E300D:

I have all service records; the car was maintained at the MBZ dealer. Oil type is whatever the dealer used; they did not use synthetic oil. And as mentioned before, it was changed at 7,500 intervals – but the mileage accumulated was practically ALL freeway driving, so that helped a lot.

The ONLY major items ever replaced prior to my owning the car were the AC compressor, the radiator, and an electronic idle control valve on the IP. There was a note made at around 120,000 about some coolant seepage from the cylinder head, although the owner declined to fix it & apparently just kept his eye on the coolant level.

The car ran (and continues to run) hotter than I was used to with my other Benzes (I know, apples to oranges) so I did an acidic flush, and that seems to have exasperated the head gasket problem, so I ended up pulling the head to do a valve job. (What is that saying about if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it?)

I had to replace the right rear window regulator, the fuel temp thermostat, and the fuel shutoff valve was leaking. (A little JB weld works to cure that problem – I just don’t have a functioning shutoff valve for now.) I also replaced all the plastic fuel lines – there was some leakage from a couple of them. I replaced the shocks & struts due to the age & mileage of the car. I also replaced the belt, belt shock, hoses, & water pump (while the head was off) as preventative measures.

Believe it or not, the transmission is all original; I changed to synthetic fluid when I got the car. It is fine except for one peculiarity – when accelerating hard, but not quite at full throttle, it will sort of delay momentarily and then hit into gear really hard when going into third gear. All other shifts are nice & smooth. I’ve played around a bit with the Bowden cable, but haven’t checked or messed with the modulator pressure. I figure that it’s probably some internal wear, and I expect that the trans isn’t going to last forever. It’s just a question of when…

As to pictures – it is all original paint, was in perfect condition except for road rash on the front, however now it has two big door dings on the right side due to some troglodyte a**holes in a 4-door car. The type of dings that are not “oops, I accidentally opened my door & hit your car” – they are the “I’m going to purposely bash this nice car next to me, for no other reason than being an antisocial jackass”.

Overall, I absolutely LOVE this car!

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Current rolling stock:
2001 E55 183,000+ Newest member of the fleet.
2002 E320 83,000 - The "cream-puff"!
1992 500E 217,000+
1995 E300D 412,000+
1998 E300D 155,000+
2001 E320 227,000+
2001 E320 Wagon, 177,000+

Prior MBZ’s:
1952 220 Cab A
1966 300SE
1971 280SE
1973 350SLC (euro)
1980 450SLC
1980 450SLC (#2)
1978 450SLC 5.0
1984 300D ~243,000 & fondly remembered
1993 500E - sorely missed.
1975 VW Scirocco w/ slightly de-tuned Super-Vee engine - Sold after 30+ years.