Okay, so I'm seriously thinking of buying another E300 I found. It's a 99 e300. I've been working a lot and have more money to feed my addiction so why not buy another project or two? I found this car in Jersey the other day. It has 435K miles and is pretty clean for the most part, some minor rocker rust, nothing major I can't fix. interior is immaculate mb tex. It also has a very bad misfire (5/6 cylinders white smoke at idle) much like the car i got a couple weeks ago that had a bad injector but its more concerning considering the higher mileage because it could be a bottom end issue. guy took good care of it, lots of records. a shop told him a bad IP. he wants $950 and wont take a dollar less because he says its worth more in parts. would you walk? i'd like to try and fix it and do a compression test and see what comes back. i just think it's rediculous for a car with that high of mileage that could be nothing more than a parts car

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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

Depending on the intended end use. If you are buying it to get it running and sell it, what is your time and reputation worth.
The w210 with 500k running good is a 2k vehicle on the high side IMO.
If you needed a, keep your fingers crossed vehicle, for cheap, for a longer commute than average thats a coin toss, and a not to expensive gamble. It could last ten miles or 110k miles.
Keep in mind, as the saying goes, "the most expensive vehicle on the planet is a cheap MB".

Prices will keep dropping. Don't you have other cars to work on?

Sixto
83 300SD
98 E320 wagon

Jake - Take a deep breath then say "My name's Jake and I have a problem.....". It took me years to realize that I can't save them all - I'd let this one slide.

Dan

Nice to see one with that kind of mileage out there.

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14 E250 Bluetec "Sinclair", Palladium Silver on Black, 153k miles
06 E320 CDI "Rutherford", Black on Tan, 171k mi, Stage 1 tune, tuned TCU
91 300D "Otis", Smoke Silver, 142k mi, wastegate conversion

19 Honda CR-V EX 61k mi
Fourteen other MB's owned and sold
1961 Very Tolerant Wife

At some point it's worth it just to see how many miles you can rack up.

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14 E250 Bluetec "Sinclair", Palladium Silver on Black, 153k miles
06 E320 CDI "Rutherford", Black on Tan, 171k mi, Stage 1 tune, tuned TCU
91 300D "Otis", Smoke Silver, 142k mi, wastegate conversion

19 Honda CR-V EX 61k mi
Fourteen other MB's owned and sold
1961 Very Tolerant Wife

To me the rust is a bigger problem than the motor.

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BENZ THERE DONE THAThttp://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/...c/progress.gif
15 VW Passat TDI
00 E420
98 E300 DT
97 E420 Donor Car - NEED PARTS? PM ME!
97 S500
97 E300D
86 Holden Jackaroo Turbo D
86 300SDL
(o\|/o)

I say let the guy wait until someone pays him $950. I'm willing to bet it stays on CL for a long time.

The rust is a deal-killer right off the bat. The engine issues are the frosting on the cake.

If you want it, hold up $250 in cash. If he wants to sell it, its yours. If he doesn't, it wasn't meant to be. At that mileage and with that kind of rust, it's a parts car at best. Even if you fix it up, you likely won't get your $950 back out of it if you tried to sell it.

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Current stable:
1995 E320 149K (Nancy)
1983 500SL 120K (SLoL)

Black Sheep:
1985 524TD 167K (TotalDumpster™)

Gone but not forgotten:
1986 300SDL (RIP)
1991 350SD
1991 560SEL
1990 560SEL
1986 500SEL Euro (Rusted to nothing at 47K!)

Depends on the individual. Unless one wants to get into a total rebuild or restoration. I have concerns over metal fatigue beyond certain accumulated milages with any brand of car as well.


At this milage the car may already have one foot in the grave unless a fortune has been spent on it.

Spring perches, spring perches and once again spring perches. If the car is from Jersey, you can rest assured that it has had a lot of exposure to BRINE, which ends up in every nook and cranny. My 96 E300d was a dream car until the passenger side spring perch decided to self destruct, taking out the right side of the engine compartment, snapping the spring in half, and riping out the break lines in the process. Thank God the car was parked in front of my house when it decided to self destruct. Had I been going 60-75 mph, I would not be here writing this post!!!!!

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96 E300d

It's interesting....every spring perch failure story I've heard has happened at low speed or no speed. I wonder why.

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14 E250 Bluetec "Sinclair", Palladium Silver on Black, 153k miles
06 E320 CDI "Rutherford", Black on Tan, 171k mi, Stage 1 tune, tuned TCU
91 300D "Otis", Smoke Silver, 142k mi, wastegate conversion

19 Honda CR-V EX 61k mi
Fourteen other MB's owned and sold
1961 Very Tolerant Wife

I saw an E430 at the pick-n-pull the other day. It was in a front corner collision in which the perch was half torn off and the spring sitting loose. No rust anywhere. I imagine if the perch lets go at speed there's little left to decisively point fingers at

In a previous life I was into AWD Mitsubishis. There was a deficiency with the transfer case output shaft seal. I'm sure a number of drivers' abilities were faulted when a transfer case locked up at speed because who's going to dig that deeply into mechanical causes?

Sixto
83 300SD
98 E320 wagon

I have a different opinion than most, and that is to buy the car. Even if it is a parts car, that is worth it in my opinion. A car with that many miles may have had recent high dollar repairs done. If I had the choice between two similar cars with similar prices, and one has say, a recent trans rebuild, I would buy that one. If it does have recent repairs to any parts that are sellable, you could possibly make all your money back right away, and have the rest of the car as profit. Having a parts car available is of great benefit. My friend bought an identical car as his for parts, and only a month after he needed a water pump housing, fan and radiator. The parts car yielded those parts, and they would have cost as much as he paid for the whole car. Anything else needed from the car is now FREE! That being said, if I were in your position, had the money, and had the place to park the car, I would go buy the car NOW. Just my .02...........Rich

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All Diesel Fleet
1985 R107 300SLD TURBODIESEL
2005 E320 CDI (daily)

LOTS of parts for sale!


EGR block kit
http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/355250-sale-egr-delete-block-off-plate-kit.html

1985 CA emissions 617 owners- You Need This!
Sanden style A/C Compressor Mounting Kit for your 616/ 617 For Sale + Install Inst.

Sanden Instalation Guide (post 11):
http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/367883-sanden-retrofit-installation-guide.html

There's no right or wrong answer. There'll be something to regret about the decision whatever you decide To *me* it sounds like a $500 tops car. For $1000 I expect a needs nothing drivetrain or immaculate body. Things are different if you need something from it *now* or there's a unicorn aspect to it. As someone suggested, the seller needs to have a few tire kickers not even make offers before $500 sounds like the best offer. I say this from a locale in which there's usually a selection of rust free MB Diesels on Craigslist. It's not 'should I get this one' but 'which one should I get'

Sixto
83 300SD
98 E320 wagon

Because the high speed failures left no survivors to talk about it?

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Current rolling stock:
2001 E55 183,000+ Newest member of the fleet.
2002 E320 83,000 - The "cream-puff"!
1992 500E 217,000+
1995 E300D 412,000+
1998 E300D 155,000+
2001 E320 227,000+
2001 E320 Wagon, 177,000+

Prior MBZ’s:
1952 220 Cab A
1966 300SE
1971 280SE
1973 350SLC (euro)
1980 450SLC
1980 450SLC (#2)
1978 450SLC 5.0
1984 300D ~243,000 & fondly remembered
1993 500E - sorely missed.
1975 VW Scirocco w/ slightly de-tuned Super-Vee engine - Sold after 30+ years.