I am looking to buy another mercedes. Locally there is a 1988 300E with a new head gasket and 206,000 miles for sale for $1,800. I prefer diesels but they seem to be much more expensive now than they used to be. Are the diesels really worth the extra dollars? If so, which is better, a 1990 2.5 turbo or a later 6 cylinder diesel?

the 5 cylinder diesels of course .. but im biased..

No, but the same thing could be said of heroin and cocaine.

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1977 300d 70k--sold 08
1985 300TD 185k+
1984 307d 126k--sold 8/03
1985 409d 65k--sold 06
1984 300SD 315k--daughter's car
1979 300SD 122k--sold 2/11
1999 Fuso FG Expedition Camper
1993 GMC Sierra 6.5 TD 4x4
1982 Bluebird Wanderlodge CAT 3208--Sold 2/13

I too, have noticed the huge jump in price on diesels. I watched a 85 300D with rusted wheel wells and jackpoints in Rockford e-bay out at $3,600. I watched as a 91 Jetta with a push button bypass for the glow plugs, and a manual togle switch for the cooling fan, very rusty with 205,000 miles go for $2,200 on e-bay.
Next I watched a 82 Chevy Luv diesel fail to meet reserve at $6,500. What gives???

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1959 Gravely LI, 1963 Gravely L8, 1973 Gravely C12
1982 380SL
1978 450 SEL 6.9 euro restoration at 63% and climbing
1987 300 D
2005 CDI European Delivery
2006 CDI Handed down to daughter
2007 GL CDI. Wifes

people have gottem word of biodiesel and wvo fuels and how cheap it is..

i got my 85 300D for 2500 and 99% rust free she just needs a new paint job.. the clear is pealing some chrome work and maybe a lil interior work other than that shes fine for me

Bio fuels are not that great. They require a heck of a lot of time and money to blend, collect, and convert the car to run on. Then you have to baby sit the system when its in the car. Unless biodiesel is availible at the pump but if it costs more then reg diesel heck with it.

Since diesels have such high resale now I'd shop gas. Now is a great time to go 560SEL shopping!!

Besides a modern gas engine will get better mpg's then older diesels. My friends S320 gets better or equal mileage to my SDL. The S320 also runs on cheaper 91 octane. A properly tuned 300E should return high 20's on the highway, at least thats what I would expect.

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

Once you get evreything setup for the Biodiesel it is very economical. You don't really have to "babysit" the system either. Once you convert a few lines it is a good idea to watch things a bit so everything goes OK.

The beauty of a diesel is the CAPABILITY to run alternative fuels. In the spring, summer and fall I run 50% WVO/50% Diesel. Alot of people are running tranny fluid or used motor oil.

Diesels are beautiful things.

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'85 300SD (formerly california emissions)
'08 Chevy Tahoe
'93 Ducati 900 SS
'79 Kawasaki KZ 650
'86 Kawasaki KX 250
'88 Kawasaki KDX200
'71 Hodaka Ace 100
'72 Triumph T100R

Diesel here in the DC area is about $.85 over premium gasoline.

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Current:
2014 VW Tiguan SEL 4Motion 43,000 miles.

2016 Hyundai Santa Fe Sport (wife's).

Past:
2006 Jetta TDI 135,970 miles. Sold Nov. '13.
1995 E-320 Special Edition. 220,200 miles. Sold Sept. '07.
1987 190-E 16 valve. 153,000 miles. Sold Feb. '06.
1980 300-D 225,000 miles. Donated to the National Kidney Foundation.
1980 240-D manual, 297,500 miles. Totaled by inattentive driver.

$.52 in my area. Its nuts I rather drive an S600 then my 300SD it would be cheaper to fill!

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

ouch. diesel here by my house is .11 over regular... thats the lowest.. the others are .30 over regular.. you know where everyone goes lol

'85 300D gets
125 mpg* (paid for gallons)
if you factor in the cost of 1 gallon of RUG + 4 gallons of WVO...

but it's nice to have an SLC...

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'87 924S
'81 280SEL

Sold ->

81 300SD -
93 300E w/ 3.2
85 300D-
79 300SD
82 300CD
83 300CD - CA
87 190E 5 spd
87 Porsche 924S

"..I'll take a simple "C" to "G" and feel brand new about it..."