I drove down to Salinas with my buddy yesterday to check out this car. No surprise to me he decided to bring it home with us. I got to drive it a little bit and I have to say, I think I might need to find myself a CDI now to replace my 5spd car when I get tired of it.

__________________
'98 E300 Turbo "Juliette"
'85 Federal 300TD

How bad is the driver seat tear?

Sixto
MB-less

What price did the car go for? Any idea as to what repairs/maintenance had been done?

__________________
-- Chris

'95 E300, 216k miles, Silver Surfer
'05 E320 CDI, 138k miles
'07 S550 4matic, 69k miles

Gone but not forgotten:

'76 300D, 350k miles?, SOLD in 1995
'75 240D, 300k miles, SOLD in 1991

They're the best value play going of all the used MB diesels now. Especially if you have the expertise and time to devote to DIYing on them.

Seat isn't too bad, the guy was going to have it fixed since he works at a dealer and has some connections. My buddy opted for a price drop so we're going to look at some dismantling yards to see if anyone has a seat cover he could just buy and swap on. If not he'll have a shop fix it. I think my friend said the guy dropped $350 off the price.

Not sure on all the details since I was just the 2nd driver. He paid somewhere around $9500 I think. The guy had several people want to buy it but nobody else actually came to see the car.

My buddy gave it a nice polish and it looks a lot better. Headlights had a slight haze so he polished them and they look good now.

Wife said I can have one but she has to get her GL first so I'll have to wait a bit. Need to find a GL320 CDI for her now

__________________
'98 E300 Turbo "Juliette"
'85 Federal 300TD

I wasn't aware of a 'GL320 CDI??'

However, unless you need a back woods off-road vehicle, you could buy (3)+ CDI E320s for what just one of those small SUVs cost.

The GL320 CDI was available from 07-09, badged BlutTec rather than CDI in '09. It became the GL350 BlueTec - still OM642 - from '10.



Sixto
MB-less

The Bluetec came into being in 2007, with the V6 configuration. So, before '07 all were CDIs, with the OM648 / I6. All that aside - at what they cost to keep in repair? No way that'd fly......

You could still buy (3)+ CDI E320s for what just one of those used SUVs cost. Ack!

The dealer finally took the time to post up pics of this car. Ack! Not a fan of this color combo, and there's the unsightly communications 'bug' or plug attached to the center of the trunk lid, where the metal was drilled through for the device. I passed on a similarly 'plugged' trunk lidded E320 years ago. Also, the engine compartment sure looks soiled for such a low-mileage car. I'd like to see the frontal surface of the radiator too. That can tell a lot about how and where the car was used.

Yes, but happy wife = happy life

__________________
'98 E300 Turbo "Juliette"
'85 Federal 300TD

Agree 100% and the dealer has not produced any maintenance records.

The 'bug" on back lid is post-VPC Sirius Antenna I believe. If vehicles had Sirius Sat. Radio added at dealership, this is where the Antenna was mounted and necessitated a hole being drilled in aluminum trunk lid

VPC (Vehicle Processing Center) prepared vehicles had the system added before being sent to dealers. I believe Mercedes mechanics added the Antenna to the roof in front of the communication antenna.

I think I will bypass the MB Sirius system and install a stand alone system plugged into the Aux 1/8' jack in glove compartment, powered from fuse box on left of dash next to driver and place a small antenna near front window in center.

Here is a site describing what I am thinking about as done to a W211 wagon:

How To: Install a Satellite Car Radio - I

The link is from 2009, is this still the easiest (means best to me) way to do it?

__________________
-- Chris

'95 E300, 216k miles, Silver Surfer
'05 E320 CDI, 138k miles
'07 S550 4matic, 69k miles

Gone but not forgotten:

'76 300D, 350k miles?, SOLD in 1995
'75 240D, 300k miles, SOLD in 1991