Take one for a spin and see what you think. From my test drive it took me about an hour to decide to buy one. The decision was influenced by the problems I was having with my 350SD and the dealership made me a great offer on trading it in.

The longevity of the family of engines making up the 220D, the 240D and 300D/SD is legendary and I think it will never be equalled in this day of electronic everything that seems to always need replacing. The power, torque at low rpm, combustion controls, and overall refinement make these new Diesel powered cars seem like they might be pretty responsive gas models, except for their extraordinary good mileage. It is really great to be able to drive and keep up with nearly anything else in traffic, listen to music in the car and hardly detect any Diesel odor or smoke when you come to a stop sign. You still get the telltale blast of black smoke when you put your foot in it and rev up past 3,000 rpm. It only lasts a second or so as the system clears out the accumulated deposits in the catalytic converter.

The next generation CDI engines, from the MB web site, are more powerful, deliver a stronger, flatter torque curve, and get even better mileage while meeting future Euro emissions regulations. It is rumored the 4.3 liter gas V-8 and the 3.2 liter gas V-6 are being phased out as the 4.0 liter twin turbo V-8 CDI and the 3.2 liter V-6 turbocharged CDI power plants blow the doors off these gas engines and still deliver 30% or more of an improvement in mileage. That an E320CDI that gets 39 mpg combined mileage and does zero to 60 faster than the gas 3.2 liter V-6 is just hard to believe (edit). The availability of the 4.3 liter gas engine seems to have been replaced by the 5.0 liter version and the 3.2 liter V-6 by a 3.7 liter version in Germany (see www.mbspy.com).

The point of this long answer is really to suggest the comparison is not really practical. The new Diesels are beginning to outperform the best gas engines of equal displacement. But they rely on electrical stuff to do it, and they have yet to earn the awesome reputation for being bulletproof that the older cars created. While some of us would buy a new 240D or 300SD, there are not many others that would, and so there will never be any new versions of those. I bought hoping the longevity lessons of the older engines, and avoiding the painful experience with the flaws of the early aluminum head cars were part of the design heritage of the E300 TurboDiesel. Time will tell. 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)