Congrats on a splendid purchase. You and I are both "newbies" to the Forum, however, I got a few years on you in the MB ownership category. Now in my 23rd year of MB piloting. First one was a "79-240D", a surprise Christmas-1982 present for my wife. After 10 years, she couldn't wear it out, just claimed she "got tired of it". So guess what, Christmas-1992,
yep, surprised her again with a 1983 300SD-Turbo. Early 2004, I get
the word "I want a new car, tired of driving the same car". This time,
I didn't make the mistake of giving up a great car, I just took the '83
300SD for mself. See a pattern here ? These cars will last forever if you take reasonable care of them. The folks in this Forum can really help you do that.

A couple of suggestions:

1--Remeber, your driving a great diesel... sit back, relax, enjoy the ride,
she'll get you there in plenty of time.
2--You may not be the first one off-the-light and your buddies may
joke occassionally about 'ol-smokey, but when you arrive you'll
be stepping out of a Mercedes-Benz, the finest family of autos
in the world (and your buddies already know that)

Good Luck,
Mike