Opinions on purchase of 300e

[1977busman]

Considering buying this to tinker with as a small project then sell. But I am mainly a diesel mercedes kind of person and wanted to know what I am looking at with the sysptoms the description describes.

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.


we have a 1987 300e for sale,dark blue no rust,light blue interior very nice no rips.brand new tire with around 20 miles on them over$ 200 .this car ran great untill one day it just started running real bad now it only starts for a second or 2 then it dies was told that it was a fuel problem so i bought new fuel pumps that cost$ 300 that didnt help so bought a new feul relay $200 still no help bought a used fuel distribitor $150 no help ,all fuses are good.new plugs,took the exhaust off to see if it was clogged but no help.now im told it could be a vacum prob but i cant figure it out cause i know nothing about german cars knowi .i have well over $2000 in this car but i know its hard to sell a non running car so that is why im at $600 that is just to get some of my money back on the parts.i do not have the exhaust anymore it was left at a friends shop.i know i can scrap this car but it looks way to good for the crusher and to many good parts.it is missing the air cond cooler and fan

[cbc atl]

You could buy it for the $600 asking price, put $1,500 to $2,000 worth of parts in it, then sell it for about $2,100 to $2,600.

[cbc atl]

Or buy it for $600, part it out and make a couple of thousand.

[ashedd]

there's nothing special about an '87 300E... it would have to be dirt cheap for me to bite.

Parting it would be the best bet, unless you needed a spare car.

[sptt]

I would take off the distributor cap and check it out along with rotor to see if it's cracked or in bad shape. Lots of guys have solved their start problem there. Also check plug wires (about $100.00 for replacement set). These cars take $2.00 copper plugs and run great with them. If it's turning and cranking, you have a chance. Many owners throw $$ at fuel pumps, relays, filters, etc. and nothing. You may end up throwing parts at it and eventually get it to start but could cost. Dying issues (usually just turns right off or won't start at all) while driving are associated to the fuel relays which you stated he replaced already, but try to reseat or wiggle them (located behind the battery, behind the plastic partition that slides up and out). This corrected mine and my daughter's 300E starting and dying issues. No problems for over a year now. 1991 300E 226K.

Good luck.

[anziani]

My mechanic bought my '87 from me a couple of years ago. It now has 250K on it and runs like a dream. It still has all of the original fuel components by the way.
One thing that gave me fits was the coil that broke down after starting. Try swapping that out with a known good one. I didn't notice any mention of the fuel filter which could be plugged solid. Remember when you hear thundering hooves most people think horses but zebras make the same sound.
Anziani

[1977busman]

I was planning on offering 400, and was going to mess with the spark a little and check fuel filters, and if that didnt do anything then I was going to part it out.

[lorainfurniture]

The only way the m103 wont start is

1. massive vacuum leak.
2. no fuel (or feul )
3. bad crank sensor.
4. no spark.

So, go there, spray some starting fluid in there, see what happens.
Put a screwdriver in one of the wires and see if you have spark.
Those idle air hoses are probably the culprit. If you look at them, and they are split, It will cost you 25 bucks to get it running again.

[ashedd]

Then you will get to play with that mixture/cycle stuff... I still dont know anything about it. maybe one day I will figure out what my m103 is set at.. but for now it runs great.

[hanno]

The 88 300TE parts car had a no start condition. It didn't have to run for the parts I needed, but I wanted it to. It would crank, fire, then die. Lots of fuel at the distributor then none. Pumps would run when key on. Finally just took the strainer out of the tank, cleaned it, added fuel and almost instant start. Unfortunately that's when I learned it had a broken rod Anyway, don't overlook the obvious. For $4-500 you can't go wrong if you do your own work. Mess with it, get it running and enjoy it, or say screw it and part it out.

[1977busman]

Thanks for all the info! Im going to try to get it next week and go from there. I think ill take the trailer this time. When I bought non running Wilbur I took my tools, mity vac, and someone to drive my car home and with 2hours of work I drover him 60miles home. This is sad but Ive only had one gas car as a daily driver since I got my liscense and working on gassers is an unknown

[pawoSD]

Just their list of things they've "messed" with in the ad shows its going to be likely a time consuming ex$pen$ive process to get it back in running order. The car would need to by physically perfect to be worth it.

[Ed Richardson]

Is this a model that has a primary filter inside the tank? If it is, that could be your problem, or just a gunked up tank.
Ed