I'm very proud of this car and today it hit the 175,000 mile mark. I bought it for a steal in January at 162,000. It had been sitting in a guy's garage for over a year. He had been planning to start manufacturing biodiesel but never got around to it, and so he just let the thing sit. It needed new injectors and had some oil leaks around the engine and the breaks were spongy and there were some vacuum leaks. I looked at it one day, drove it on the freeway and it ran like a top, so I figured alls this baby needed was a little TLC. Here's what I've done over the last few months, and I'm proud to say finally it runs AWESOME and all systems pretty much function as they're supposed to (no jinxes):

D = had the local Mercedes dealer do the job (I've had bad experiences with the local indies, specifically on my 240D, no longer with the family).

- Valve adjustment (twice: once initially and then again after 5,000 to fix changes, figuring the car hadn't been driven regularly for over a year, but I found that the valves hadn't moved much after some vigorous daily driving which made me happy
- Transmission fluid and filter
- Air cleaner brackets
- Monark injectors (D)
- Banjo bolt for IP pump
- Oil and oil filter (twice now: 15w-40 dino)
- P/S/ Fluid and filter
- Brake master cylinder (D)
- Front brake pads
- Voltage regulator
- Battery
- Re-soldered ACC push-button unit
- New ACC electronic servo (D)
- Door lock vacuum connections
- Shut off vacuum connections
- Radiator
- Thermostat
- A/C 134a recharge (system had previously been converted) (D)
- Fuel filters and rubber hoses (after Diesel purge)
- Turbo wastegate hose
- Feet for 3/2 vacuum valves
- Vacuum pump gasket (pump checked out OK)
- Oil pan gasket
- New dash bulbs
- Headlights
- Ball joints (D)
- Tie rod ends (D)
- Mercedes specialist alignment (D)
- Fixed and lubricated rear quarter windows (was a tedious PITA!! --- but they work, which is awesome)
- Stereo
- Glow plug manual DIY solenoid with push button (the factory relay was stuck open, and I didn't want to spring for a new one, so I did the DIY for it and used the Ford starter solenoid with a push-and-hold button beneath the steering wheel per an article I read. Works great, and I like having the ability to manually after-glow for cold starts).
- Cleaned fuel sender

There's probably something I'm missing, but it's not anything big, otherwise I would've remembered. I'm done for now, but within the next 15,000 it's going to need a couple of things, namely control arms and rear brake pads. But I'm satisfied for now. Thanks to everyone on this forum who have helped me thus far through a couple of DIY projects!! I couldn't have done all of this and most of it on my own without some expert wisdom!!

I've posted some pictures for the helluvit.

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1983 300CDT -- 177K

What is common to expect MPG-wise on the coupe? I get about 22 in town and 27 why and can get maybe 29 if I go 60 mph.

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1983 300CDT -- 177K

I get ~27 mpg per tank in the warm months.

Nice find, congrats.

Don't like the color tho!

Here's mine:

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83 SD

84 CD

i really like the color. its a classic, just like almost all the early 80s MB colors. you dont see new cars with colors like those.

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1981 NA 300D 310k miles