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  #16  
Old 04-15-2007, 08:09 AM
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gimme a low-tech 240D
 
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The only MB bench I've seen was an amazing reclining version in 110 fintail 190c. Trick was you had to pull levers on drivers and passenger sides at the same time to recline the seat, then it would fold straight back flat - did not have the hand crank system typical to fintail and later model bucket seats. But earlier reclining buckets on some bathtub pontoon cars were also lever operated. Could have been arrival of center consoles in late 1960's 108's and 115's that eliminated the famous bench seat option.

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  #17  
Old 04-16-2007, 07:16 PM
5 would be even cooler...
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Iowa
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Hello,

I think I can answer the question of what it's worth... at least to one person - myself. I'm pretty sure I just bought the car that 240Diowa was thinking of buying (was it light blue?). drum roll... $1700. From the sounds of things I paid too much, but I also like the post that it's worth what you're willing to spend. I was willing to spend $1500, but didn't feel like letting it go for only $200 more as it was actually nicer than I was expecting. It was the 4-on-the-column that sealed the deal for me. I used to have a '52 Chevy that had a "three on the tree" that I drove for a couple of years as a daily driver and always thought it was fun way to shift.

Back to the 230 - the body on it has been redone and while not show quality, it was done to a nice standard. Also, once up to speed it seemed to drive rather decent, minus the intermittent hesitation that I'm assuming is from the carbs needing work. It made the 50 mile drive back to my house without incident (sounded like an old Cesna with the crappy exhaust though).

This is my first Mercedes (I'm not 'converted', but you could say I'm drifting a bit from the Cadillac fold), so I'm still trying to figure out what I'm in for (nothing like doing the research after the purchase :-). I bought this with the intentions of fixing the exhaust, redoing the carbs (as long as they're not much worse than a Quadrajet, I should be alright there), and detailing it before putting it back into daily service as my commuter car (and then fixing whatever little bugs creep up from there). Does anyone know about what kind of mileage I can expect from this? The '67 Caddy I was driving last year around this time had to make me start to ask if gas or groceries were more important.

At any rate, with the nice body and interior, my friends who have seen it think it was a bargain, but then they've never owned a Mercedes either. I figure if I keep from getting more than $2500 into it for awhile, I'll have a fun daily driver that beats the heck out of a high mileage Neon or whatever else a person can find sitting on a dealer's "back lot" these days for that kind of money. I liked that reply that emphasized use value - that's the best thing to do with an old car - use it!

If anyone's got any other info. for a "newbie" Benz owner such as myself, it would be greatly appreciated. I'm sure I'll be back with more questions before too long. Thanks!
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  #18  
Old 04-16-2007, 10:30 PM
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Location: Alexandria, Virginia
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A friend, and owner of a manual-shift '68 280SE once told me "These cars feel 500 pounds lighter with a stickshift!".

As for mileage, my '72 250 sedan, with automatic, used to get 14 -16 mpg in town and 19 - 22 highway. If your carbs are set up right and ignition timing is adjusted for max performance & economy, I'd expect a couple mpg better with the manual-shift. One thing that really hurts mpg with these cars is the lack of an overdrive gear, though some have exchanged the differential with a taller-geared one from a larger-engined model or one of the mid-'80s turbo-diesels.

Happy Motoring, Mark
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  #19  
Old 04-17-2007, 10:24 AM
5 would be even cooler...
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
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mpg

Thanks for the info, Mark. I was hoping that this would at least pull over 20mpg, and it sounds like that shouldn't be much of a problem. I like the idea of the taller rear gear as well - sounds great for longer roadtrips.
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  #20  
Old 04-18-2007, 09:52 AM
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With the carbs and timing properly adjusted on a reasonably healthy engine, over 20 mpg highway should be possible. Note that with the typical rear-end gearing on these cars, I've achieved the best mileage at speeds under 65 - not easy to do on todays interstates when the semis and SUVs are bearing down on you at 80+ mph!
The '66 Fintail 230 automatic I used to own, would typically get between 18 and 20 mpg on my frequent I-95 trips between the Washington DC area and Virginia Beach

On the other hand, my current '60 Fintail 220S with a 4-speed columnshift, managed 23 mpg during my recent road trip on a state highway, where the speed limit and traffic is less frantic than I-95. But city mileage still remains in the low teens.

Now if you really want decent fuel-mileage with a vintage Mercedes, and can live without the power & smoothness of the sixes (a tough choice!), you really need to have one of the diesels. The late '50s 180D allegedly could top 40 mpg, and my recently acquired '81 240D gets between 24 and 28.

Happy Motoring, Mark
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Last edited by Mark DiSilvestro; 04-18-2007 at 10:02 AM.
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  #21  
Old 04-18-2007, 10:58 AM
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Now for an opinion from someone who owns one, and has owned it for over thirty years...35 to be exact.

Solid trouble-free cars, but not an investment unless you live in europe where the /8 models are hottttt.

Carbs can be annoying until you figure them out and once adjusted and left alone, no tinkering buddy boy, you will be happy. There are no unusual trouble areas and parts are cheap. The engine innards are tried and true M180 and the only complaint is low power from the smog controls. But, a clever owner can quickly tune around this impediment and have the motor running like a pre-smog euro-spec car.

The under-pinnings of the chassis are right out of the 107 parts bin, or conversely, the 107 is right off the drawing board and parts bin of the 114/115.

Great cars, under-appreciated, slighty low-powered, but with the stick you may not notice.

Buy at any fair price by your mind and you can enjoy it for the rest of your life.

230/8
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  #22  
Old 04-18-2007, 03:33 PM
5 would be even cooler...
 
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: Iowa
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new to me 230

Thanks for the advice on the carbs - I resisted my natural urge to start messing with them right away and was glad being that I've noticed several posts here saying not to do that. After reading several of the posts from the archives, especially ones dealing with Zeniths, I'm starting to think these may not be too bad, and the real culprit is a vacuum leak somewhere. While the belts and hoses have been replaced, none of the vacuum lines have been touched and they're all pretty old and crusty. So, before doing anything else, I'll replace all of those. Overall the car runs pretty well, but it likes to stall out when coming up to a stop, as if the dashpots aren't doing what they're supposed to.

230/8 described the car to be exactly as I was hoping it to be - solid and relatively trouble-free once the bugs are worked out. I wasn't looking for an investment; just a unique work car, something practical yet classy and this seems to fit the bill nicely.

Thanks again for the mileage info Mark. I originally wanted a diesel, which is what got me looking more closely at these cars, and then I decided I didn't really care - I got hooked on the styling. Maybe I'll start looking for one again after my 230 is back in daily service (never hurts to have a back-up) .
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  #23  
Old 05-15-2007, 01:40 PM
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Just drove past a for sale blue 1969 230c(?) Maybe it was a 250C. It has absolutely no rust, dents, missing parts. It is located in Cicero NY in case anyone is interested.
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  #24  
Old 05-16-2007, 11:07 AM
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No rust New Yawk car????

Quote:
Originally Posted by Rich1Merc View Post
Just drove past a for sale blue 1969 230c(?) Maybe it was a 250C. It has absolutely no rust, dents, missing parts. It is located in Cicero NY in case anyone is interested.


A W114 in New York state with no rust?

We have a second immaculate conception!

Jim
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  #25  
Old 12-05-2011, 01:06 PM
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w115 with front bench and manual column shift

They do exist guys. I have one! Its in the body shop at the moment getting a total overhaul. Its a 1975 in light blue, with column manual shift and red bench. I guessed it was a rare old thing but am finding it difficult to obtain figures of how many were built to that spec.
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  #26  
Old 12-05-2011, 06:55 PM
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I love these cars!

I have a '73 220 (W115) with a '74 230 motor (115.951) same as the one you're looking at.

The parts for the W115 chassis are fairly readily available for now. The suspension design is far improved over the preceding W111 & W108 cars.

The fore/aft weight balance on the F & R axles is better than the 6-cyl W114 cars which improves the handling even more.

The engine compartment layout is very workable with 2 fewer cyls hanging off the front. Cooling is improved as airflow is better and waste heat is less than its W114 brethren.

The Stromberg carb is different from a downdraft and consequently many do not understand it as well, but it is simple in principle and quite altitude insensitive unlike some of the downdrafts. Unfortunately it does not deliver the best transient response for acceleration but with the suspension and braking performance, one can hot-rod around a 230 much better than a 111, 108 or even a 114.

The handling is astonishingly well balanced and predictable even at the limits of traction with highly crowned roads, uneven ratty mountain roads, etc. The car handles quite nimbly and gently slides sideways evenly on all four wheels at the limits of traction even at 70-80mph (not for the faint of heart; think of steering around an unexpected stopped car on the freeway).

Body roll is minimal, yet the ride is quite nice even on the rattiest roads even with Bilstein HD's.

As a mechanic said to me once: 'that's one of the simplest Mercedes ever made ... and one of the best'.

I should mention one 'bad' part or caveat in all this. The 4-cyl gas motor esp the 115.951 & 954 motors were badly orphaned by the market in that era where Europe was more inclined toward Diesels and the US more inclined toward more power & more cylinders. The end result is that the 230/8's are pretty rare. The chassis is quite common as it's essentially the same as the 114 & they sold LOT's of those. The motor however IS rare. I found this out when I tried to locate a 1st OS piston set for the 230 motor. This was VERY hard to find. I did eventually find it and there are maybe 6 or a dozen sets on this Earth, but that is probably it.

Make sure the bottom end of the motor is good.

So back to your question of "worth". The answer would be dependent on the context. If you wanted a simple Mercedes with the aforementioned ride/handling that could run for 50 years or more as long as you can keep the rust off it. Then the value of this to you could be whatever.

If you're thinking about value as a vintage collector's investment, forget it. It's true value is much more functionally based; not a highly prized attribute for collectors.

For Mercedes, I think this may have been the design pinnacle of functional balance between quality, cost & performance, JMO.
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  #27  
Old 12-06-2011, 01:48 AM
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daidnik, the OP's car is the 230.6 six cyl. with twin downdraft Zeniths.

As long as the buyer is happy with his purchase, that's all that matters. When you consider the other options available for $1700, how can a Benz be a bad buy?
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  #28  
Old 12-06-2011, 08:27 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tram View Post
When you consider the other options available for $1700, how can a Benz be a bad buy?
I laugh, then I sigh, then I laugh a lot more!
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  #29  
Old 12-06-2011, 11:46 AM
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"Just Passin' Thru"
 
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This thread was from 2007.....
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don't Fail Us Now"
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  #30  
Old 12-06-2011, 01:54 PM
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The W110 230 only went up to 1968

The W115 supplanted it from there.

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