What trouble have I gotten myself into?
 

So... Here's what I bought, and have actually been driving to and from work and elsewhere for about 2 weeks now.
it's a 1984 300d 5 speed (euro) cloth seats, manual windows, no AC
I found it on craigslist at 1am, bought it for $1500 at around 10ish am.
all I've done is change the oil and filter, and it's been my daily driver since.

It does need work tho. The previous owner somehow made the steering wheel loose trying to work on the radio.

I see two things I have to fix first just for safety.(after new tires)
there's alot of... loosness? in the steering.
and there's a really bad shaking at speed. I think this is either unbalanced wheels or something more expensive.
also the transmission needs new shifter bushings. I cannot for the life of me find out where to get those in this country.

What country?

Is the looseness in the steering wheel or in the steering? Any idea of how the PO could have done that by working on the radio?

Looks like a California plate in the pic....possibly

Like the old saying goes: "There's Nothing More EXPENSIVE Than a Cheap Benz". :rolleyes:

Lifetime trouble my friend, lifetime....:D

Looseness in the steering wheel, as Kerry asked, is the wheel itself loose and able to move on the steering shaft, or is it in the steering mechanism?

Shaking at speed... does it occur at any particular speed? Does it happen more during slight cornering than straightaway or sharp turns?
Replacing the tires if they are worn is definitely job 1, then see if it persists.

The transmissions on these cars are extremely robust and quite quirky as well. Many a Mercedes transmission has been replaced or repaired when all it needed was adjustment.

Post year make and model, and ask the mods to move this thread to Diesel Discussion, as there are a host of people there who know almost everything there is to know about these fine vehicles.

Welcome to the forum!!

Sorry for the late response. I'm actually gonna rewrite this whole thread and hopefully have some better pictures, but to answer some questions before hand.

Country is USA. Yes. it was a California car when I bought it, but now it resides in Las Vegas NV.

I'm not entirely sure how the PO busted the steering. I should've stated that it's actually loose in two ways. 1. The steering shaft inside the car is not fully secured. 2. What could be general steering box looseness.
The car has a aftermarket radio, and I think the PO was trying to replace the antenna. some where along the way he tryed to access the back of the head unit with out removing it? idk honestly sounded like a wonky story.

The bad shacking comes at high speeds, around 70 but It shakes (not normal diesel vibrations) at seemingly all speeds.

Tomorrow(or today technically) I'll be getting new tires, hopefully get some good pictures of it and write up a better thread over at the diesel discussion.(will link over here when it's made)