What years were these made, and why do I never see any of them?

While reading my Haynes manual I came across a wiring diagram for a 1984 (i think) 240TD. There is only one year for this car in the manual, and no specific mentions of it anywhere else. I assumed a typo and life went on.

Just purchased a 1983 240D (thank you Jethro Tull) and it came with an owners manual. Said on the front that it covered 240TD as well!!

Could this be true? If so, why don't I see them everywhere like 240D and 300D, DT and TD?? I would be very interested in seeing a 240D with the extra kick a turbo provides!

Just curious...now back to work.

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Current: '91 300TE 4MATIC 317k and climbing...
Former:
'81 300TD Wagon 168K "Tank"
'83 240D 216K 4spd manual "Da Bear" (aka best car ever)

"Never sweat the petty things...
and never pet the sweaty things."

I guess the T means Transporter (that is to say Wagon as mentioned by TX Bill).

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in France : 240D 1981 380 000 km
240D 1984 252 000 km
300D 1978 325 000 km
in the US : Ford Tempo 1993 70K

The dealer information refers this as being a Touring Diesel don't no for sure!

I think the factory shop manual refers to it as sedan-Touring....

Actually I think the TD may stand for the leveling system... At least one actual sedan had the leveling system like the wagon..and was a TD without being a wagon...

So my wagon would be 300 TD-T ,,, I think....

Thanks for the clarification guys!

I can't keep that straight!

TXBill: What do you think of the 240TD? Would it be considered "rare" or is it even worth searching for?
(not that I am looking.... )

__________________
Current: '91 300TE 4MATIC 317k and climbing...
Former:
'81 300TD Wagon 168K "Tank"
'83 240D 216K 4spd manual "Da Bear" (aka best car ever)

"Never sweat the petty things...
and never pet the sweaty things."

A 240TD (wagon) was pretty popular in europe, but I have -never- seen one in the USA. There was never a 240D Turbo made, ever.

The "T" actually stands for "tourisk" in german (sp?) which in english means "touring".

There was a 240TD in west Michigan a few years back. It was a Euro, imported by someone in the military. Unfortunately, it died from rust rot. I looked it over once--very nice car. It was a manny tranny as well, so it drove pretty well. I also saw one on E-Bay about a year ago, out in Oregon. Tempted to bid, but Oregon is a long way!

If I see another, especially one with a manny tranny, I'll probably try to buy it, unless the rust has taken over.

Bill, I did find it on Ebay,,, a pic of a sedan which said 300TD on the back.. and asked you about that since I thought it meant wagon also...what did you do with that pic ?

That owner of that car on e-bay may of just affixed a 300TD emblem on the car, just to be different. Around here there is a guy driving around in a W123 chassis that says 300SD on the trunk. The body of the car is dark blue with a cream colored roof. Quickly it looks like a miniture Rolls Royce.

__________________
1999 MB SL500 (110,000 mi)
2004 Volvo V70 2.5T (220,000 mi)
2014 Tesla Model S 85 (136,000 mi)
MBCA member

German speakers use the word "Touring" spelled just as it is in English; one can, however, also find "Tourenwagen" and "Touren" used in German texts (and in my big two volume Langenscheidts dictionary). Apparently they have taken the early 20th century notion of a "touring car" and continued it for any vehicle which has a long roof extending all the way from the windshield to the back end, without a trunk, because the aforementioned Swiss cousin's pride and joy, a collectible early '70s BMW 2002tii Touring, had the word spelled out just that way on its rear end, but that particular model would be almost into the realm of what we would call a "hatchback" in the USA, if the 3rd "door" sloped a little more. This could be confirmed by going to a German language BMW or Mercedes site to see how the models are described.

On the back end of an old '66 Maserati, on the other hand, the word "Touring" referred to the Italian body builder.

I just consulted (edit: was "got") my factory brochure for the German market cars, which come in three separate parts for the W123 family of cars. The "T-Modell" as it is called, is never given the name "Touren" or "Touring" or any other explanation of the meaning of the "T" designation. The series of "T-Modelle" are noted in another part of the brochure to be "T-Limousinen" and the connection to the "W123 Limousine" heritage is stressed to make the point that it has the same turning circle and fits in the same parking places.

It is further noted to solve the issues of transporting goods, there is a large (1.23 meters long by 1.48 meters wide (max) area behind the rear seats, that can be expanded to 1.78 meters long by folding the rear seats, or 2.03 meters long if you remove the seat cushions in the rear seat) area to load (up to 700 kg)and a standard, across the board for all models "Niveauregulierung" or self levelling system to maintain stability.

All the models were: 240TD, 300TD, 300TD Turbo-Diesel, 200T, 230TE, and 280TE. I think we can imagine the first two even though they never officially arrived here from Mercedes-Benz, but the next ones may seem really odd. The 200T was a 2.0 liter, 4 cylinder carburetor equipped motor delivering 109 hp (no emissions system). The 230TE had the engine that eventually made its US appearance in the 190E 2.3, but in this car it was a 2.3 liter fuel injected 4 cylinder delivering 136 hp without an emissions system. And the 280TE had a 2.8 liter in-line 6 cylinder engine delivering 185 hp (no emissions system). All the cars except the 300TD Turbo-Diesel came with a 4 speed manual as standard equipment, and all could be ordered with a 5 speed or an automatic. The 300TD Turbo-Diesel only came with an automatic.

The only turbocharged Diesel model available was the 300TD Turbo-Diesel, as the sedan was never sold over there with this engine. Neither was the "S" Class until the W126 era. I believe the 350SD was the first "S" Class offered in the home market with a Diesel of any sort.

While the "T" designation remains unidentified, I recall the "Touring" designation from the days I lived in Germany being associated with wagon models. But it is definitely not called Touring by Mercedes-Benz in their brochures. Jim

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Own:
1986 Euro 190E 2.3-16 (291,000 miles),
1998 E300D TurboDiesel, 231,000 miles -purchased with 45,000,
1988 300E 5-speed 252,000 miles,
1983 240D 4-speed, purchased w/136,000, now with 222,000 miles.
2009 ML320CDI Bluetec, 89,000 miles

Owned:
1971 220D (250,000 miles plus, sold to father-in-law),
1975 240D (245,000 miles - died of body rot),
1991 350SD (176,560 miles, weakest Benz I have owned),
1999 C230 Sport (45,400 miles),
1982 240D (321,000 miles, put to sleep)