I love this NA OM606!
 

I'm pretty familiar with the feel and performance of OM602 and OM603 engines. This 95 E300D with 304,000 miles on the clock is the first OM606 I've owned. I don't know why people complain about these being slow...it's plenty fast for me. Nice car....and it's kinda fun to own one with more than 300k.

yep it is a very fast car when it moves, I even push it to 100 mph every other day. Its acceleration is almost electric when its past 2500 rpm. Its pretty quiet at that speed too - insulation is thick on this car, general altimax hp tires also keep it quiet.

Its a real dog before that thats what annoys other people who are tuned to 4500 rpm turbodiesels.

I've found mine to have a bit more ooomph with the upper resonance flap disconnected, but it may be anomolous to this car.

Anyway, they're just as "fast" as the older turbo'd ones, with slightly better mpg. Only bad point is the long bodied GP's.

BTW, if the vacuum pump hasnt been changed out, it is recommended at 250K. They go without warning and can really mess up the engine internals. FWIW. BTDT.

like my wife puts it

its like a train.

We owned an 87 300TD with the turbo OM603 for 13 years (93-06).

I've just returned from an interstate trip in our 95 E300 with the OM606, rolling over 10k miles since I got this one on the road in 10/12.

For the most part, I don't miss the 87 300TD.
Less bottom end torque without the turbo, but the 4 valve really revs.
Much better mileage, too.

This is fast becoming one of my favorite diesel MBs.

Jim

now wouldnt it be nice that this engine was fed by a Holset HX40 or something while you cruise down the interstate, bury the pedal and watch the speedo swing.

Police tickets galore - but I dont think the poor little 722.435 transmission can handle that much torque.

I also got rid of that flap....was also the cause of some speed variation. Now very smooth.

If the vacuum pump has visible bolts, does that mean it's been replaced? Or did the original ones have the visible bolts?

Having a car with all of the changes made to the W124 over the life of the model is another bonus. Yet it's still simple enough I can do almost all my own maintenance.

Now if the factory can just solve the cracking monovalve problem . . .

Jeremy