Our colleague got his 95' SL500 with 101k miles on the clock and is still enjoying the ride, now at 116k. With several repairs and general upkeep done throughout his time of ownership, we're expecting this car to continue running for quite some time!

Post photos of your MB with it's current mileage and let us know if any major repairs have been done up to this point!

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Pffft! 116K? What a piker. Shucks, there's guys over on the diesel page claiming 400K without an oil change AND they're still on their first tank of fuel!

289K on my '74 280C but the engine was replaced sometime in the past prior to my ownership, 10 years ago. I'd post pictures but the Arizona sun is unforgiving to paint and interior bits.

Transmission leaks a bit (quart every six months or so), M110 has the usual slight seep of oil at the block/head junction, all the rubber suspension bits have been replaced, both lower ball joints, a tie rod end or two, the rubber drive line components, brake pads, spark plugs, normal wear items.

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“Whatever story you're telling, it will be more interesting if, at the end you add, "and then everything burst into flames.”
― Brian P. Cleary, You Oughta Know By Now

413,650 on my 190DT as of today. Not so pretty after 30 years in the rust belt, but still starts up every time.

No recent photos, but mine has 349,270 at the moment. It had 293,509 when I bought it in October of 2005.

My bike, OTOH, just got the 18,000 mile service a couple hundred miles late. I don't plan on keeping it much past the 36,000 mile service.

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Whoever said there's nothing more expensive than a cheap Mercedes never had a cheap Jaguar.

83 300D Turbo with manual conversion, early W126 vented front rotors and H4 headlights 400,xxx miles
08 Suzuki GSX-R600 M4 Slip-on 22,xxx miles
88 Jaguar XJS V12 94,xxx miles. Work in progress.

Guy purchased a newer Mercedes gas coupe with eighty four thousand miles on it. No way to verify the mileage. Expensive model new. Took it to a dealer for an estimate of what was needed. He thought about 5K for everything.

Estimate was 11.5 K. The car was driving well but the dealer said that codes indicated the transmission alone might eat 6k. That estimate was not to fix all the faults but just the ones that they felt where really needed. It was an AMG coupe and the dealership mechanic suggested he consider reselling it.

If you cannot address the needs on newer models yourself. Plus you will be unable to without spending money on good test equipment. Buying them could result in a money pit quite easily. You need almost nothing to deal with the early models in comparison.

Plus the costs of replacement parts on average are reasonable in comparison as well. No doubt the AMG coupe was driven hard but a lot auxillary functions like stability control where out. So to me it is almost mandatory that the newer Mercedes used cars systems be read out before purchase is even considered.

There have been a few people posting here and there on other places about the massive repair costs involved with their Mercedes cars.

Some of these cars might need so much work if done at a dealer it exceeds their current purchase value. The day of us of taking the newest Mercedes cars to very high milage might be impractical in reality today.

I had a bug about 10 years ago to blow some bonus money on a 500SL. When the economy crashed here in the East, they were pretty cheap. Best decision I never made. Also kicked around buying a 500E a local Indy owned (165,000 mi.).

Passed on everything and keep rolling along with the 88 300CE M103. 146,000 miles total and I put on the last 101,000 in 15 years. Car turns 30 next year.

Along the way, what I remember without looking: Alternator, Water pump, radiator, ball joints, rear end suspension work, new exhaust system, Valve stem seals, fuel pump regulator and the unexpected in dash ignition failure.

1972 280SEL 4.5, 128 thousand miles, replaced the high-pressure power steering line a few years ago, and the rear fuel pump last year, but that's about it.

My mother bought the car new in 1972, then passed it on to me in 1997. I've been driving it ever since, though, as you can see, I don't drive much.

1983 240D, transplanted a 1984 300SD engine into her keeping the 240 manual transmission. Added a diff with a better highway gear ratio - can't remember what gasser it came out of. Most recent check on an intermittently working odometer showed about 317,249 miles. The SD had similar miles when we did the transplant 11 years ago. This year: valves adjusted and new glowplugs, all new front suspension, new brake booster, new engine and transmission mounts, new tires, still need to swap the center support bearing and propeller shaft rubber, but she purrs like a kitten. She's not pretty, but she's a survivor.

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Frau Frankenbenz: 1983 240D manual w/ 1984 300SD engine; 81 240D tranny; 2.88 diff. 317,XXX miles.

2004 VW Passat TDI Wagon: Offline awaiting an oil pump balance shaft delete

1978 International Scout 4 Cyl all stock: Awaiting exhaust repair

2005 Ford E350 Diesel: Getting everything from point A to B without complaint

638,539 miles..................but that's all four of them combined

126000

1983 300CD; 336870 and increasing every day.

My mercedes 617 turbo powered 39 Studebaker has about 250 miles now on the build.

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

I have a 1986 300SDL with 300,000 miles on the clock.






Repairs to the car when I purchased it are:
Tensioner arm replaced.
Tensioner shock replaced.
Tensioner pulley replaced.
Injector nozzles replaced.
Injectors rebuilt and calibrated.
Injection pump delivery valve system replaced. (Washer, spring, o-ring)
Hydraulic lifters replaced.
New fuel return lines.
New fuel hardline brackets to prevent the metal lines from warping and snapping due to vibration.
New intake manifold gasket.
Replaced vacuum pump with the improved sealed bearing design.
In a couple days I will replace the following:
Brake rotors
Brake hose
Brake lines
I will clean out the brake caliper pins and pistons as well.

Even with all of the stuff I did to my old 300SDL, it still idles rough when the engine is cold.
I'm going to test the resistance of the glow plugs, since they may be causing the smoke and rough idle on a cold engine.

Even when the engine is hot, it sometimes "skips" at idle. You can hear the engine "skip" and the vibration that ensues simultaneously along with it. Engine still knocks at low RPMs. And I'll get this "skip" or misfire when I come off the highway at operating temperatures. I don't know what it could be, but I guess it doesn't hurt to check the injection pump, camshaft, and engine timing to see what could be the a culprit to this annoying misfire. To me the car will be idling normally, then all of a sudden I hear a very quick 'interruption' in the idle, where it VERY briskly hums up faster then you snap your finger.

I still love the car though. Diesel Mercedes for life.

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1998 Ford Escort ZX2 5 speed - 279,000 miles My Daily

1992 Mercedes 300D 2.5 202,000 - Pure junk
2000 Mercedes E320 Black - 136,000 miles - Needs repair

Don't forget to grease the screw and threads on the spring compressor.

79000 miles motor

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1999 w140, quit voting to old, and to old to fight, a god damned veteran

1996 S500

202,000 miles

I've owned "Smoke" as in the color Silver Smoke, for about 12 years. I went thru the car fairly extensively and renewed bushings, shocks, rear struts, spheres, etc. The only major item has been the excruciating A/C evaporator replacement. The engine and transmission have been largely trouble free. I keep the car in excellent working order and the only item inop is the rear sun shade, which is permanently down.

It's original paint and original everything except the wheels. They are from a W220, which I think looks much better on this car.

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1996 S500 Smoke Silver
2009 S550 "Key to the Cure" Platinum White