A few days ago I posted that my neighbor had caught the MB bug. He was thinking about a 190e. He test drove a '91 2.3 and was very impressed. However, it was a little small for his taste. He is now thinking of maybe a W124, possibly a diesel. I have seen it mentioned here that MB had a bad 6 cyl. diesel, is the diesel in the W124's, that engine? Is there anything to look out for with these cars?

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1999 MB SL500 (110,000 mi)
2004 Volvo V70 2.5T (220,000 mi)
2014 Tesla Model S 85 (136,000 mi)
MBCA member

The engine to watch out for is the 350 turbo diesel. It is a bored out 300, which puts extra stress on the rods. It costs about $10,000 to replace this engine. I am not sure of the exact years it was offered, sometime after 1988 and before early 90's. The 300 (3 liter) in the 87 W124 is very nice and powerful. Most claim it is not as reliable as the 5 cylinder version on 1985 and early cars. I am very pleased with my 1987. There are quite a few posts on this subject, try a search.

So your car has what size engine. Is it a 3.0 six cylinder?, or is it a different version of the engine in my car which is the 3.0 5 cyl.

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1999 MB SL500 (110,000 mi)
2004 Volvo V70 2.5T (220,000 mi)
2014 Tesla Model S 85 (136,000 mi)
MBCA member

For the US models the dreaded 350 motor is in the s class series, not the E class.
Good luck!!

CJ, OK so I know now that the "rod bender" was in the S class diesels. There is one item I am still a little confused over. Your sig. says your car is a 300, yet it has a 2.5l engine. 1) that must be an awful small 6 cyl. 2) were there 2 different diesels available for the W124. In other words was there a true 3.0 liter eng. to make the car a 300D. Should not your car be called a 250D?, and the 3.0 gas engine be a 300E?

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1999 MB SL500 (110,000 mi)
2004 Volvo V70 2.5T (220,000 mi)
2014 Tesla Model S 85 (136,000 mi)
MBCA member

There are actually 3 different w124 diesels. First there is the 300D Turbo only available as a 1987 model, then the 1990-93 300D 2.5, and the 1995 only E300D. The '87 300D Turbo is a 3 liter 6 cylinder that replaced the classic 617 engine. The 1995 is also a 3 liter 6 cylinder that continued on in the W210, but I'm not sure if the 90-93 2.5 is a 5 or 6 cylinder. MB makes a 5 cylinder 2.7 right now so it might be a 5 cylinder. The 300D Turbo is quite plentyful considering it was only sold for one year, I guess it most of been a strong seller.
The 350 SD and SDL was only sold on the w126 and w140 S-Class cars from 1990-94 and should be avoided. Check out Greg Frank's Mercedes Model Summary Page at http://home.hiwaay.net/~gbf/mbmodels.html

The W124 diesels are good motors BUT they are REALLY expensive to rebuild due to a lack of demand for parts/rarity of the motor. My friend has this engine and it is a great car, but the turbo has a hole in the casting on the exhaust side!! It runs fine but will need a turbo and again $$$$$. I have not read of any problems with this engine or things to look out for, but the usual applies, good compression, smooth idle, powerful, check blowby etc.
They run really well, quiet, and extremely quick for an 87 (around 140 hp). I think they were available in 1986-1987 124 bodies (sedan and wagon), and 1986-1990? 126 bodies (300 SD and SDL) which changed over to a 3.5 after that (the troublesome engine). The 2.5 is a 6 cylinder from what I remember too, but I am not positive. It had a bad reputation for going through turbos in the 1987 190 D, and it was discontinued from the 190 series because of that. It also was amazing spirited for an 87
Greg

Thanks for all the replies. I'll print these up and pass them on to my friend. There is alot of good info. here.

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1999 MB SL500 (110,000 mi)
2004 Volvo V70 2.5T (220,000 mi)
2014 Tesla Model S 85 (136,000 mi)
MBCA member

Hey guys and gals the 2.5 litre diesel engine in the '90-'93 300D's in indeed a 5 cyl engine,and from my experience very reliable. Real peppy and quiet, too.

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'85 300DT--215,000 miles
'82 300DT--255,000 miles

The 2.5 turbo motor is actually one of the more durable motors, that is why most of the 124 diesels in Europe have the 2.5 602.962 motor, in addition to the taxi cabs, delivery trucks and the stationary back-up geneartors. The 300D 2.5 car itself is very rare, but the motor is very, very common. It is also a 5 cylinder.

I have to chime in on this one...I used to own a 1992 300D 2.5 turbo...best car I ever owned...bout it at 75K and sold it at 210K...no problems...very fast,very quiet(for a diesel) and very economical..the ride and handling was great...much more sophiticated than the 1985 300SD that I had before it

My 93 300D 2.5 Turbo is an extremely sweet car. I wouldn't call it extremely fast, but it's zippy enough. As for quiet, when all is right with it (which is usually) you don't really know it's a diesel until you get out of the car.

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Bart

2002 ML500, 2009 CLK350 Cabriolet
93 300D 2.5 Turbo 265,000 Miles (Sold - bad idea)

I have owned a 95 E300 Diesel since new (Aug 95) with 51,000 miles on the odometer presently. Have averaged 29.7 mpg since purchasing this vehicle. I put new front pads on at 42,000, new tires on at 36,000, and a new Interstate battery at 32,000. That's it..... (so far....) Nice car....

Rick, I have a 124 for sale. I am in Baltimore.
Here is the link to my ad.

http://classifieds.excite.com/cgi-cls/ad.exe?P61+C14+R1110485

I have to agree that $$ wise the 1990-1993 300D 2.5 is a winner....maintenance is very low compared to other models(if the car has a good maintenance history)
Plus it has many updates(some have dual air bags) and it is very economical
I traded my 1992 in with 210K on it and still got $10K for in trade.
They are somewhat rare,especially with low mileage. Try to get the 1992-1993 vintage as they have the updated steering wheel,and body trim.
You should be able to buy on of these(92-93) with 150K in the 12-13K range