Hello,

I've been researching 80's 300SD's or 300SDL's for the last couple months. My goal is to pay a little bit more and get a very well maintained car (reasonably low miles, good service record history, most things in good working condition, good interior, good body & paint, etc), rather than buy a cheap one with problems. This would be my main car (mostly to/from work). I'm ready to pay $1K/year in maintenance, but want a car that will last me 7-10 years (at least 100K miles) without being a major money pit. I have reasonable mechanic skills, and plan to do routine maintenance myself. This would be my first Mercedes and first diesel.

This week I'm going to look at a 1987 300SDL. The car is supposed to be in very good shape with the following exceptions:

1) high miles
The car has 300K on it. Supposedly the car has been well-maintained with a good paper trail of service records. The motor was partially rebuilt at about 240K due to warped head (caused by overheating). I believe the tranny is original -- what is the expected life of a transmission on these cars, and how much would it cost to do a major overhaul/replacement?

I believe the trap oxidizer recall work as been done, but I will get confirmation on that.

Because of the miles, I'm also concerned about the front end (tie rod ends, steering box, etc), but I'll know more about that when I test drive it and look at it. Anything specific I should look for there?

In spite of the high miles, the owner says most of the small things work: gauges, tach, clock, power locks, windows, etc., which I consider good indications that someone cared well for the car. There's no rust, no water leaks in the trunk, etc. Of course, I'm going off what the owner has told me, I'll know more when I actually see the car.

2) bad a/c
The owner said that recently something happened to the AC and it started blowing hot air. A local independent MBZ shop did about $800 in repairs, and then determined that the AC needs a new compressor and quoted an additional $1K for the part and labor. (The owner has not done the compressor repair.) Does this sound right? Added together, this is about $1800 to fix the AC.

Any advice and feedback would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Patrick

Make sure it isn't a california emissions model

__________________
green 85 300SD 200K miles "Das Schlepper Frog" With a OM603 TBO360 turbo ( To be intercooled someday )( Kalifornistani emissons )
white 79 300SD 200K'ish miles "Farfegnugen" (RIP - cracked crank)
desert storm primer 63 T-bird "The Undead" (long term hibernation)

http://ecomodder.com/forum/fe-graphs/sig692a.png

I own an 87 300SDL which I bought off of EBay but was able to look at the car ahead of time.

Tranny - I have the original in my car and the original was also in my 82 300SD, which had about 340K miles on it. These things can last a long time if well maintained. When I thought I was going to need to rebuild it, I got a local estimate of about $2,000.

A/C - The main thing I would worry about it whether or not the evaporator core leaks. If you can get a leak test done and confirm that it is OK, then the other stuff is relatively straightforward to take care of. Replacing an evap core requires taking off the dash, console, steering wheel, basically everything in the interior to replace. Major job. Although the compressor price sounds a little high to me, it's probably not outrageous. I'd just want to be asboslutely sure that's the problem and not find out after spending that that the evap core leaks.

Engine - If the engine is rebuilt, the head has probably been replaced with a newer head which is better against warpage. But you should check the number on the head. There are threads here on ShopForum which tell you which is the original and you don't want that.

I love the car, though. Mine has 250K miles on it and runs great.

- Ted

__________________
1987 300SDL 265,000 mi.
1982 300SD 325,000 mi. (and holding)
1956 Packard Clipper 150,000 mi.

$1800 is nuts to rebuild the AC, start reading all you can and you'll see it isn't that big of an issue.

Also verify it has the updated vac pump. This is critical

__________________
I'm not a doctor, but I'll have a look.

'85 300SD 245k
'87 300SDL 251k
'90 300SEL 326k

Six others from BMW, GM, and Ford.

Liberty will not descend to a people; a people must raise themselves to liberty.[/IMG]

First of all - they are great cars. I have my '87 about three years. The trans was bad when I bought it, I had it rebuilt by a local independent for about $2K. It also needed A/C work, the compressor was totalled, compressor alone is about $600 rebuilt. I replaced all the o-rings, cleaned everything out and replaced the compressor and drier. It then had some control problems which apparently was the klima relay, which I fixed by resoldering. The cruise worked intermittently which turned out to be the module; I found one at a junkyard (lucky). Power mirror was locked up, due to corrosion, cleaned and lubed.

In general, you will find some electrical issues due to age, the electrical components and connectors are very robust and in many cases can be repaired by cleaning.

Suspension-wise, the ball joint boots were rotted out, I bought new boots and installed with no further problems - others on the forum would advise to just replace.

In short, you should be somewhat handy and willing to try some work on your own.

Have fun.
John

Any SDL that has 300K on the clock must be approached with extreme caution. No matter how good the maintenance, you've got a transmission on severely borrowed time and an engine that may also be on borrowed time. 400K for the rings and valve tensioning rails and oil pump is generally near the limit.

Additionally, you're looking at $600 or so for the compressor and the labor for the a/c.

Unless you steal this vehicle ($2K or so), you really ought to look for a better example with lower miles on the engine and transmission.

This does not apply to SDL's. Their are slight difference in the vac system thats it.


As Brian said at 300k a lot of things are going to be on borrowed time. Find one with 150k on it.

A 300k mile tranny is on borrowed time.

__________________
1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

Thanks for all the feedback. This forum is great!

Believe it or not, the guy is asking $7850 for this car. I figured it was worth about $3,000-$3,500, so I doubt the seller was going to be interested in my offer anyway. Unfortunately, Seattle has become a sellers market for these cars. People have been paying up to $6,000 for top-notch, low mile 300SDs, and $9K for 300TD's. For cars in average shape are going for between $2,000 to $4,000.

With our very high gas prices ($3.10+), and commercial bio-diesel being pretty accessable here at decent prices, I think that's sparking some of the demand. Plus, they are building a big biodiesel refinery north of here, so people around here have been hearing a lot about it.

Thanks for the advice, I'll keep looking.

Patrick

Yes my area is just as bad. We have rusted out sub 200k mile examples with trashed interiors going for $6k. Everyone with an SDL for sale around me seems to want $6k.

If the market in your area is that nuts I'd look to importing one from down south. Or into buying a 420SEL. Frankly the mileage isn't that different, plus you can buy a very nice 420 for $5k. That extra $3k will sure buy a heck of a lot of gas.

Figure a 420 gets maybe 5mpg-8mpg less around town, fuel costs about the same.

I bought my SDL before this latest craze, if I were W126 shopping in today's market I'd be looking at 420/560SEL's. I am not into drinking the cool aid in regard to the diesels, I'd rather buy just as nice of a 420 with less then half the miles, and keep the rest in the bank.

__________________
1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

I have one for sale, but it's so far from you that it's probably not worth the aggravation for you. Would also cost a small fortune to get it home, given the current prices that truckers are working against. But I will say that when sorted, these are excellent drivers, and the 126 is one of the last Benz cars that was as it should be.

Hey, I bought my 87 just over a year ago with 200K on it and have had to do a little repair on so far! Bought it for 5,200 and everything worked, great condition ( Florida car). The reverse gear jumped ,but I had a mercedes mechanic friend rebuit it for $1,200. Now the ac is on the fritz, need to replace the servo's. I put new paint on it and I just love this car. If u want to purchase this one get back to me,

Tom Z

1984 300D
1987 300SDL
2006 Audi A3

markets just like the vw tdi's.if your after a nice one now it's gonna cost ya.i just bought one about a month and a half ago.az car,a/c was worked on as far as what i don't know,but it's cooold.also it's had the t-chain and head rad and replaced and front susp rebuilt.so mechanicals were somewhat in order,but then the ign lock assy broke and the tumblers locked up,so there went about 400 bucks.but i love this car man.showed it to a friend of mine and he said quote"thats the most pleasant car to look at that i've ever seen"

I purchased a 1986 300sdl last year in June. 13 months later all I have done is routine maintenance and a starter. Car has 87,000 miles on it now and is barely broken in. I get 24-27 mpg depending on driving habits. Extremely solid, safe car. When I purchased it, it was being used sparingly by a retired Physician. It had 79,000 miles on it. I paid $3500. Interior is immaculate with the electric reclining rear seats. Exterior is good, not great. The previous owner parked by feel at times so I have dents in the passenger front and rear doors. Trunk lid has some hail dings. It still shines very well and looks great from 10 feet. I have a leak in the tranny at the place where the Bowden cable inserts into it. I have a new seal but have not fixed it yet. All suspension components are still great, as the previous owner did maintain it mechanically. I would check all fuel hoses and return lines. I would check Radiator hoses and especially the upper hose at the radiator and the radiator itself. The top is plastic and they do not age well. Disconnect the EGR vacuum line, run some diesel purge through it, change your 2 fuel filters, change transmission fluid and filter, change oil and filter. I now use the new Mobil One SUV Synthetic oil ( found it at O'Reilly's). Get a CD manual for your car from MBUSA ( 20.00 ) and then get personal with it. These are great tanks. They do not build cars like this anymore. You have real steel, nice thick windows. Enjoy Man!!!

sometimes air conditioner clutch does not come on after cranking car. If I shut it off and and recrank the air will come on and stay on. Is this a belt or sensor or what?