I have an 88, 5 speed 300E with 320,000 miles. In fact I need to find time to apply for my half million kilometer badge. The production numbers given earlier are correct for US delivered cars. There were many more delivered in the rest of the world.

The clutch, or any other part for that matter, is no harder to get than any other MB part. I'm kind of curious why you thought that it would be. My car, however, still has the factory clutch and the transmission has never been out of the car.

My fuel mileage is quite good, but I expect only slightly more, if any, than an automatic transmission car. I looked for my car for a long time and bought it in early 1998. I am NOT an automatic transmission person. I don't like driving an automatic, working on an automatic or maintaining an automatic. The only maintenance I have performed on the transmission has been changing the fluid three times, once at every 100,000 mile mark. Let's see, how many automatic transmission filter and fluid changes would I have done in over a quarter million miles?

As pointed out by other posters your decision should be based on THAT car.

I will share with you the three most important criteria when purchasing a used car:

condition
Condition
CONDITION

With condition being assessed on the car, in MY opinion, I would be willing to do MUCH more work and catching up on an old manual transmission car than an automatic. It is hard to find and a kick in the a$$ to drive.

My $0.02,
Larry