I'm kind of in a rut on my Merc Diesels right now. I need parts, machine shop services, or tools that cost massive amounts of money. It seemed like a never ending swamp of waiting and listening to the wife complain.

I was cruising CL the other day and came across a 1 owner 82 BMW 320i in almost pristine condition. Parked under a barn since 1996. Just replace all the rubber parts and go. no rust worries, no piles of body work and welding, no paint issues, and no super expensive diesel or Mercedes speciality tools. Even the BMW parts seem a lot cheaper. So I jumped. guess I'm a traitor now. My thought is maybe get it going and flip it for enough profit to finish my 81. Somebody I knew said something about BMW making diesel engines? Is that true?

Its a great car. Its just not a diesel so I don't feel like it fits my personality. It has made me curious about these supposed bmw diesel though. I assume only in Europe?

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1978 Mercedes 240D
1981 Mercedes 240D
1982 Mercedes 240D

Holy cow, what a find.

You do realize that BMW ownership is against the rules of this forum and that you will be infracted for this sin.

Kidding .

As far as the diesels go, BMW sold a 5-series diesel here in the US in the '80s (524TD -- don't get fooled by M-B nomenclature, it was a sedan), and -- even more interestingly -- Ford also made a few Lincoln Mark VIIs with that engine. Can't remember if the Lincoln came with a stick or not, but the BMW did for sure.

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"Senior Luna, your sense of humor is still loco... but we love it, anyway." -rickymay ____ "Your sense of humor is still loco... " -MBeige ____ "Señor Luna, your sense of humor is quite järjetön" -Delibes

1982 300SD -- 211k, Texas car, tranny issues ____ 1979 240D 4-speed 234k -- turbo and tuned IP, third world taxi hot rod

2 Samuel 12:13: "David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die."

Here is the Wikipedia page on the BMW M21 (the diesel engine in question):

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/BMW_M21

The Wikipedia page on the Mark VII claims that at least one was possibly made with a manual transmission.

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"Senior Luna, your sense of humor is still loco... but we love it, anyway." -rickymay ____ "Your sense of humor is still loco... " -MBeige ____ "Señor Luna, your sense of humor is quite järjetön" -Delibes

1982 300SD -- 211k, Texas car, tranny issues ____ 1979 240D 4-speed 234k -- turbo and tuned IP, third world taxi hot rod

2 Samuel 12:13: "David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die."

I stand corrected, it is a 524TD (I will fix my first post, so if it says 524TD too, don't worry ).

I remember PP had a thread on these cars. Here it is:

Lincoln Mark VII DIESEL?

I want one.

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"Senior Luna, your sense of humor is still loco... but we love it, anyway." -rickymay ____ "Your sense of humor is still loco... " -MBeige ____ "Señor Luna, your sense of humor is quite järjetön" -Delibes

1982 300SD -- 211k, Texas car, tranny issues ____ 1979 240D 4-speed 234k -- turbo and tuned IP, third world taxi hot rod

2 Samuel 12:13: "David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die."

How does this compare to a Mercedes Diesel, I've only ever seen pictures of that car, they seem very rare to me.

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Nosce Te Ipsum "Know thyself"

Yeah that was my thought too. How do they compare from a quality, longevity, and performance standpoint? They must be real rare birds as I have not seen one EVER! The thought in the beggining on this was I got it for such a good price I could fix it and flip it easily and make several thousand dollars. Which I would use to buy/rent a coil spring compressor (so I can do my front end I have all the parts for), a timing chain crimp tool, valves, guides and machine shop work to rebuild the head for the engine I'm dropping into the 1981. Id also need to get the machine shop to balance the crank with the manual flywheel i have, and several other tools such as ball joint press, ball joint seperator, etc.

My intention on purchase was never to keep it. Its just not my kinda car. but it was a once in a lifetime find!

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1978 Mercedes 240D
1981 Mercedes 240D
1982 Mercedes 240D

I think the M21 can have major head/head gasket issues. Other than that, it should be good. I'm sure you could find more on the specific nature of these failures, their frequency, and causes. I'll do that now... I'm curious.

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"Senior Luna, your sense of humor is still loco... but we love it, anyway." -rickymay ____ "Your sense of humor is still loco... " -MBeige ____ "Señor Luna, your sense of humor is quite järjetön" -Delibes

1982 300SD -- 211k, Texas car, tranny issues ____ 1979 240D 4-speed 234k -- turbo and tuned IP, third world taxi hot rod

2 Samuel 12:13: "David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die."

Well it ran when I got it. just every piece of rubber including tires was dry rotted. Head Gasket sounds ugly! I hope that's not the case.

All the k-jetronic stuff seems to be in good order. Just every rubber line needs replacing.

It will be up fro sale once I get it up to snuff. Although it just occured to me I might be able to trade it straight up to somebody for 240D with no rust in good condition. Possibilities I guess!

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1978 Mercedes 240D
1981 Mercedes 240D
1982 Mercedes 240D

Oop, sorry, I was talking about the BMW diesel, not your engine .

__________________
"Senior Luna, your sense of humor is still loco... but we love it, anyway." -rickymay ____ "Your sense of humor is still loco... " -MBeige ____ "Señor Luna, your sense of humor is quite järjetön" -Delibes

1982 300SD -- 211k, Texas car, tranny issues ____ 1979 240D 4-speed 234k -- turbo and tuned IP, third world taxi hot rod

2 Samuel 12:13: "David said to Nathan, “I have sinned against the Lord.” And Nathan said to David, “The Lord also has put away your sin; you shall not die."

hahaha! Yeah It has me kind of curious now. id like to find one of these old BMW diesels and drive it. I'm just curious what the performance and ride is like.

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1978 Mercedes 240D
1981 Mercedes 240D
1982 Mercedes 240D

I wonder if I married your wife's sister, since mine constantly fusses about our cars even though I always fix her minivan right away, and she has several backup cars to choose from. She fusses "too many", but when was that a problem? Wait and another will surely be hit by an uninsured motorist again.

It isn't cheap to maintain a M-B diesel, though it can be affordable if you take time to shop around and read tips here. If you must get all parts right away, and only genuine M-B parts, you will soon have much more in your car than you could ever get back. My other classic cars are 60's Chrysler's. Those owners constantly fuss about how Chevy parts are easier and cheaper, but new Mopar parts are still ~1/4 M-B. I thought BMW is the same or worse, since I recall stories of $500 alternators in the 80's. However, as these cars hit the junkyard, parts get affordable if you don't mind used and are willing to dig in.

I'm really jealous; I've been looking for a E21 for quite awhile. There is one down the street that I want to make an offer on but I want to get more funds first.

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http://i1269.photobucket.com/albums/...ps988ecb84.jpg

1980 240D "Haley" - 266k mi | OM617.952 | 4-speed | Euro Propshaft | 2.88 Rear | Motor Out of Car
1994 E320 "Lauren" - 115k | As stock as they come
2010 Mazda Axela "Grace" - 32k | H&R Lowering Springs | K&N Air Filter

1981 RX7 - Sold and not really missed

Looking for a paint color suggestion for my 240D with Palimono MB-Tex interior!

ive seen three bmw 524 diesels here in the bay area. but people here love to keep old diesels on the road running with biodiesel. one time i was pulling to the parts store and the guy was leaving, didnt get a chance to talk to him about it

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1981 NA 300D 310k miles

I would be very afraid of a BMW that aged as being a breakdown-prone, money pit to use as a DD, but only time will tell. Good luck with it.

Ripe for an OM606 transplant...

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1992 W201 190E 1.8 171,000 km - Daily driver
1981 W123 300D ~ 100,000 miles / 160,000 km - project car stripped to the bone
1965 Land Rover Series 2a Station Wagon CIS recovery therapy!
1961 Volvo PV544 Bare metal rat rod-ish thing

I'm here to chat about cars and to help others - I'm not here "to always be right" like an internet warrior



Don't leave that there - I'll take it to bits!