Is there a part of this site that provides an overview of the MB's available with diesels and pros/cons of each engine.

I mostly see 300's (mostly W123’s and W210’s) on the road, with the occasional 240D. For some reason I see more W123 turbos and W210 non-turbos, did they make less turbos for the W210’s?

I was talking to a guy at a fuel station about his 1983 300 E-class turbo, and he made mention of the 1985+ 300 engine being inferior to the earlier ones?

I found this one on E-bay, a 2.5, 5-cyl, how does this engine compare to the 300? Why did MB make two 5-cyls?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Mercedes-Benz-190-Series-25-PHOTOS-FUEL-FRIENDLY-2-5-DIESEL-NO-RESERVE-IN-ARIZONA_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ6328QQitemZ4573797824QQrdZ1

Thanks,
John

BTW, my diesel CJ name is due to the Nissan SD-33T engine I swapped into my CJ-7. I would like a diesel daily driver too.

They actually made three... 2.5, 3.0 and 3.5 I'd guess that the 2.5 uses the same heads, injector pump and bottom end as the 300, probably the least stressed of the lot and oughta be decent little engine. Otherwise try searching specs on the permanent sticky folders here if you wanna compare horsepower, torque, etc. It's typical of MB to experiment with different displacements. They did the same thing with gasoline inline 6 cyls makin em in 2.2, 2.3, 2.5 and 2.8 back in the olden days.

I'll get you started.

Mercedes diesel engines all start with OM (for "oil motor" in german). The older vehicles you see run a OM616 which is a naturally aspirated 4 cylinder engine that was found in the 240D - no 240D was turbocharged from the factory. They sold until 1985 I believe.

At more or less the same time Mercedes sold theOM617 5 cylinder engines. A turbocharged version was in the 1978 (or maybe it was 1979, not sure) W116 chassis 300SD, and continued in the 300SD when the body style changed to the W126 in 1981 all the way until and through 1985. The W123 chassis 300D received this engine in the late 70s as a naturally aspirated version, then got the turbocharged version around 1981. These engines are favored for their durability and tolerance of abuse.

THe OM617 was replaced by the OM603, a more powerful (six cylinder) and more efficient engine, however, because many of the early models had problems with the aluminum heads cracking they are considered less durable than the OM616/7s. This engine was in the 1986/7 W126 300SDL and the W124 300D (only). The engine ran in other models in Europe, but in the United States these were the only years. There were extremely similiar 5 cylinder versions (the OM602) found in the 300D and a few 190Ds and the 4 cylinder OM601, found in most 190Ds. Some version of this engine ran through the early 90s.

The next generation of diesel engine was the six cylinder OM606, available in this country only in the E300Ds. It first appeared in the last year of the W124 300D/E300D, then followed on in the W210. It was naturally aspirated from 1995-1997, then was turbocharged in 1998.

After that you get to the CDIs. You're on your own there

You can search on any of the engine names and get more detailed, and quite likely more correct information. Good luck.

__________________
Tjohn

82 300 SD
77 450 SL (gone)

Thanks for the start, I never knew there were so many different engines (including a 6-cyl), many of which would not be indicated by looking at the trunk lid!

When was the break between the OM617 5-cyl and the OM602 5-cyl?

Were some year's of the same engine "better" than others?

-John

1985 was the last year for the OM617 Turbo...

1978 300SD W116 was the first year for it through 1980 when it was replaced by the W126 300SD and additionally followed I believe in 1982 on the W123 300D

__________________
Proud owner of ....
1971 280SE W108
1979 300SD W116
1983 300D W123
1975 Ironhead Sportster chopper
1987 GMC 3/4 ton 4X4 Diesel
1989 Honda Civic (Heavily modified)
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Section 609 MVAC Certified
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"He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. And if you gaze for long into an abyss, the abyss gazes also into you." - Friedrich Nietzsche

by 82, the 617 had incorporated a number of minor improvements, such as quicker glow plugs, harder cams and rockers, triple square head bolts, revised prechamber geometry, cyclonic oil seperation, etc. Apparently the 603 is smoother and more powerful, but a good 617 is pretty darn nice on its own.

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'82 300SD - 361K mi - "Blue"

"Good judgement comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgement."

listen, look, .........and duck.