Guys,

I have looked into this a little recently as I was trying to see if there is a way to get a CDI over here. I brought a half dozen or so cars, and one manual transmission 300D, over in the early 80's. My last car was my 190E 2.3-16 in 1986.

The old procedures have been superceded by new ones that were intended to require more investment by the conversion outfit to earn a license from the EPA and DOT to perform the conversions. That made them less involved in each car so it save the Government money. But the investment was pretty high, requiring EPA testing over a period of time, and I believe some testing of the mechanical fixes for the DOT.

I never did anything to any seats or keys, but the bumper mods and the door side beam additions could run some money, depending on how you did them. There was a huge assmbly of photos to compile in a report to demonstrate the changes were installed on each car and that they would do the job. So the charge of $2500 for the DOT mods was not out of the ordinary.

The EPA changes for a Diesel were pretty innocuous at the time, essentially a test as there were next to no mods made at the time, other than perhaps installing an EGR system. Today I think they would be more involved as the sulphur content of US Diesel is too high for the Euro emissions equipment this car is delivered with to last here, and it would not pass an emissions test without the catalyst and trap oxydizer installed.

I would love to pursue this, but think it will be a lot less financially enticing. I have heard there is a "once in a lifetime" exemption you can apply for if the car has some historical or other special value. It still isn't clear that the Diesel would be a good choice if the fuel here will kill the exhaust system components. Jim

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Own:
1986 Euro 190E 2.3-16 (291,000 miles),
1998 E300D TurboDiesel, 231,000 miles -purchased with 45,000,
1988 300E 5-speed 252,000 miles,
1983 240D 4-speed, purchased w/136,000, now with 222,000 miles.
2009 ML320CDI Bluetec, 89,000 miles

Owned:
1971 220D (250,000 miles plus, sold to father-in-law),
1975 240D (245,000 miles - died of body rot),
1991 350SD (176,560 miles, weakest Benz I have owned),
1999 C230 Sport (45,400 miles),
1982 240D (321,000 miles, put to sleep)