Hello DubMutant,

Yes, I think these should be a separate section of the forum for people like us that want perfect cars. It is a difficult burden to bear. I guess the thing you need to figure out is this: are you in it for the long run? I have been wrenching for myself since I was twelve on a go-kart I had. I have Craftsmen metric tools since I was 15 when I got my first car. It was a non running 1955 MB 220a. I never got it running because I had no real direction, and no one around with experience in restoring cars to guide me.

The body of your car sounds a little rough, and I think that is a more difficult issue to deal with than mechanical issues. You picked a good diesel to start with because the OM617 engine is fairly rock solid. As far as working on the mechanicals, I think there are 3 factors to consider.

1. Do you have an inside place to work on it and do you have a good assortment of basic metric hand tools? Working outside is a bear, especially where it is cold in the winter like MA. I lived in FL most of my life and it is much easier there. There are also specialty tools that you may want to consider that can cost a few hundred dollars. If you have no tools, maybe look for used Craftsmen on eBay, but you are still looking at hundreds of dollars worth of tools before you have a fairly well stocked tool cabinet.

2. Time is the enemy of most of us. The guy I bought my first MB from was very succesful buying all makes of old cars and restoring them himself and making money at it. He always told me: "if you do something every day, even if it is just for a half hour, before you know it the job will be done". To me that means you have to set time aside to work on the car. My usual time is after 9 in the evening, when the kids are in bed.

3. To me this one is the most important. What kind of shape is the car in? It is all about picking one that does not need too much and getting it as cheaply as possible. New parts prices are a fairly constant thing so the only place you can gain an advantage is to have as small an initial investment as possible and to get good deals on used parts that you purchase. If you look at these cars, there are a few big systems that need to work correctly for the car to be mechanically perfect.
a. engine
b. tranny
c. suspension and brakes
d. climate control
e. body, trim and interior

The rest of the stuff is not that major, but can require time to fix. The vacuum system comes to mind here. One last thought I will put out there is that these are superior cars in engineering, construction and components. There is service which is following the service chart, then there is repair of broken, worn out stuff. Once you do a repair correctly, you should not have to do it again for a long time. In other word, once you get something working right, it should stay that way for a long time because of the quality of these cars. Here you also have lots of real world expertise from people who want the same thing you do.

Best of luck,

__________________
Doug

1987 300TD x 3
2005 E320CDI