240D's stick shift vs. the automatic? Looking
 

I was wanting to ask if the '83's were a better car with the stick shift vs. the automatic or not? Like for acceleration and like running on the highway.

Sticks will be a bit faster, you control the shift points.

Automatics take some horsepower to even move.

As for once moving, negligible difference.

Any year 240D, a manual Transmission is a better set up than one with an automatic transmission. The manual trans wakes them up some.

A manual trans 240 will get better mileage. the acceleration will be better.

My bro in law has an 82 with over 140K miles on it and auto trans, our 80 240d has 359k and a manual trans. A yr and half abo we both went up to Portland, Or. we both filled up at the same Truck Stop in Lathrop, Ca. It is 100 miles east of Santa Cruz here on the coast. We got 100 miles into Oregon and he needed fuel. and we had enough and made it just shy of Portland. had a Motel in Wilsonville. we fueled there, it was 634 miles. we got 33.23mpg and he was getting 27.

I have driven his car, and it is doggy compared to the manual trans.

If you are shiftless, then I guess an auto trans is for you. :rolleyes: :D


These old W123 are old, so when you are looking at one, condition condition condition is important. You are buying deferred maintenance and prior neglect along with rust and accident damage. so which ever one you look at, better check everything over good. I don`t are what the owner says how wonderful his baby is. once you hand over the loot, it`s your baby now. :).


Charlie

I had an 83 240D manual....I liked it fine and found that it had adequate get-up-and-go for whatever I needed to do. But I remember thinking that I would NEVER want to own a 240D automatic...if it were much slower at all than the manual it would just be too sluggish.

sometimes i wonder if there was ever an automatic 200D. aufgh!

As long as the AC was turned off for dead start acceleration, the 240D was a fine car. My Father bought several new 240Ds, and even a new 220D - all automatic transmissions with AC. I was permitted to drive all of them as a teenager.

I've got a little perspective on the original question. I bought my 240D new and for the first 16 years it had an automatic transmission. For the last 14 years it has had a manual transmission. Same car, just different transmissions. Changing the car to a manual transmission was the best thing I ever did to that car. I say find a manual if you can.

Buy the best one you can find and afford
 

These days you will be spoiled for choice, if you actually have enough examples for sale within striking distance to be able to exercise choice between stick and auto in a 240d.

I owned an automatic 240d. It was viable for my driving cycle, which included a minimum of freeway use. For most city use I did not find it objectionable.

There are many factors at play. It will do you no good if the choice is between a solid car with decent compression, which has an autobox, versus a stick that is tired or trashed, to opt for the stick. Apologies if that is obvious, but sometimes the answers on this board tend to the purist, and the 240d question seems prone to that :D.

In terms of the auto, I suspect many examples may perform subpar not only due to power drain from the automatic, but as well because of badly adjusted throttle linkages and/or issues with transmission shift points. These are potential issues with all the older diesels, but when you have as little power to play with as the OM616 provides, they take on a huge importance.

My car had been doted on for 24 years by its original owner, who drove it far and wide around north america. It was the most sorted and best set up Mercedes diesel (of higher mileage) that I have ever owned or driven. I attribute its performance in no small part to that -- even though the second owner, who had it three years before I got it, ruined it by running unfiltered and unheated WVO (including in upper NY state winters)... three pots had excellent compression, one was barely at minimum.

Love my 240D with stick. Quite peppy in traffic and cruises at 70 with no complaints. I don't generally like an auto in anything, they call them slush boxes for a reason.

The two forty with a manual transmission is a great car. Providing you do not place it in an operational environment where it is strained to meet the requirements of it all the time. I live in an area with a lot of secondary roads and use other cars for long highway runs at higher speeds.

For some reason that I suspect is less front end weight they seem to handle nicer than the five cylinder automatics. Or at least to me they do.

Another vote for 240 in stick. Mine is also a conversion from automatic, best thing ever done to it.

Same as above, cruise all day at 70 no complaints. Much more fun and much more drivable

Same here. I am on my second 240 4 spd, and plan to ditch the automatic in another one and swap in a stick.

Stick. I would never buy an automatic 240D.

This is so true!

Well, on all the positives on the stick shift 240D's it is an up for me. I just purchased a 240D stick shift site unseen. It is a one owner, and was supposedly well maintained. I plan to trip there and drive it home. I am anxious to get possession on it. It is my 2nd Mercedes 240D one owner purchase. My first was an automatic from Orlando. I sold it a year ago after putting 100K plus on it. I saw it a couple of weeks ago, and it just got me flared up about another one. I felt kind of lost without a Mercedes, so I went shopping again. It seems like the Mercedes' gets a grip on ya!