Have to agree with Big Jake
 

I'm originally from the east coast but now living in Phoenix...it's paradise for old cars...of many makes. And this and Vegas are some of the fastest growing cities in the nation. We have a lot of old MBs in great shape. 80s SLs are a dime a dozen out here. Let's hope it continues.

I have driven Jap cars for the last 15 years. They are great cars...dependable...but not cheap to repair. I went the MB route for something different...I won't be back anytime soon!

We're the ones keeping up the tradition.

"At my nearest "Auto Dismantler" as they call themsemves now, there is no "pick n pull" option. They remove the part and charge 1/2 new price. For a zebrano console trim for a W123, they were asking Au$150, even though it was delaminating. Headlights Au$250 each.
You have it way easier in USA, than us here in Australia"

Wow I think I'll move to Australia and open a junkyard! Not really. But Tony you should do what I do, buy a cheap broken down Mercedes of the same model and keep it for parts. I am dickering right now for a rusted out 300SD for $200. In my case it's because I live in Possum Lake and there aren't any Mercedes in wrecking yards unless I go 50 miles and their prices aren't cheap either($100 for a used tailight!).

If you don't have room to keep an old car around, run an ad "Mercedes parts for sale",(first strip off everything you need )and after a week or 2 you should have sold enough parts to recoup your investment, and you can sell the car for scrap.

I'll admit, when I my brother and I first got our diesels, his an 84 300D, mine and 85, we got them with the intention of having a couple of old beaters we could burn WVO in. I've had mine since around October and he's had his for about a month longer. We have gone completely opposite directions in the way we care for our cars. I've always thought there was something special about this car but I couldn't really appreciate it like it deserved until I found this website. He still complains about the slow acceleration and other miniscule things while I have long since moved past these petty things and have learned to appreciate it for the wonderful example of German enginering that it is. While I do still run it off of WVO, I am much more considerate of the car while doing so than he is. My brother will switch over to veggie before the car is barely warmed up. I wait until a few minutes after it reaches operating temp before I switch over. He's insistant about running his mobil 1 the full 5k while I change mine ever three months(dead odo but I know I don't go nearly that far). I've done more maintenance to mine than he would ever dare to do to his. By the way, I'm 17 and he's 36. He wants to pull the conversion kit and buy a Jetta. I tell him go ahead and I'll be there to catch it as soon as he lets it slip through his fingers!!! :D

Time to resurrect this post with a thought. Information and cooperation through forums like this offer some of the best hope for keeping and enjoying these old diesels. Finding info is easy. Finding KNOWN GOOD info is harder. I've been trying to amass some personal knowledge of the 722.303 transmission lately, and its been a struggle.

Significant modifications or even repair of complex systems usually result in at least some unexpected consequences. Knowing simple but important stuff like "mark the driveshaft BEFORE you seperate it" goes a long way.

As a mechanical engineer, I love all the nifty ways they used to do things in cars. Now it's like a sensor and a switch, ohh look out. Bah, it's no fun anymore. I still think the MB diesel with cruise has the most awesomely complicated linkage.
-Nate

Obviously, you've never had to deal with the air cleaner mount on an OM617.952! :D :D :D

Absolutely! The yards around here burned me soooo bad, I vowed to never set foot on their property again. Consequently, I now have 9 MBZ of various vintages and models. Three are definitely giving their souls so that the others may continue to provide the safe economical tranportation they were intended for.

hatt:
Who says it cant be cheaper AND likable?

Ole shlomo might just be my grad school car if he holds up ok!

I do not agree that pimping my car will make it see the junkyard faster. Im fixing to sew cow print seat inserts and add some tacky puffball trim around the roof=) not that im going to sew this cheap fabric to the pristine original seats or permanantly attach this trim, i just want a car i can laugh at when i ride in it=)

Fun is something i look for in a car, the mercedes is pretty lacking in that area. i think a lot of people want fun cars, i did when i bought the leon. a high revving 4 cyl, 5 speed and all that big stereo stuff in there. it even has the rainbow upholstery. now tha its a few years old, its tired.

this whole thread is about the timelessness of these little guys, keeping them running and on the road instead of in garages. are you guys worried about the beetles too?

Beetles, as i see it, are in more danger than these old mercs. ive cringed many times when i heard a 16 year old dropping the clutch and actually accelerating in one. acceleration is bad! heh heh let alone these children going 80 in them. although i wonder how long they can hold that speed(did the same thing in one of my beetles...but i actually learned, didnt just buy a honda....)

I like my 300SD and it is a $500 rust bucket that runs like crap! :D But compared to a W126 in proper shape such as my SDL it is a beater that is on its last few years. Driving a properly sorted W126 is awsome the suspension is tight and it handles great. Nothing like sitting in a perfect interior with the cruise control set and the climate control keeping it cool inside.

Sure anyone can drive a MB for cheap and why not? If you need a cheap car to get around in it might as well be a MB. :cool:


But if you want a properly sorted one that drives and feels like it did when it came out of the factory, well then it is going to cost you.

I also disagree that MB's are boring stock. I hate the stock wheels but other then that they are pretty nice stock. Other then chrome door sills and a better sound system I can't think of anything I would want to change inside.

But whatever floats your boat, if you want to mod something go for it!

I agree with that for the most part, but the factory air intake system is deplorable (at least on my benz). It's got that tiny little suction part right up under the hood, leads down the long tube to the filter (where 90% of the air passes through 20% of the filter based on the dirt patterns when I would inspect it), then down and around a u turn which flattens to the turbo.

I know the purpose of this circuitous route is to get out as much particulate matter as possible, but it really cuts back on power, and the air bracket clattering when the mounts go out really sucks too.