My "new" 220D and my Mercedes diesel love

[Phil_F_NM]

This is quite long so I apologize in advance. Mods: If this belongs in another forum discussion area, please feel free to move it.

So I fell in love with diesel Mercedes-Benz autos when I saw my friend Mike's so-dark-green-it-looks-black 1973 220D in February or 2012. I was only near the car for a few days as I was out in the area for his wedding. I was also his photographer, so you can read a bit of the story and see some photos of the wedding and the car here.

August of that year I found myself out in New Mexico, needing a car for a job. I was looking for an old favorite of mine, a pre-1982 Toyota Corolla (I really wanted any car pre-1986 because of the complexity of emissions and computer codes after OBD1 Kenobe.) I had a 1978 Corolla liftback which I loved, back when I was in the Navy stationed at NAS Whidbey Island, Washington (where I met Mike about thirteen years ago.)

Scouring the craigslist ads and the autotrader I couldn't find a decent Corolla or old CVCC for less than $6000 for some reason. Mike told me to look for diesel Mercedes and I remembered how much I loved his car but thought I'd be in it for the same amount as a Corolla. Not to mention that I'd never worked on a diesel before in my life. I'd rebuilt VW, and Ford engines. Torn apart just about every domestic brand and a few Japanese but the high German marque of excellence was daunting.

I found my 1978 300D just 2 miles from where I grew up in Edgewood, New Mexico. It belonged to the guy who lived across the street from my old scoutmaster for years. I called him up, checked what I thought was everything over, drove it and fell a little bit in love. It had been a full six years since i'd owned a vehicle. Living in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, I just didn't need one.



So I bought the 300D and set to learning about these things.

I learned a ton.

I replaced every single suspension bushing in the rear of the car and a bunch in the front. New rear springs, shocks, fluids, everything I needed to make it reliable.

It's been a wonderful year and just over 13,000 miles. A trip from New Mexico to Washington.



Then to the east coast.

What I didn't pay attention to when I bought the car was the rust. The engine is strong like it's brand new but the body behind the wheel wells is lacking. Lacking anything. I used to be able to see through the floor at the corners of the footwells. The jackpoints are almost rusted out but from what I can gather, they still hold a load. I'm always leery about them so I take extra precautions when raising the car with the Bilstein jack. By the way, that Bilstein jack needs some praise. It is a serious tool and I lifted my 300D about 50 times those first few months when I was getting everything ready to go.

So the 300D has a tranny leak at the front pump seal and I have nowhere here in Jersey City to work on the car. Add to that, the evil servo is dead and the AC pump is seized. The pully just freewheels on the shaft. The interior is well worn and it's all atop the rust. If I had a garage to fix her up I would gut the car and get some patches welded in to take care of the rust but it's insidious and rather extensive.

These last few months I've been thinking of these repairs and how I was going to get them done and still get around. A few positive financial things changed that allowed me a bit of breathing room and I was about to just send her off for a full refreshing but having a shop do it would have cost me well over $6000, mostly labor. If I did the work myself, I'd have to move to a location pretty far away where I could afford to rent a place with a garage that I could work in. That was still looking to cost me over $3000 just to fix the tranny and the evil servo.

So I got a “wild hair” and started scouring the classifieds again for a car. This time for the car I wanted.
I called about six different people in five different states. I was about to take a detour on my upcoming roadtrip to the southwest, down to El Paso to buy a very nice 220D. Then Friday evening (the 23rd of August) I found a 220D in almost the exact same color as my 300D, just 8 miles west of where I live.

(This is the photo from the craigslist ad.)

I called the owner up, went over and checked the car over.

When I saw it, I was astounded. Jackpoints looked new. No rust under the pan. No rust behind the wheel wells like my 300D has. Just a small non-structural spot on the passenger side behind the rear wheel well which is going to be fixed ASAP. No rust under the battery. There was a tiny little 3 inch dent from what I think was an accidental backing into something and then where the bumper bolts on to the frame, there is rust visible in the trunk. The trunk itself has surface rust but not deep.

Wheels felt solid and didn't rock any way, fore-aft, side-side, up-down. Shocks need to be replaced but I figured as much.

Under the hood the powerplant looked so spartan compared to my 300D. Just an engine and an alternator. No power steering! (well, it's one less thing to leak!) Engine has a little blowby but not a ton. Just makes the cap dance a bit. It had a leaky injector which was a good bargaining chip too. No problem to change that out with a known good injector.

The car drives great. In spite of no power steering, it handles well and it has a ton of pickup. That first gear is so low that the car gets up and scoots pretty quickly. Much better than my 300D. I can't imagine hanging an OM617 off that tranny. That would be a lot of torque. The test drive went great but the car has a few hiccups:

Heater/fresh air blower doesn't work.
Windshield wipers don't work.
Reverse lights don't work (shifter linkage is a bit loose so this may be the issue which I'll correct with new bushings.)
Glow plug switch / Pull starter knob broken off
Clock doesn't work
There is a single very small crack in the dash. It actually looks like a factory cut right in the center.
The driver seat upper corners have small tears that can easily be repaired.
Headliner needs a bit of repair on the passenger side rear pillar.









But those are all little things. Considering the stars in my eyes for this rust-free beauty, I didn't see any of her little imperfections.

So I made him an offer a couple hundred lower than what he was asking and here she is. Today, all mine.

Me and my "new" 220D and my "old" 300D.

This is the car I wanted (and I don't mind the color, even) a year and a half ago but had to learn to respect and even adore these old beautiful workhorses before I could find it.

Phil Forrest