Help with new SD or SDL purchase

[rkinz]

Hello all. New to this forum and new to MB.
Well, I've gotten the MB diesel bug and am looking to get my feet wet, so I'm in the market for an MB diesel--most I can spend is about $5K.
The research I've been able to do thus far leads me to believe I probably want an SD, possibly an SDL, but I'm not sure what years to look for or avoid. However, I'm open to other suggestions about models (except the 240--my wife doesn't like the looks of it and I think its too slow for the driving I'll be doing). I'll be using the car to commute about 140 miles every day on interstate averaging 75 mph, so gas milage and reliability are crucial.
I'd like the car to be easy to work on so I can do some of the maintenance/repairs myself, so no computers and as few electronic engine/transmission controls as possible. Hope I'm not expecting too much.
Any tips would be appreciated. Thanks.

Robby