How many made/imported to USA?: w210 1998-9 Turbo Diesels
 

My mind is made up - I am trading up to a w210 car. With that decison made , I have now been weighing the decsion to get a e300TD or the gasoline powered e320.

I have researched the archives here about the diesel and there seem to be some serious concerns about the glow plugs and front/rear crank seals, heads. I have wrenched alot of cars but have never owned a diesel. But then again, there is something very compelling about owning one. Not to mention the fuel mileage.

I am concerned with the availability of parts/support, tech expertise ( outside of this site , of course). These diesels seem rare.

What were the production numbers on these cars, 320 and 300?

Any thoughts folks?

if you can find one for sale, buy it. if i had known that mb was going to cut us off because of the kakakalifornians is would have got one. faster that the gas 320.


i had a 95 124 non turbo. ( 2/94 production ) and got 39.8 miles to the gallon at 60 on level ground. she would still scoot when the go pedal was mashed.

how do the 944's do as track cars. i have a 911 and a 914, but i don't want to modify them. i was shuned on a p board when asked about 951's and s2's

My mom has a 99 300e turbo diesel. It is awesome and has 86k+ miles on it. It was driven to Colorado and back to MA multiple times. I love to drive it in nebraska at 120+ mph speeds. The car loves the highway, and gets around 30 mph, less when i drive it;) I don't know the production numbers, but i know that they didn't make too many of them. I am not sure, but I think many of the parts, minus the engine and some drivetrain parts, come from the 320e.

thanks fellas
 

Tryan-

The 944 is a nice track car, and not too expensive to run. They are a bit complicated though to work on tho but I have 13 years experience wrenching my 944 cars. The pile of spare parts really helps.

The 944 is a fantastically balanced car with superb braking. The normally aspirated 944 is a bit slow for some track junkies but it is very very predictable on the track (and street) so it is really hard to get into trouble with it. It gives plenty of warning when you push it and wont break loose unless you really coax it.

I never made the jump to the turbo 944 (951) but they are a blast to drive with 100 more ponies than the non turbo. The added labor to run one somewaht detracts from doing so.

If you can drive a 911 (what year?) you can get used to a 944 really fast. You may miss steering with the gas pedal !

Tryan-

Your w124 is a diesel? How is it w/o the turbo?


If your Porsche board shunned you, check out www.rennlist.com
I have been in there for years, as there are model specific on that site. Its broken down so far as to have many 944 sections, NA, turbo, s, etc.

The 98-99 E300 turbo cars, in my opinion, are the worst of the W210 series. Much to my dismay, we sold our 1998 E300 thanks to it's status as a shop-seeking princess.

We had many problems, and many of them were unique to the Diesel driveline. Yes, we had glow plugs go bad and both crank seals. We had the MAS go south, and the final drive seals too. The ACC evaporator temp (one) went bad. And the list went on and on.

I have talked via internet to many other 98-99 E300 owners that curse their cars.

The upside is when the car was actually running that it was a hoot to drive. Terrific mileage and incredible range. We could easily make over 1000km's on a tank. The car handled better than any other diesel car EVER made, and had enough oomph (torque, baby!) to run with the E320 gas car and smoke more than a few unsuspecting folks.

Our smoke-silver/parchment car was handsome and attracted a few oohs-and-ahhs.

I think about 4000 were sold in each of '98 & '99. I wouldn't worry about parts availability. Despite the relatively low sales in North America, many more copies were sold worldwide. Don't forget that more than a million 210 chassis cars were made, and most parts are common among the various models. As well, the 606 engine is used in other MB models, the G-wagon among them. I wouldn't fret about parts availability.

wow, blackmercedes, you had some problems with youe diesel. As I said before, we got 86,000+ miles on my mom's 300e turbo diesel, but yet to have a problem. We use mobile one syn. at the dealer ever 3000 miles or so. It's weird to here that they have such a bad reputation. Either way, the one we got in the garage flies. Wish my 190e had it's Oomph.

Wow, Thanks for your honesty!
 

Blackmercedes-
Whew, your diesel experience sounds like it was a headache. I appreciate your candor and will certainly factor in your experience in making my final decision. The last thing I need now is a garage queen. Its funny, why cant benz make a final drive that doesnt leak? Porsche/Audi/VW use similar seals with the same drippy results.


jcyuhn-
Thanks for some actual numbers. They are larger than I thought. Its also reassuring that the 601 powerpalnt is used in other benz products like the g wagen. How about the Unimog? (I had a matchbox miniature of the unimog as a kid, and I stuill dig it!)


pistolpete-
It good to know there are some good experiences out there with the E300TD. My 190e couldnt pull itself out of its own way either, but I really liked the car overall. I could have used the 2.6 or the 16 valve!

The M-B diesel history is somewhat puzzling:

The W123s diesels were bullet-proof.
Then, early six-cylinder W124s diesels were a complete disaster (the 4-cyl. were O.K. BUT not as reliable as the W123s, the 5-cyl 250D was the only who lived up to its reputation). Later production six-cylinder W124s were improved.
The W210s diesels improve on the earlier W124s, BUT they never were as reliable as the W123s.
Today, diesels are very reliable, indredibly FAST, and have a torque curve that will put gas V12s to shame.

The thing is that diesels make sense in Europe, where gasoline is EXTREMELY expensive, and cars are taxed according on how much they pollute the air. Today diesels are much cleaner than their equivalent gas engines, hence they pay lower taxes.

In the U.S., where gas is cheap, the advantage seems to dilute, and then you wonder is it really worth it to put up with diesel smell and having to pull aside 18-wheelers at gas stations to fill up for a few extra M.P.G.?

Just my 2 cents...