For just a little more money you could get into the 1994 C220 range. I have seen nice ones for $4,500. But for $3k I would look either for a real clean 190E, I would prefer the 2.6 I6 but the I4 is a good little engine. Or a W126 if you want to go that way.

KirkVining prices for real nice 300D's are all over the place. But a real cherry example with under 150k could be worth $5k. However if you come across a perfect sub 100k example it might get close to $10k on ebay.

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