U.S. sold car or Euro spec?

[The Warden]

Hello!

I went with a friend to look at an '83 240D this evening. I forgot how much fun it is to drive the 240D 4 speeds The car looked to be great; couldn't see it in the daytime, though, so we have to go look at it again for signs of cancer. Also want to do a compression check, just to be on the safe side, although the car runs beautifully.

My question is this. The owner said that the car was a Euro car that had been brought over here from Stuttgart by the first owner. However, everything looked to be U.S. spec. The lights and the front and rear bumpers were all DOT spec, although I couldn't see if the labeling was in English or German due to the light (or lack thereof), and the speedo was a 100mph unit. Is there a way to tell the true story of how the car got here? BTW, one interesting thing to note is that it has a manual sunroof; this is the first time I've seen one. I know that some Euro import cars were modified to meet DOT regs; I'm just wondering if this car was one of those or if it was really sold in the U.S. (the owner sounded like he really believes this, although it wouldn't surprise me if someone exaggerated along the way before he got it ).

Also, somewhat different topic, but after shutting the engine down in a panic when the oil pressure reading didn't come up, the owner told us that the pressure line leaked, so his mechanic (who, from other indications, doesn't know what he's doing) apparently disconnected the line and plugged it. I was a bit nervous about this, but the engine ran for maybe 20 minutes without seizing or sounding weird, so I think it's true. I'm thinking right now that someone cross-threaded the connection ot the gauge. Can just the oil pressure gauge assembly be replaced, or does the whole instrument cluster need to be replaced? Also, how hard is it to find a replacement pressure line?

Thanks! As far as I can tell, all this car needs to be good to go is the oil pressure gauge fixed, new tires, and new axleshafts... heck, I'd buy it if I had the $$