93' 300D with some problems
 

I'm looking at a 93 300d with 170k. I noticed in some limited recent paperwork he has that the independent repair shop listed these areas that needed repair. (1) Front flex disc. What is this? Is it like a u-joint? Do I just pull the drive shaft to repair? Or is it more than that? (2) leak in injector pump area. That doesn't sound too bad, unless I had to replace the pump. (3) transmission cooler lines seeping. slips on 3-4 shift. (4) Both rear wheels bent. Are these repairable? At what cost? What about good used ones? (5) When I drove it I noticed it was REALLY slow, no turbo feel at all, whatsoever. Then in the paperwork they said "turbo boost, fuel". I have read previously of a blocked tube. Maybe that is it. If someone could run a carfax for me I would apreciate it. The vin is WDBEB28E9PB941570 . My e-mail is tripacer99d@msn.com Thanks

The front flex disc is MB's solution for transferring load between two moving shafts placed end to end. The same thing can be accomplished by a universal joint and in fact, the u joint allows for more offset than the flex disc (another sign of MB engineering). There is one u joint in the center of the driveshaft in addition to a support bearing and housing. If you can do u joints then you can do flex disc - pretty straight forward. Cooler lines are an easy fix. Fluid/filter change may help the 3-4 slip.

I would be very concerned about "both rear wheels bent". If they hit something hard enough to bend wheels then I imagine there is some suspension work at that corner. I would take a real hard look at the suspension system. How does it drive down the road? Does it feel weird going around corners/steering? Don't really have a comment on the turbo.

There is an '87 model listed in the Macon paper, low mileage, perfect records, $7500. Email me if you want the phone #.

I have owned a 92 300D for about 50K now. Overall it has been a great car. If you are serious, I would recommend having this car thoroughly examined by a MB specialist. The flex disk and trans lines are common and easily repaired issues. The IP leak may be as well depending on were it was comming from.

The 3-4 shift may be due to low ATF (lines seeping), trans "flare" -resolved by a vacuum adjustment, or a bad trans. Trans do go on these cars if they have been poorly mantained and driven hard.

My chief concern would be the wheels as well. They may have been on the front and were causing vibration after being damaged, then moved to the rear. Or the could have been on one side and the car drifted into a curb. Where ever they were, it could have been a serious impact resulting in further damage. I would be very careful here.

When properly mantained, these cars are great. They still need repairs, sometimes a lot of repairs. Overall, they are an excellent balence of luxery, performance and economy.

Here is a link to a 93 300D site:

http://www.mindspring.com/~houlihan/mb.htm