I looked at an 87 SDL last night. I got him down to 1,700. The interior rates an 8 of 10 having no cracks in the dash or tears / leans in the seat. The air, all windows, and other toys seem to work, although i couldnt test the cruise. The exterior I would rate a 5. assorted dents, rusty corners on door etc. I am not looking for perfection, just a comfortable roomy trip car. Little things dont bother me as I've had plenty of $500 cars. I have been handy enough to keep my 123 cars running well. How are these in biodiesel? How is their fuel economy. This car has 262,000 miles and is on its second owner. Its a chicago car.
Any opinions??

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1959 Gravely LI, 1963 Gravely L8, 1973 Gravely C12
1982 380SL
1978 450 SEL 6.9 euro restoration at 63% and climbing
1987 300 D
2005 CDI European Delivery
2006 CDI Handed down to daughter
2007 GL CDI. Wifes

I did a Chicago Benz one time on an 80 380 SEL. Never again no matter what and I live in the salt belt and understand those issues. For that kind of money you could do just as well with a solid body from a salt free area.

I love my car it's big, it's comfortable, and it rides nice. As far as I know the car will run fine on biodiesel or WVO; it is supposed to have a very similar IP as on the 617. The PO of my car (sixto) ran it on SVO and said that it worked fine. I get about 22-23 MPG but I tend to want to romp on it more than usual. If the car is in half way descent shape I would say go for it; they are great cars (just dont tell that to a 123 owner).

--Matt

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KI6CCA

Current Stable:
1987 300SDL
1980 450SEL

Out to Pasture:
1982 300D KIA (Rice Rocket vs. 123: He hit me at 80-100MPH I walked away he went to the hospital. Sounds fair to me!)
1985 300D EURO Scrapped (got more money from state than car was worth)
1979 & 1980 300SD Great Cars!

For $1,700 if it runs you can't really go wrong. I have never actualy seen an SDL for sale that cheaply in my area, well that didn't have one foot in the scrap yard.


Looks like a good deal to me.


Just make sure to give those front frame rails a good whack to make sure they don't crumble. In Chicago if you can't put your fist through the hole its light rust!

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

I agree.......if the head is intact and the transmission doesn't have any "issues", you can't go wrong with one of these for $1700. I paid more than that for the '87 and it was known to consume tons of oil when I bought it.

Thanks for the replies. Being from Wisconsin I deffinately know what rust is. This car is NOT a restoration piece, it does have its share of rust. The real unknown to me is the drivetrain, since I am used to the 123s. For my excursions into the UP of michigan though the 123s dont have the trunk space I need. Is there anything else special I need to worry about at 263,000 miles? If I get 2 years out of it I will be quite happy.
Thanks

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1959 Gravely LI, 1963 Gravely L8, 1973 Gravely C12
1982 380SL
1978 450 SEL 6.9 euro restoration at 63% and climbing
1987 300 D
2005 CDI European Delivery
2006 CDI Handed down to daughter
2007 GL CDI. Wifes

IMO, it depends on your tolerance of downside risk. I passed up a nice '86 300SDL down here for under $2K. It needed paint, but no rust, AC worked. But, it had the potential for the "14" head crack, and the potential sunroof issues, and the potential compressor issues, so I let it go. I really like cast iron heads ( I have a cast iron Gravely L8 , too), so I decided to stick with OM 616s and 617s.

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80 300SD (129k mi) 82 240D stick (193k mi)77 240D auto - stick to be (153k mi) 85 380SL (145k mi) 89 BMW 535i 82 Diesel Rabbit Pickup (374k mi) 91 Jetta IDI Diesel (155k mi) 81 VW Rabbit Convertible Diesel 70 Triumph Spitfire Mk III (63kmi)66 Triumph TR4a IRS (90k mi)67 Ford F-100 (??)