Hello Everyone.
I am new to this forum and have recently gotten the Benz bug. I am seriously considering purchasing an '86/'87 300sdl to use as my daily driver for 9 months a year. As I normally do my own maintenance on my vehicles, my expectation is that if I follow a rigorous maintenance schedule, this vehicle should be able to return 300k miles or more in it's service life. I am looking to spend between $10k to $20k to get a vehicle with around 100k miles or less as the starting point.

I have a lot about this w126 300sdl and the om603 diesel engine, so I am familiar with the issues.

What I don't know is the availability of parts(consumables,starters, alternators, vacuum pumps, glow plugs, injector pumps, etc.) to support this endeavor.

My wife thinks I am having another mid-life crisis(lol, thank god for wives!) and thinks I need a reality check.

I would appreciate any insight you can give regarding my 'pipe dream'. Please hurry since I've got the Benz bug bad and have my sights on a few good candidates on bay right now!,