Without being able to analyze and assess the car in consideration, it's impossible to answer that Q.

It depends on what your definition of a reliable daily driver is? These cars are already fastly approaching the 20 year mark, and most of 'em here seem to be actively rusting. I know of two guys here that have reported theirs currently in that camp.

My perspective is as having owned one from new for 14-years. Would I buy another one? Definitely not. Why? I considered mine way too problematic to keep as a DD.

I upgraded out of the 99 E300 because I felt the CDI E320 would be much more reliable than the 99. I am finding that to be precisely the case.

i truly appreciate your honesty & the sharing of your experience. thanks!

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1982 300sd from craigslist $800 greased on one tank with NO CONVERSION in the Hot Texas Sun. (currently dead & awaiting engine damage investigation and/or longblock swap)
new daily: '03 vw 5speed jetta tdi wagon. bagged&chipped

care to elaborate on the original question like we all are asking?

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John HAUL AWAY, OR CRUSHED CARS!!! HELP ME keep the cars out of the crusher! A/C Thread
"as I ride with my a/c on... I have fond memories of sweaty oily saturdays and spewing R12 into the air. THANKS for all you do!

My drivers:
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 190D 2.5-5SPEED!!!

1987 300TD
1987 300TD
1994GMC 2500 6.5Turbo truck... I had to put the ladder somewhere!

sure. while wishfully thinking, i look up om606 on wikipedia. i see the 97 - 99 are available in the w210 e 300 turbo diesel. then i think i search 1999 mercedes turbo diesel wagon and look around. then me with my wishy thinking conveniently forgets that americans are afraid of diesel so my brain assumes there's plenty of w210 e 300 turbo diesel wagons in USA. this all happens over a period of about 8 months and i asked now since i have the money to make the purchase. then i get the bad news about no td wagons in USA.

i'm now looking at a 2003 jetta tdi wagon with a manual trans.

let it be noted that my vehicle/engine choices revolve around potential to delete the engine ecu.

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1982 300sd from craigslist $800 greased on one tank with NO CONVERSION in the Hot Texas Sun. (currently dead & awaiting engine damage investigation and/or longblock swap)
new daily: '03 vw 5speed jetta tdi wagon. bagged&chipped

I would strongly urge you buy the VW tdi, if you're looking for reliability between them - all things being equal going in.

If you're dead set on removing the engine ECU, then go with a W123 240D or 300D. They already don't have one. The newest ones were made in 1985, so you will experience old car issues, but if you know how to wrench, this will not be a deal killer.

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Whoever said there's nothing more expensive than a cheap Mercedes never had a cheap Jaguar.

83 300D Turbo with manual conversion, early W126 vented front rotors and H4 headlights 400,xxx miles
08 Suzuki GSX-R600 M4 Slip-on 22,xxx miles
88 Jaguar XJS V12 94,xxx miles. Work in progress.

i've already got a 300sd. some day i'm going to pick up a nice & clean white/grey one and bag it. i'd prefer not to daily drive one. also, over a w123 or 240d or 300d i'd much prefer a volvo 760 turbo diesel or a bmw 524td if i'm going mid size sedan or wagon of that era. i've got a "dream list" of cars i'd like to build/collect...mtdi powered vw cabriolet, 4bt or 6bt powered poptop dodge ramcharger, and a few others, all mechanically controlled turbo diesels.

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1982 300sd from craigslist $800 greased on one tank with NO CONVERSION in the Hot Texas Sun. (currently dead & awaiting engine damage investigation and/or longblock swap)
new daily: '03 vw 5speed jetta tdi wagon. bagged&chipped

They never imported any W210 Diesel Wagons in the US. They were only sedan diesels. The W210 wagons you are seeing are M112 gassers (V6s). I remember telling you this in at least two other threads. The last MB diesel wagon was the '87 300TD W124. Maybe consider looking into one of those.

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Only diesels in this driveway.
2005 E320 CDI 243k Black/Black
2008 Chevy 3500HD Duramax 340k
2004 Chevy 2500HD Duramax 220k

Why would you want to defeat the ecu? Or remove the EGR. The gains of doing this are slim, the impact on the environment large, and the potential fines are more than the value of the car, or the cost of twenty years of fuel savings.

I owned an '99 E320 from new. It wasn't worth a damn as a daily driver off the showroom floor. If I hadn't bought the extended warranty, it would have been gone in two years. I averaged $2K a year in unexpected surprises. These included a differential, a transmission control unit, both cats and all four O2 sensors, steering rack, radio, electrical gremlins (make that electrical ogres), annual repairs to the a/c system, rust, rust and more rust. If anyone wants to suggest that it wasn't well maintained, please explain: this machine lived at the dealership, and spent half it's road time being chauffeured around on a flatbed. If you like spending your time flat on your back under the car, it's perfect.

I read about people who are happy with these as drivers, and I don't get the joke. If someone asks this question seriously, why would you do this to a stranger? The W210 was a catastrophe for Mercedes, it's taken them years to rebuild their image.

NO. no they are not slim. as in hundreds_of_horsepower not. dieselmeken has proved this without a doubt.

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1982 300sd from craigslist $800 greased on one tank with NO CONVERSION in the Hot Texas Sun. (currently dead & awaiting engine damage investigation and/or longblock swap)
new daily: '03 vw 5speed jetta tdi wagon. bagged&chipped

it was one thread besides this one. i KNOW NOW that the td wagons didn't hit the USA. i've already stated this. see the frownyface? i'm not looking for a td wagon that's older than late 90's so unfortunately the w124 is out. i'm looking at a mkIV jetta tdi wagon at the moment.

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1982 300sd from craigslist $800 greased on one tank with NO CONVERSION in the Hot Texas Sun. (currently dead & awaiting engine damage investigation and/or longblock swap)
new daily: '03 vw 5speed jetta tdi wagon. bagged&chipped

why?

the W124 diesel wagon is a wonderful vehicle. and NO COMPUTERS MESSING WITH THE CAR!!!

I love my 3 87TD's

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John HAUL AWAY, OR CRUSHED CARS!!! HELP ME keep the cars out of the crusher! A/C Thread
"as I ride with my a/c on... I have fond memories of sweaty oily saturdays and spewing R12 into the air. THANKS for all you do!

My drivers:
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 190D 2.5-5SPEED!!!

1987 300TD
1987 300TD
1994GMC 2500 6.5Turbo truck... I had to put the ladder somewhere!

You mean the guy in Finland who reworks IP pumps with oversize delivery valves? You'd be hard pressed to prove a gain of a single pony with a stock motor.

who said *anything* about stock? not me.

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1982 300sd from craigslist $800 greased on one tank with NO CONVERSION in the Hot Texas Sun. (currently dead & awaiting engine damage investigation and/or longblock swap)
new daily: '03 vw 5speed jetta tdi wagon. bagged&chipped

603 should be able to push 400hp pretty easily. The problem is that 87 was *the* last year. Any examples on the market are going to be either highly thought of by the owner or completely ratted out. Not much in between there. Not sure on TX laws but in GA 25 years and older is smog exempt. I patiently wait for the day that I can put a 606 in a 91+ wagon.

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http://superturbodiesel.com/images/sig.04.10.jpg
1995 E420 Schwarz
1995 E300 Weiss
#1987 300D Sturmmachine
#1991 300D Nearly Perfect
#1994 E320 Cabriolet
#1995 E320 Touring
#1985 300D Sedan
OBK #42