A while back I read an article about MB cars getting 5 to 8 hundred thousand miles...I thought it might hyped up, but even reducing it to 2.5 to 4 is still pretty good....anyway it stuck in head and grew. I would like to try to do this myself, same car, 500,000 miles. I'm your basic traveling salesman, my 2 year old Chevy has 180K....so the MB would have to be a highway machine. I understand I'll have to pump some more cash into a MB....I'm OK with that, any car I get, new or old has to be viewed as a "throwaway" with the miles I run....so make payments or put it into a refurbish, I'm gonna be spending it anyway. I NEED RELIABILLITY.

So I started lurking these boards and trying to educated about the MB cars....now I'm even more confussed!! I have found a '83 300TD wagon, auto, 2 owner, body and interior in really nice shape for a 22 year old car...cost is $2500 bucks. Now come the questions...

1. Is this motor/tranny combo one of the mega-miles type? BTW, what is the frame type? W123? W124? or what?

2. I will be a virgin diesel buyer...only experience was with a ranch tractor and that was no help as it ALWAYS ran great...never turned a wrench on it! So, what do I look for in the way of trouble spots on these cars, motorwise. Any "look for this" or "check this out" stuff you guys could suggest?

Now, my wife tells me I'm a nut case, I knew that. I will have the car checked out by trained MB tech...but I would at least like to know what to look for, so I don't waste his time and my money!

Thanks in advance for all replies! You folks have wonderful Christmas! The best gift you can give is LOVE ( and I'm not just talking about to your cars!)

the wagon 83 year is w123 chasis

the engine is super DIY friendly just expensive if you do screw up bad..

they are reliable engines as long as you maintain them .. valve adjustments filter changes fluid changes etc the transmissions last long.. i have a rebuilt transmission so i want to say the original chunked at 200k maybe..

but youve got to watch out for run away diesel problems.. the p/o of my car said it ran away once.. vacuum shut off didnt work so it just didnt shut off til it burned all the diesel..

look for blow by in the engine.. to much and the engine is in need of replacemnt or rebuild

if you can take the air cleaner off and u tube.. with the engine off and keys in pocket and cold engine try and spin the turbo .. if it spins freely its good and check for shaft place.. the p/o thought the turbo was bad because my 300D was sloooow off the line .. nope turbo is fine..

look for oil leaks of course.. its an old diesel it will drip some.. get service records of course

if its a wagon check to see if the self leveling suspension works

their is more but i dont know what else

one of the biggest problems with a benz diesel i find is the 3 liter engines are actually pretty strong especially with the turbo but are often neglected and slow. a slow motor is usually a few hundred bucks in basics but can hide tranny problems. look for back paper work with the appropriate engine tranny adjustments and fluid changes. alot of these are for sale around 200k miles which is where the tranny goes but there are rebuilds and manual swaps which will drain you another grand or more. moral of the story, if its done right with correct parts you will be very happy. not a bad price for a td, wagons are sought after. if the power ammenities are broken they can add up fast, as well.

Just a clarification, what's described above isn't a runaway diesel, it's just a vacuum shutoff failure, not a big deal. On the other hand, a runaway diesel is an unusual event where the engine goes to maximum speed and self-destructs in a matter of seconds/minutes.

Regarding the question, the 83 300TD is a W123. You didn't tell us how many miles are on the car. There are a few things you should pay attention to. The automatic transmissions can start acting up around 250-300K miles, so look for "flaring" between shifts. The automatic climate control and AC systems can be flaky and fairly expensive to fix. The cruise control systems can also be fairly expensive to fix. The vacuum door looks can act up, but are fairly easy to fix. Look for rust, structural rust can be fatal to these cars. Definitely get a pre-purchase inspection if you find a promising car. Good luck.

Before buying a TD, you should find out how the climate control and self-leveling suspension are supposed to function and check them both thoroughly. Better yet, your first MBZ should have a pre purchase inspection from a MBZ specialist mechanic. Independent mechanic is better, dealer wrenches don't have much experience with old diesels.
Think of it this way: If you're going to have the car thoroughly checked over before putting it into service, why not have it checked before you buy it when the knowledge can save you some headaches?

Another reply mentions the tranny. A quick check is to move the lever from park to reverse and time the engagement. Over two seconds would indicate future trouble. (but if you spend all your time in 4th gear, it might be far in the future)

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'79 300SD W116
'86 190E 2.3-16V W201
'92 300D 2.5 W124
'99 E320 4MATIC S210

Sorry for the hijack, but I've asked this question a few times in other related threads.

This condition describes my transmission. Maybe a couple of seconds before it
'clunks' into reverse, it also flares between gears.

is my transmission done? I've been holding out hope that if I deal with all
the vacuum oddities, and adjust things, it'll straighten out. But I don't
want to spend any more time/money attempting to fix a fatal illness in vain.

Thanks kindly in advance.

Your two year old car now has 180k? So you average about 90k a year?

Ok I am going to be unpopular but if you want to do that in a diesel MB and not pump thousands of dollars into it along with many calls to AAA buy something 1995+.

I'd look for a very mint low mileage E300D, 96-97 were na and a little slower, 98-99 were turbo charged and much faster.

Sorting out an old W123/W126 for that kind of use is going to be a very expensive and trying experiance. Buy one if you want but I would have another car as a back up.

I could probably find a few grand worth of stuff that $2500 300TD you are looking at would need, just by walking around it.

btw sure a MB will run 500K if you take care of it. That means following the maintaince schedual to the letter. Also don't be afraid to open the check book once in awhile because in that 500k you will need at least one trans and probably some head work. Not to mention a bunch of suspension parts.

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

The wagon shows 148,000 miles and drives out nice, brakes are good and the tires are new...seemed a bit sluggess but it is a heavier car than what I'm used to...seemed to have more than enough top end speed for how I drive.

Transmission "flares" between shifts? What is "flare"?

Mitch H....Self-leveling rear end...if it is bad (and how can you tell without putting a load on it?) couldn't you just bypass it and use a normal shock system? Ditto on the climate control....I don't mind adjusting the temp by hand...I am a whiz at bypass, wire-around, make it work stuff...you know crude but effective.

Hatterasguy...As for the 90's model cars, I follow your train of thought, but for that kinda money, I'd just get another new Chevy. I always have a back-up car...my old faithful '63 Chevy Stepside, she ain't fast or pretty, but she'll get 'er done!

I think an older 123 wagon is perfect. Just fix it up, heck even if you bought a brand new engine from Mercedes you still would have less in it then if you had a car payment, plus maintenance and repair cost are much less.

The older cars are much simpler and cheaper to insure which saves you $$.

They are less likely to get stolen, they have no stinking electronics to stand you on the side of the road. No check engine light to stare at you while driving. No ABS light to go off and cost you a fortune. Made to flip over and support the weight of the car and save your life. and on, and on and on.

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1981 300D 147k
1998 VW Jetta Tdi 320k
2001 Dodge Ram 2500 141k
1979 300D 234k (sold)
1984 300D "Astor" 262k(sold)
Mercedes How-To and Repair Pictorials
I love the smell of diesel smoke in my hair

If you are on the road that much you may want one of the same era big sedans whose chassis name is W126, specifically the 300SD. They are known for great over the road characteristics. The wagon you are looking at will be fine if you find a great independent mechanic who can look over your car when you have breaks in your schedule. MB brakes pad are soft and need changing more often than other makes. The valves on the era diesel engine (called OM617-9XX) need a manual adjustment about every 15K miles. The SLS (self leveling system) which is present on all wagons of these years needs a fluid/filter change every two years minimum. No matter how much stuff you put in the back of your wagon it'll always ride level. It's a tremendous system when it works. You can test it on a potential wagon by have a few guys sit in the back when the hatch is raised and the engine is off. The car will obviously sit lower with over 400 pounds in back- now start the car and wait 15 seconds- if the car 's rear does not raise back to the level where it was without the weight in in it you have SLS problems. The w123 series is like a fine older yacht- things are designed and built to last the long haul, and be replaced with fairly simple efforts. Like older yachts, the trick is in knowing what is about to go bad and what you need not worry about. This forum makes that path to knowing much easier to travel on, and there is not a better place on the net for help. However, my advice to you is to ease into the w123/w1126 world by buying two cars- one for longer hauls and the w123 for local stuff if possible. Two or three strandings in the MB will make you a chevy believer. I beleive the greatest cause of w123's and w126's problems are due to OE or OI- (operator error and operator inaction). Transmission "flaring" (when the engine slightly or greatly races between gear changes) many times is due to improper settings on the tranny itself, and hard shifting could be due to no vaccum to the tranny at all, both relatively easy and non time consuming jobs. A/C- heating problems may be fixed with a monovalve change- a 15 minute fix if you're a mechanical slowpoke. Both of these and many other "issues" require you to be able to know that this is the source of the problems. Don't let me scare you- the cars are not problematic. They are superbly designed and engineered with quality materials and workmanship. However they are not new and either you or a mechanic must know what to do and when to do it to insure problem free 90k miles per year driving.
william

good grief, I drive 50K a year, I can't imagine 90K...when do you get a chance to sell, you have all windshield time.

One point that I'd like to make is that I have back trouble, and the only cars I can drive without back and hip pain are my M-B's...

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2002 Ford ZX2
2 x 2013 Honda Civics

I just got a '95 E300D with 110k miles on it that looks new and was well cared-for. I also drive 45k a year, so I plan on seeing 300k on it within 4-5 years.

Great highway vehicle, holds all my stuff, gets 35 mpg cruising at 80 mph. Just buying the thing saved me $300 a month in fuel.

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- Brian


1989 500SEL Euro
1966 250SE Cabriolet
1958 BMW Isetta 600