About 7 years ago, my dad was going to sell it because he got another car for my mother, so I bought it from them at a very very low price. Since then, it has been my favourite toy and companion. Lots of precious and happy miles since.

Curiously, back the I started looking for a service manual to do the maintenance myself. Somehow I came across this forum and that was the point of no return for me. There's nothing like owning a great car, but it is even better when you have such a great community of enthusiast like you to help you keep it running!

You know, after thinking about this, I must say THANK YOU ALL! Whenever the Benz gets stubborn and decides to misbehave, I can always count on you guys for help!

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1982 W123 300D NA Euro, 300K Miles, 4-speed manual, 3.46 rear diff, early W126 front brakes, Penta rims with 205/60R15 FH900's, custom fitted (by me) audio system, more to come into the money pit... Soon to be installed: Bilstein HD, R107 front discs and 4-piston calipers, HD Suspension springs, wagon front swaybar.

the hood star is kind of a nice visual reference when parking. it's cool that you can see all 4 corners of this car, i can parralel park this beast like a champ.

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1985 Mercedes 300D turbo 144k

We've had Elvira since new 236K miles ago. I had a '79 300CD that I gave my son when he graduated from A&M in '84 - then we bought Elvira and she's never let us down. He drove the '79 until it had 425K miles on it and donated it to Houston Can Academy - try putting 425K on a gas guzzler.

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Houston, Texas
1984 300CD 235K miles, Elvira, one owner
1987 300TD 180K miles
1974 TR6 78K miles Sarah Jane, one owner
OBK #27

When filling up, people at the station would ask me what I thought of my 300D. My standard response:

"Well, it's slow....it smells.....it's noisy.............and.... I love it!

Of course the above is no longer true, but I still love 'em. Wish I had one...again.

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62 220sb
67 250S
72 280SE 4.5
74 280C
77 300D
82 240D
85 190E 2.3
86 300E RIP 12/28/09
85 300SD
92 300D 2.5
00 E320 Current
Over 1,000,000 miles in Benzes, Since66

....and a whole passel of BMW 2002 and Tii

Driving one. I suppose that's more what made me fall in love with Mercedes-Benz. The pusher, er, guy I bought it from said "It'll be your FIRST Mercedes."

Maintaining it is what made me fall in love with diesel. It's so simple to fix/improve/tinker with so many things. I think neutering the EGR is probably when I fell head over heels. ^_^

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RIP:
2011 E350 BlueTEC, Schwartz 81k (totaled by uninsured drunk driver)
1964 Unimog 404.1 (wrongfully towed by the city)
1994 E320, Brilliantsilber 208k (transmission shuffled off after sudden catastrophic fluid loss)
1982 300D, Silberblau under a blue repaint 256k (sold for parts)
1995 E320 Polarweiss, 131k (sold for parts)
1995 E300D Polarweiss, 287k (totaled by drunk driver)

1) I love anything with a Diesel motor in it. Even the dreaded old smokey SLOWWWW GM/Detroit Diesel 6.2L engines! lol
2) A decent Ram with a 6.7L Cummins is too rich for my blood right now.
3) I have just barely over $1000 total in this "fixer upper", and have had a blast tinkering with it!
4) ANYTHING with a motor in it that my wife likes and wants to go buy I am ok with.
Even if it were a Pink Edsel ( PUKE! )

When I started my freshman year of high school, one of the most popular and well liked guys at school drove his dad's 1984 300D to school every day. (Keep in mind, it was only 6 years old at that time! ) and I allways was discusted at how all the gal's just flocked to him like he was a chick magnet, but I allways LOVED his old silver MB turbodiesel.

I fell in love with diesel fumes when I ran away from home to guadalajara mexico.A mexican trucker gave me a ride.But the real thing I love is the clatter of a 617.

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1999 w140, quit voting to old, and to old to fight, a god damned veteran

I've always liked diesels. I have a early Cummins/Dodge pickup that I love, and I used to have a diesel VW about 20 years ago that I loved, too. A few years back, I got the urge to have a diesel car again, and picked up another diesel VW, but it was pretty beat and only lasted about a year before throwing a rod. Then I decided to find a Mercedes, and ended up with a W110 that needed work. Turned out it needed more work that I had time or inclination for, and I got rid of it and went back to looking for another VW. Got a clean older Jetta that needed a new head, finally found a new head and put it on there, and 3000 miles later it dropped a valve and wrecked the head AND the bottom end. Gah!

Went and got a beater Subaru in the meantime, which has been serving me really well. Then, last year, a friend took a 77 240D on trade from someone, but didn't really need it, so he traded it to me for some sawmilling work. This one has kind of a rusty, worn out body, but it runs like a top, and although I miss the mileage of the VWs, I really like the durable, simple construction of the Benz, the all cast iron engine, and the fact that I can much more easily get parts for this than I could for the VWs. I had tried to fix up the last Jetta again, but I could never find another cylinder head for it.

Eventually, I would really, really love to have a 123 or 115 wagon, with a manual transmission AND a manual sunroof, but for now, I'm pretty happy with my beater 240D.

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1976 Mercedes 240D, unknown mileage
1977 Mercedes 240D, 225k
1992 Dodge/Cummins 4WD, 284k
1990 Subaru Legacy wagon, 330k
1991 Subaru Legacy wagon, 225k

Its kind of that feeling "Arnie" Cunningham gets in Christine.

3rd gear at 25mph (77 240d with 4 speed) is just the best sound in the world, especially when you know that you can keep the engine making that sound for hundreds of thousands of miles

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Old Blue-'77 240D just rolled 111111 miles...
with the recently repaired odometer