Smoke at night in headlights is normal. If it's hard to see on a sunny day, you may not have much of a problem at all. What is your fuel economy (MPG)? If that's normal (high 20's), I wouldn't lose much sleep over the smoking....

:P

currently i'm getting 6km per liter, i don't know how much that is in MPG. i'm guessing my consumption is bad, anybody care to convert? traffic here is bad, i seldom travel the freeways, mostly city driving, where its stop and go most of the time. i usually drive 15km at a time in stop and go conditions. is my consumption about right?

Ok, 1Km per liter=2.35214584 miles per gallon.
So, 6Km per liter=14.11287504 or 14.1 MPG.

Danny

Yep, that's 14 mpg. This fuel economy cannot be acceptable. The issue with the black smoke is not your imagination. The engine is clearly taking in more fuel than it needs.

I would think that you should get a bare minimum of 19 mpg in the city with a W124. Even this number would be less than most folks with the turbocharged engine.

I would expect 21-25 with a W124 in the city.

Heck I am up to 23mpg on winter fuel with my W126 and it is a bigger car.

Something is wrong check the timing maybe, chain stretch, injectors, and ip.

Euro 300D
 

Locry

I also have a 87 Euro model WDB124.130 and it has the 603.912 engine non turbo. Typical smoke is the upshift from 3-4 @ 60-70MPH (no tach) will look like a small cloud if done once a week so i do it more often now.

I have had this since 1995 bought with 55K now with 140K and this year it was very hard to start and running rough (after replacing filters and adding diesel purge) which I surmise the cleaning dislodged debris in the fuel system then plugged up one injector.

So replaced the glow plugs, injectors, (the injectors are diff than standard 603) also all the filters. It was noiser after the injector replacement but after 500 Mi and some hard running (frequent italian tuneups)it is quiet, smoother running now when I bought it.

I get smoke and stumbling on cold start (0 to -10) but the advice here for a 30 sec glow cycle improved cold start without the engine heater. Once warm it is very smooth and gets 34-36 MPG @ 75 MPH (or 7.7L/100KM)

I located a gentleman that has engine and complete manuals for the Euro 124-603 series in Rhode Island - his email is SEAL11@aol.com and I got a 603-912 engine manual from him.

I suspect you have a fuel delivery issue as mentioned earlier but before you start to diagnose the problem I would suggest getting the manuals so you or your tech can refer to the right settings for this series.

Carl

ok thanks guys! i'll get right on it, my mpg sucks bad!

That kind of mileage with a non turbo?? You must be one of those fortunate folks who always drives downhill with a good tailwind...the only MB diesels that get that kind of mileage are listed on evilBay...

Billrei,

At my age its all downhill from here :) Seriously though in the winter the worst I have seen is 28MPG around town and limited highway and all highway in the winter is 32 range. In the summer I have seen 38 MPG all highway - at 75 MPH but typical is 34-36. This is interstate driving from NH to PA - not exactly a lot of hills but not flat either and your right a tailwind helps.

As to HP the manual states 80KW so 80x1.34 = 107HP and this most likely is much less than a turbo model, and in return probably better mileage.

Carl,

btw. in what format did you get the manuals? hardcopy? how much? thanks

MicroFiche - hard copies are available also from speaking with Alan - the complete set is abot $200. I paid $60 for the engine/powertrain.