I found a 1987 Diesel wagon for sale in my neighborhood. Problem is, the transmission has gone out. It looks good, but has 250k on the engine, and has been sitting for about a year. He wants $2700.00 I said WHAT!!! to myself. My question is, what is that bodystyle number, and what does it cost for a used/rebuilt transmisson. I was only thinking top offer of $750.00 for the car. Am I out of range. Is this a rarer car than I think. The Air suspension has been removed in the back, and replaced with springs.

The 1987 300TD is a rare bird. It was available for one year, and there are not many around in the US. It is a wanted car. There are a number of threads written about it. A good condition 87 300TD can easily fetch between $6000 and up. A recent excellent low milage one went for almost $14K. If the engine is fine (make sure it is) and the interior is good, the $2700 price asked is not outrageous. A running good condition wagon of this year with 250K miles would provide fetch $4000 to $5000. Make sure there is NO rust. Others will chime in.

i dont think i agree, sorry.

the rear suspension is expensive to put right, and with it butchered and a bad tranny and 250k i think you are closer to right with the 750 offer.... maybe a bit more but i wouldnt pay 2700, i dont think unless it was really clean and the motor was recently rebuilt.

tom w

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

I worry about the retrofitted rear suspension. I always recommend people to stick with the SLS (self levelling system) and put the $$ into fixing it on the wagon, its only the 2 shocks, 2 nitrogen cells or the SLS actuating valve that go bad. If you pile 5 people in the car does it still ride level and can you add 300 lbs of cargo and still not bottom out with conventional shocks? I doubt it. Anyhow the other thing is the aluminum head that tends to crack and fail, as well as a head gasket every few 100K miles that fails. And the AC can be very expensive to fix in the 124 chassis (or just about any chassis these days!)
Other than that, if there's no rust then fix it up and you should have one of the best running dieselturbos around, with excellent handling and safety features to boot. These were what, $40K new? About 2 years ago I was lucky and found a very clean '87 300D with 226K on it that actually had a working AC and a newly rebuilt transmission for $2500, it just so happened to need $3K of engine work. But its a great car now!
The one you are considering is worth maybe $1K depending on interior, if thats trashed forget it.

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'95 E320 Wagon my favorite road car. '99 E300D wolf in sheeps body, '87 300D Sportline suspension, '79 300TD w/ 617.952 engine at 367,750 and counting!

Thanks for the information people!! I am going to look at it in the next few days, I don't think anyone would want it down here, other than me. Perhaps the local MB independant shop. He probably has a transmission for it hanging around.

(hypotheticalllY) how much for just the engine ? if it has a non-craked head, I'd think that alone would be worth $1000.


-John

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2009 Kia Sedona
2009 Honda Odyssey EX-L
12006 Jetta Pumpe Duse
(insert Mercedes here)

Husband, Father, sometimes friend =)

If the engine is in good shape and running you could probably ebay it and get $1k.

Get it as cheaply as possible of course.

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

Yes, I believe he said it does sag a little in the back. He also said you cannot load it up much! How much would it cost to put the old system back in?

it would be ...ouch!... a lot of bother, and expensive if you have to go and buy the parts one at a time. does he have any of it?

tom w

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

Tempting as it may be, stay away from this car. There is simply too much wrong with it to bother putting it back together.

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Rick Miley
2014 Tesla Model S
2018 Tesla Model 3
2017 Nissan LEAF
Former MB: 99 E300, 86 190E 2.3, 87 300E, 80 240D, 82 204D Euro
Chain Elongation References

Ok, I went to look at it yesterday. Well, not tooooo bad. He is from the UK, so I had misunderstood him. The suspension system is still installed, It had broken, and decided to just replace the part, INSTEAD of installing springs in the back. The paint needs to be buffed, one or two surface rust areas, NO rot, as of yet! Interior is pretty nice, a little cleaning, and she would look good. The car has not been started in over a year. 268k miles, opps. The engine bay looks a little dirty, but the eninge itself looks ok. Doesn't look like much blowby. However there is an oil leak somewhere, as the block is full of oil. Suspect valve cover. To his knowlege the Timing chain has never been changed. The inside of the engine looks BRAND NEW!! No gunk!! The engine oil is at "FULL" level. That says something. He also said that a new alternator was installed by indepandant.(while the transmission was being checked). Tires flat, was told that brakes and rotors had been changed prior to sitting, they are all rusted now. Under the front of the car, the oil pan is oily, only a bit of build-up of gunk. The underside is also cover with dirt, the front springs have a spacer in them to keep them from sagging. Other than all of this, it has potential, but between the transmission needing replacement, and the unknown bushings and so forth, I don't know that I want to mess with it. But I sure hate to throw it all away. It could clean up pretty nice!

What about the air conditioner? I'm assuming you'll want one in Beaumont, Texas. The last W124 compressor that I bought from a dealer in 1999 was $850, and that particular Nippondenso is known for failure. So don't assume that it works fine.

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Rick Miley
2014 Tesla Model S
2018 Tesla Model 3
2017 Nissan LEAF
Former MB: 99 E300, 86 190E 2.3, 87 300E, 80 240D, 82 204D Euro
Chain Elongation References

Yes he also said that worked!

I also noticed that the intake had been worked on, I could tell by the orange glue. I wonder if the head had been taken of, I know these engines 603 had head issues. He is the 3rd owner

Ok, one more thing about the W124 and then I'll shut up: http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/showpost.php?p=34615&postcount=3

Well, maybe two things. I also had the transmission rebuilt in that car by a reputable shop and it never worked right after that either. And note that it was a 300E, not a 300D, so I didn't even have to worry about it being a head cracker.

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Rick Miley
2014 Tesla Model S
2018 Tesla Model 3
2017 Nissan LEAF
Former MB: 99 E300, 86 190E 2.3, 87 300E, 80 240D, 82 204D Euro
Chain Elongation References

I think it's worth risking $1000, but you have to get something for taking a chance.

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

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

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