10K ? Really? 95 S350D
 

I have no idea. What sez y'all?

1995 Mercedes Benz S350D

eta: oops, I see that's the dreaded rod-bender

That's right about the time the rods will bend :(

How about $12k for an 86/84 300SD? Title says 84, ad says 86... car has an identity crisis.. owner must have mis-typed the price and meant $1200.
1984 Mercedes Benz 300SD

And the bundts even need to be re-painted.

$10,000? Why not $12,000?
1992 Mercedes-Benz 300 SD *DIESEL* // *LOW MILES* // *LIKE NEW*

Or how about $14,000
http://losangeles.craigslist.org/sfv/cto/3875010540.html

Not all of them " bent" rods.though many / most? did. I have a 94 with totaly rebuilt engine with updated rods. I wouldn't consider selling it for $10, 000. I sent the "bent" (as everyone says) rods to rod manufacturer and they were not "bent" at all. My friend has a. Lexus 460 ls and I prefer the ride of my W140 any day and especially on a road trip.
No "debate" on whether these engines a fine example of MBZ engineering please.

Did Mercedes ever acknowledge the issue or do anything about it?

I don't know if any of it is true but I've heard probably what you have on these forums.
MBZ never acknowledged that the rods bend but the rod design was changed on 1994 and 1995.
The irregular wear of the cylinder walls /oil burning/ "rod bending" ect...
When mine was measured before honing there was no irregular wear with
185,000 original miles.
You can have a set of rods made ( for about $800 last time I checked) that are a lot stronger but there are other issues that need attention.

I'd only buy one if I could get it for a price that allowed for switching it over to the 3 liter version of the motor.

That is also a 140 chassis and is very very complex. I would not want to maintain it. That said it is a lovely ride and the insulated glass side windows cut down on noise, supposedly.

Guess it must be a real classic :P

The 140 is a car that scares me in terms of its complexity. I have only ever driven in two. A short test drive in a 95 S420 and an even shorter one in a 99 S500. The S500 had shot rear accumulators so it felt like driving a kids go cart with a pipe and solid wheels for a rear suspension and the A/C wasn't working.

The S420 was in better shape and I was taken so completely by surprise at the power (I was used to a 240D remember) that I nearly had an accident when I pulled off from the light and almost rear ended the car in front of me. But I assume the engine mountings were shot as the whole car would wobble from side to side at idle and you could see the engine doing so even worse when you looked under the hood. The car tracked badly off center when ever you went over the expansion joints going across a bridge, the rear sun shade wouldn't operate correctly, the radio would not pick up my favourite station 89.5 FM, and I found the steering wheel to be far to small for my tastes. Made it impossible rest my elbow on the window sill while holding the wheel. Same with the center console/arm rest.

I'd still like to test drive one that's properly sorted to get a good idea of what they are really like but I suspect that for me Mercedes beyond the W126 are probably out of the ballpark.

- Peter.