i've located the following 2 cars for sale the 87 has 133,000 miles well maintained for $7500.00,it has records from their independent m-b garage which is also selling it for a customer!
the other is a 82 300sd with 105,000 miles for $5000.00 from private owner,car has some records! i've never owned a disel,but i hear they run forever and are cheap to maintain!
my questions are which is more reliable,less costly to operate and repair and the pro's and cons of each car! one m-b tech says to stay away from the early models of the 300e,says 92 are the best of the older ones!also do these price sound fair?
thanks in advance
eek
91 190e 2.3 82000 miles

I feel that both are great cars.
I have a silver 84 SD 171K that I paid 6K for, and have put maybe 2.5K in a year or so, fixing the air, doing front suspension (caster joints) and tires.

The two cars are different in personality. The 300E will handle more nimbly, is faster, should consume a bit more (premium unleaded) fuel. The SD is roomier, smoother riding, more tank like handling. It's slower than the 300E, which for me means fewer speeding tickets.

In a 300E I'd check the speedo and would be accelerating from 70-75 mph and would want to go faster just because the car will top out at 137 mph or so, compared to 102 mph on the SD.

In my SD I check the speedo between 55 and 65, and tend to follow traffic rather than race everyone.

If diesel fuel is a lot more or less than premium unleaded in your area, this might influence your decision. There's a county in Georgia along I-95 where diesel was a full 25 cents cheaper than unleaded regular, and 50 cents cheaper than premium...depends on where you live I guess.

At 133K miles the 300E should have had a timing chain by now. If not, figure on doing that soon on the 300E; the SD may have another 45K of life left on the chain before it needs replacement. The SD will need a valve adjustment every 15K miles.

Really, if both are in comparable condition, it should boil down to which one you like to drive best. Happy shopping,

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Robert W. Roe
1984 300SD 171K mi

At first I was going to lean towards the SD, but seeing as you're in Troy, you'll want to consider two things...1) Pick the less rusty of the two. 2) See if the SD has enough pick up for you to get on to the I75 & Big Beaver Rd. (Exit 69) without concern for your safety.
If it were in FL I'd go for the SD, or a newer 300E. (If you're afraid of busting knuckles in the cold harsh nasty winters of Mi. while adjusting valves, there are guidelines for adjusting them warm.)
-Larry

Busting knuckles?!!!!

With the $$$$ you'll save on maintenance and gasoline you can just take it over to John & Holger Service Center on 9 Mile in Eastpointe. Cost you less than a hundred bucks.


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FrankieZ
84 500SEL EURO 87K
85 300D 267K (and still goin' strong)

I bought a 300SD about a year ago with 215,000 miles on it. Presently, it has 240,000 miles on the clock and is my daily driver. I've put less $ in this one than the low mile (125K) 300D I bought two years ago.

My theory is, these cars have two lives. One up to around 175-185K, Then another beyond that after some previous owner has replaced the A/C,tranny,brakes ect.

I think $5K is in line for a clean low miler, but if you have to make the repairs mentioned above,you're looking at $5-6K. Now you have $10K invested in a car worth $5K.

Whatever you do, NEVER buy a desil without having a compression check done first. I looked at one a couple of months ago that was pretty nice with 125K on it,but it had thrown a rod. Miles don't mean a thing if the oil hasn't been changed.

The other thing to consider as mentioned by the other respondents is driveability for your area. Desils don't like to start in very cold weather and hills can be a challenge for such a heavy tank as a 300SD.

A 300E is a whole different animal. It's everything mentioned by the others. I'm partial to the old "oil burners" because they have charachter, require less maintainance and if some jerk is riding your tail, open the throttle and he's plowing through a cloud of black(hopefully not blue) smoke.

Let me know if you become a member of the "German Yact Club"

Mr. BILL

85 300D
84 300SD

OOPS! It's late and I worked all day. I didn't spell desel correctly. I should proof my posts more carefully.

Mr. Bill

How about the best of both worlds? I have a 1991 300d 2.5, which is the 300E body with a diesel engine. The car has all of the technology upgrades from a 300E and the diesel engine as well? I originally was looking at an 85 300SD or a 91-93 300D. I chose the newer car because the previous owner, owned the MBZ dealership. The car had 167K on it when I bought it, I paid 10K for the car and it came with every single record, including each time it was filled up with fuel.
Good luck!!