FS: 1985 300D Sedan, Smoke Silver/Palomino, good driver, $1,900 Middle Tennessee - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

DieselClan · #1 11-27-2013, 09:52 PM

1985 Mercedes 300D Sedan Turbo Diesel in Smoke Silver with Palomino MB-Tex. Car is far from perfect but is presentable considering its age and mileage.

The car is a Nashville car from new and I believe I may be the 3rd registered owner. First 2 owners were father and then son after father passed. Father was a traveling salesmen and racked up miles like nothing- I have 3 maintenance booklets that are filled with oil service stamps/write-ins from 1985 till about 2003 or so when the car had 350k+ miles on it. This is when the son took ownership and did (I suppose) did the work himself. I don't have any other records for miscellaneous repairs.

Okay, so the car has 434,xxx miles reading on the odometer. The motor was replaced last August (2012) when the original was diagnosed with low compression. I found a motor with 205k on the clock (no documentation unfortunately but I trusted the seller and the motor runs really good). The odometer still works along with the trip meter, fuel gauge and even the clock still works. The tach worked when I first bought it but stopped working sometime last year (at the same time the A/C stopped working so the 2 may be related somehow according to my mechanic). I did replace the A/C compressor and receiver drier and expansion valve after I bought it and the A/C worked but has since stopped working. After getting it fixed I realized the center vents are inoperable and never had them fixed. The only other items that are not working at the time is: Driver's rear window (needs a motor), temperature gauge, rear window defroster, and cruise control as far as I can recall- even the antenna still works. The sunroof worked last I checked (shortly after purchase in May 2011) but I've never tried it since then to confirm if it still works.

Here's a list of maintenance/repairs done since May 2011:

-Thermostat
-Accelerator pivot mount
-Replaced fuel sending unit with used unit
-Replaced RF door check
-Replaced 2 front brake lines (last December)
-Replaced front brake pads/calipers (last month)
-Replaced front/rear flex discs and trans mount
-Replaced motor mounts when we did the engine swap
-We just had to replace some of the locks in the car (trunk lock seized). So there are 2 different keys to use.
-Also replaced the front headlight doors with new units
-Just had the tires rotated and balance @ Discount Tire where tires were purchased. Tires are matching Michelin Destiny's in good shape- one was damaged on the sidewall when my brother hit a curb. It didn't show any signs of losing air so I didn't replace it.

Exterior is in okay shape, paint is slightly faded on the hood and on other random areas and shaded slightly differently on R/R side of car and there's the typical dings and scratches associated with a car of this age and mileage. The worst problem with the exterior is some rust on the bottom of the rear wheel wells- I think this is the only rust areas, meaning no frame or chassis rust. Floor pans are also clean. I think the R/R quarter panel might be developing rust in it because I see some bubble starting where the molding sits- may be a good idea to just replace the entire quarter panel. All glass appears to be in good shape.

Interior is also in decent shape considering the age and miles. The seats are presentable with minimal tears (some tears on passenger front seat). The dash has a dash cover on it and there are some cracks but nothing hideous (I've seen much, much worse). Headliner is good. The carpeting on the back dash appears 'aftermarket' and is nasty looking (was like this when I bought it) and I would want to replace it- the first aid cover is also broken. Floor carpet is okay but could probably use a good shampooing (which I'm going to try and do if I can get a warm day off). Oh, and all the wood trim that is missing in the pictures I have them and they've been put back on already and I also have the carpet liner for the center console in place now.

Mechanically the car runs good, the motor purrs great and has nice pickup (amazingly)- but still not the greatest on highway acceleration. The transmission has been giving issues off and on. I bought it because it wouldn't shift out of 1st and my mechanic replaced a bunch of vacuum lines and got it working better. Then it would slip going into 4th and you'd have to get it in 4th manually. My mechanic did some more adjusting and got it to where it doesn't do it as frequently and noticeably however it will still do it from time to time. So, at worst the car may need a replacement transmission somewhere down the road or it could be a good candidate for a manual transmission swap.

Some items the car will need in the future: The power locks aren't working and I may have my mechanic fix them, says there's a couple vacuum elements that are causing this issues. The L/R door check needs replacing but I can't seem to find new ones online so may have to find a good used one. Then of course all the items listed above that I mentioned aren't working.

Car is currently tagged and has a clean/clear TN title ready to sign over. Passes emission with no problem (most recent in July). Selling to gather up some money to help family. I'd like $1,900 for it and am pretty firm on that. You can e-mail/PM me here or through the post or you can text/call me at 615-915-703FiVe

I'm including a link to photos I have on photobucket but as much as I hate to admit they are old photos but they are all I have for now. Car hasn't changed much except the rust in the rear wheel wells has developed much more. I included a photo of this rust from inside the trunk that I took with my phone because I haven't had a digi cam with me for a while.

Exterior photos: 85_300Dpics Photos by daimlerdiesel300d | Photobucket

Interior/Misc photos: 85_300D_InteriorEngine Photos by daimlerdiesel300d | Photobucket

Note: the motor photographed in the provided photos is the older engine. I will try to get some recent photos whenever possible.

DieselClan · #2 11-30-2013, 02:53 PM

Here's some recent pics I took on Thanksgiving. I've loaned the car to my brother so it's hard for me to get to it at a minutes notice. Included are photos of the floorpans showing their shape and the rust from inside the trunk with the trunk liner removed (passenger side).

85_300DNov2013 Photos by daimlerdiesel300d | Photobucket

gatorblue92 · #3 12-01-2013, 08:40 AM

Your photo album from your 2nd post is private. Looks like a decent example though. GLWS!

DieselClan · #4 12-01-2013, 12:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gatorblue92

Your photo album from your 2nd post is private. Looks like a decent example though. GLWS!

Whoops, thanks for the heads up. It has been fixed now for 'public' viewing.

DieselClan · #5 12-08-2013, 03:29 PM

Bump....and I forgot to mention in the ad (for potential Northerner buyers) that the car is equipped with the engine block heater which works perfectly.

Also, I forgot to mention that I have the spare upper engine oil pan from the motor that was no good and will throw it in the sale. The oil pan is in good shape, just needs a cleaning and replace the lower oil pan/gasket that's on it (has a small dent and it just makes sense to) before installing elsewhere.

strelnik · #6 12-09-2013, 10:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DieselClan

Bump....and I forgot to mention in the ad (for potential Northerner buyers) that the car is equipped with the engine block heater which works perfectly.

Also, I forgot to mention that I have the spare upper engine oil pan from the motor that was no good and will throw it in the sale. The oil pan is in good shape, just needs a cleaning and replace the lower oil pan/gasket that's on it (has a small dent and it just makes sense to) before installing elsewhere.

So can you explain what has to be done to the oil pan before the vehicle can drive any disrtance?

Mölyapina · #7 12-09-2013, 11:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by strelnik

So can you explain what has to be done to the oil pan before the vehicle can drive any disrtance?

Did he say that there is a problem with oil pan? I missed that...

DieselClan · #8 12-09-2013, 01:05 PM

There is nothing wrong with the (upper) oil pan that's on the engine right now. I just have a spare (upper) oil pan that was on the original motor that was pulled last year which was in good shape and can include it in the sale if any potential buyer wants a spare pan. The only thing the spare pan will need is a new lower oil pan because it has a small dent and as PM.

DieselClan · #9 12-22-2013, 08:10 PM

ttt again...

Also, I got the locks working again to some degree today. Replaced the yellow 2-way check valve with a new one and they all started working again albeit were a little slow. I was in a rush and it could've used a little more time to build up vacuum but they are working.

Turned on the A/C and it was blowing cold (but then again it was 60 degrees out today) so it felt cold to me. Went through the fan speeds and it all works fine. As stated in the first post though the center vents aren't working so they'd need repairing (vacuum pods most likely).

DieselClan · #10 02-12-2014, 05:49 PM

EDIT 3/4/2014: NO LONGER FOR SALE....

Bump again.

New PP members price is $1,700.

A little update on the car's condition since December- with all the cold weather we've been having my brother was keeping the block heater plugged in and one day the plug end broke off so I bought a replacement cord and inspected the old one quickly one day and noted it wasn't even hooked up to the block. So the whole time the thing wasn't even working but he never had any issues starting the car in all this cold weather so that's a good sign. The cord still needs to be put back together and hooked up properly.

Also, just the other day one of the keys broke in half so I just bought some new blanks online and will try to get them cut and hope it works out.

I'm in no way in a hurry or rush to sell this car as my brother is using it but did just buy an '87 300D last month and am trying to fix that up so it would be nice to have a little spare money but if I don't get it from selling this car it'll just be a slow work in progress.