Beautiful 12K mile original 300SD W126
 

Stumbled upon this while "pokin around" on YouTube. Wonder what they'd let it go for? The engine/compartment is amazingly clean. As is the entire car.... Checked their website, they're asking $34,900. Compared to the crap known as "new cars", these days, seems like a steal! Makes my '83 240D, with 200K+ miles, that I paid 900 bucks for, look, drive and sound like a POS.....lol :<(
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MDbR7uF0JYs

I used to hate the w126s because of the ugly headlights and the silly wipers.

Nowadays, I would totally get one now that I know it's possible to delete both of them for good looking euro headlights.

I find the head/fog light arrangement quite appealing, actually. Not sure I know what you mean about the "silly wipers"? What a boring world this would be if we all liked the same thing....

Don't forget that there are also different headlight wipers between Euro and North American versions. The North American wipers will work on the Euro lights, but the Euro wipers won't work on the North American headlights. The Euro wipers also aren't as "blocky".

Last year of the OM617 Turbo in the W126. When I think about how many fools pay north of $30K for newly made tin cans, I wonder why this car hasn't sold - guess its hard for someone to spend "new car" money for something made 35 years ago.

Given how unimpressive most new conventional cars I've driven are, including the new A220 I just rented, I don't think I'll purchase a new ICE vehicle again. Time to buy some tesla stock...

don't know.Old plastic,old rubber, seen things turn to dust.Unless ) hudmidity garage

Drive it 100k miles and all of a sudden it’s worth 5000. That’s why it’s a hard sell.


...and for the new car bashers. Most new cars can go 300k miles and are significantly stronger in their structure than these old cars.

Facts!

"Drive it 100k miles and all of a sudden it’s worth 5000"......I must respectfully disagree with this statement. Another member recently posted an '84 (1 yr older than the car in this discussion) 300D with around 65K miles (around 5x's the mileage of this SD) recently sold for over $20K. Not trying to start an argument here, or anything like that, but I'd be surprised if by the time the 300D hit 100K miles it would lose 75% of it's current value. Assuming, of course, the car was well cared for and properly maintained.....
As for "significantly stronger in their structure than these old cars", let's compare "apples to apples", shall we? About all a currently produced car has in common with an 80's Benz is that it has 4 tires, an engine and you drive it...... :>) (a little sarcasm there)

Son...I say this with love...you ain't got a clue!

Screwdriva......couldn't have said it any better myself. You must be a mind reader because thats EXACTLY what I was thinkin.....

Well...

...enlighten me;) I’ve only owned these things in addition to several new vehicles for the past 15 years...

No kidding, new cars are WAY structurally stronger. Especially those of MB creation. I can lift up any of my MB's from one corner on the jack 2 feet in the air and the whole side of the car will lift off the ground with NO flex whatsoever...can open and close all doors as if it were sitting level on the ground. Try that with an average W123 or W126....not gonna happen! Add some rust and its REALLY not gonna happen. You don't realize the difference until you go from an old W126 to a newer MB. I had a rust free 420SEL and it had tons of body flex....thats what leads to all the creaking interior parts/panels.

My brother is in the process of trading in his 2009 e350 for a 2016 E400.....drive one of those....its crazyness. So quiet, so fast, so comfortable.

I can lift my '79 240D at one corner and still have all the doors close perfectly fine. There is some flex, but not as bad as my '03 Dakota had. Definitely not as bad as my sisters '16 Fiat.

New cars will go 300K miles but require a lot more repairs to even get close.

The car sold for more than that in 1985. That thing is beautiful and you could have close to that tied up bringing a lesser car up to specs. The drive train would be no problem at all. Perhaps things like the climate control would be an issue. The MBtex and seats only degrade with use. Perhaps the AC seals would be bad and you'd have to refurbish and convert to something modern.

I have some newer cars and they are a pita to work on. The 15 Volvo needs to be hooked to a computer with factory software to reset the brakes.

I'd consider if closer but am hesitant to fly to look at a car sitting at a dealership.