After reading up on them and such, I have come quite close to purchasing my first diesel. 1985 300D with turbo, gold with palomino (?) MB-Tex interior. The carpets are quite stained and such, but the MB-Tex appears that it will clean up. Neither the gas gauge nor the front passenger and back driver's windows work. No rust that I could find (I can't say that I am experienced in these things, but I checked the wheel wells and the door sills as was recommended...?). Drove nicely, somewhat loud, but tis a diesel. It has 311,xxx miles and the gold paint is getting rather thin, with several dollar-bill sized spots down to primer. Air conditioner has recently gone out (after apparently a slow leak and rounds of recharges, owner who used to fix air conditioners thinks a hose might have burst), but the heater does work. Sunroof is operational. The brakes were redone recently and as such its stops quite nicely. The radio works, which after driving the Packard (that has a vacuum tube AM radio that sucks power even if it doesn't work) is marvelous. No exhaust grumbles or any smoke seen whilst driving. I would have snapped photographs, but the thought did not cross my mind until later; it is within walking distance of my house, so pictures are easily procurable. For $1500, does this sound like a dependable daily driver? I am quite giddy at the prospect of getting it and am afraid of not thinking this clearly through

Also, may I inquire from any fellow Birminghamians out there where a stuitable mechanic might practice?

Thank you so very much, sorry for the extra-long post.

-I.H.Dexter

price sounds reasonible but i would want to see it first to make a true judgement... as far as a good shop goes PTL auto and tire on huffman road in center point is a wonderful shop... im a little biased though since my brother in law works there and honestly i have no idea if they will work on diesels but they are great with gassers...

Why you getting an MB when you have a PACKARD! Those cars are awesome. Straight Eight is a completely awesome engine design, its just oozes class.

At any rate, at 311K your engine may be in perfect running shape, howerver, in my opinion, an auto tranny from a Turbodiesel Mercedes may be running on borrowed time at 311,000 miles if it's original. I've hear stories of them lasting 500K, and stories of them needing rebuilds at 150K. It depends on maintenance, and if the car was built on a Tuesday or a Friday (but Monday is the worst )

In any case, they are great cars. However, I feel you could probably get a much better deal somewhere else in the south of you looked around on Epray or classifieds. 1500 for a 20 some odd year old car that may have a tranny thats on its last legs seems like a bit much (or maybe I am just cheap)

It'd be a worthwhile investment, IMO, to find one with lower mileage, and possibly spend a bit more money. I should talk though, the prices of the 83 240D and my 76 300D now come out to 100 dollars, and 4 cords of wood.

Welcome to the forum, and good luck in the hunt. Lots of good people here ready to help you with any little problem you need. Don't be afraid to ask questions, I ask stupid ones all the time

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http://www.betten.mercedescenter.com...n_banner_1.jpg
1976 300D
190,000 Miles
Colorado Beige

1975 300D
Parts Car
78,000 Miles
Rustbucket
Also Colorado Beige

1984 190D 2.2 (Dad's)
156,000 miles
Champagne Metallic Clearcoat

Price is OK, but this is an old car. Unless you have big pockets, learn to tinker.
Window issues can be simple switch rehab (cotton swab and new grease) or plastic slider ($8, see posts on rehab) to new (or used) window regulators $ from $125 up if bought with the motor. Front windows are a b... but if you do the rear one first you'll be ok.
BTW: now that your turning to the dark side (diesel) that gauge is a fuel gauge. Do a archive search (or look in the DIY stuff bottom of home page) for gauge rehab.
If you can, do a 0-60mpg test and post the results. This will tell us a bit more about the drivetrain.
With engine warm, pull the oil filler cap and post the amount of fumes at idle and 1/4 throttle. This will give us a hint on the engines quality.
How old is the battery?
Does the PO (previous owner or sometimes refered to That SOB That Did !@#!@@ to a MB) have service records from a real mechanic?
If he is a HVAC guy he should know if something burst in the AC. How long has the AC been down? These things need lubrication and if not run, no lub & you start replacing parts ... $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$. Look at Diesel Gaint and other sites for scary $ AC rehab.
Do all the door, trunk and optional fuel flap lock and unlock?
Does the engine shut off NOW with the key?
1 hour after running the engine, will the above locks still work?
Does the trany shift hard? Is this the origional trany?
Pull the rear floor mats. Is there any sign of water?
Most good, vintage MBs require 1 - 2K$ to make them daily drivers with everything working. IF YOU DO THE WORK! (exception: 240D also called the EverReady Trutle).
Now for the biggest question: Can you survive being owned by a vintage MB?
Taking a luxury, 21 year old car with mid to upper milage and making it into a daily driver will take a bit more putsing, tinkering & wrenching than a 10 year old Toyota.
Do a search on runaway diesels and go buy a CO2 fire ext. You may never need it but if you do, it is a life (of the MB) saver.
Good luck. There is nothing like driving a 2 ton, vintage, luxury speed tank.
Now turn facing Stuttguard and repeat "I Love To Work On Vacuum Systems".
Which Packard? Never had the pleasure (except as a passenger) but for 3 hours I owned an Arrow. One never knows what one had till ................ "I traded that car for paper $" !!!!!!!
BTW: Some young folk are now turning to the old heat box tube radios and amps for the better quality sound!

Looks like all the folks allready posted all the information you could need,I would only add this car sounds like it would be good for somone who had dealt with these cars and enjoys working on them.If you are mechanically inclined all the information and help you would need is available on this board.But if you dont like to get your hands dirty you may want to spend a little more and get something a little more complete.Best of luck. Oh yeah,and welcome

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85 300sd SOLD ,85 745i,95 740i,1972 Suburban,1938 International

"Most good, vintage MBs require 1 - 2K$ to make them daily drivers with everything working. IF YOU DO THE WORK! (exception: 240D also called the EverReady Turtle).
Now for the biggest question: Can you survive being owned by a vintage MB?"

LostYankee is right on. This car will own you if you don't know how or are too afraid to turn a wrench. Unless of course you're a millionaire. I'd whittle the asking price down to 1k. By the way you think there's no rust but I'll bet you if I had a look I could find some. There's always some amount somewhere. There is nothing more expensive than a cheap Mercedes-Benz.

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'02 BMW 325i
'85 300D 450k
'93 190E 2.6 170k(killed by tree)
'08 Ducati Hypermotard 1100S 6k
'06 Ducati S2R800 14k(sold)

Hey, how about putting a picture of the Packard in the OD section. I'd love to see that.

Good luck with your intended aquisition.

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" We have nothing to fear but the main stream media itself . . . ."- Adapted from Franklin D Roosevelt for the 21st century

OBK #55

1998 Lincoln Continental - Sold
Max 1984 300TD 285,000 miles - Sold
The Dee8gonator 1987 560SEC 196,000 miles - Sold
Orgasmatron - 2006 CLS500 90,000 miles
2002 C320 Wagon 122,000 miles
2016 AMG GTS 12,000 miles

The Packard is in dire need of paint, as its once wedgewood blue exterior has oxidized to a gun-metal gray. The chrome was all redone before I bought it (I bought the car for the amount it cost to have the grille and bumpers rechromed . The owner said that he has records of oil changes every 4k miles and said that I could call his mechanic to ask for a more in-depth analysis of the car. According to the owner, the transmission has always shifted somewhat rough at low rpm (which is quite true, it did do that yesterday), but when one is going a bit faster, there is no notice of the shift. I can tinker around and have found that I love to do so. Apparently the front passenger window will go down but will only veeerry slowly go up. Air conditioner has been down for two or three months (I can't recall exactly). I shall try to get a chance to test drive it again to check the 0-60, I took it on the highway and it performed quite well, but I didn't stay on long enough to test the limits of its ability. I shall remember to check the locks and such and also the oil filler cap. I did think to check under the back mats and carpet and there is no rust or any sign of water there. Neither in the trunk. I have a fire extinguisher for the Packard and will most assuredly get one for this car if I (hopefully) get it. The man did not offer this car for sale in any publication or anything, just one day after I got the Packard going again after it decided to be fussy (I had been out of town for three weeks and it had not been driven), I had a hankering to stop at this house where I had seen an old diesel earlier in the week and ask if they had thought of selling it. The bell for class has just rung, will finish later. btw- the packard is a 1947 super clipper.

Sorry about that earlier. I knocked at the door of the house and asked if they might want to sell the car. The man asked what I would give for it and I said fifteen hundred. He seemed rather shocked (I guess it was about dinner time and it didn't look like they had anyone knock at the front door for some time) and just said alright, thats fine. Apparently he had had several offers before mine for considerably more but didn't want to sell the car then but now he reckoned that it was time to sell it. Ask whatever you think I should find out about the car, as I am at a loss. Thank you.
-I.H.Dexter

I'm in tuscaloosa and a buddy of mine owns an 86 SD too.
I know there are at least a couple other people here in AL.

good luck.

maybe we should have a small 5th Circle of Hell MB get together

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'82 Euro MB 300 D Turbo Silver/Blue - Fixed
Adding W115 Intake and Intercooler

1986 Chevy Camaro Cp 400HP For Sale
Engineer
Tuscaloosa, AL

Hey now!

We like Alabama! All cities here aren't designed as fields full of corrugated steel high-school gymnasiums, ya know...

1500 is par for the course on one of these cars unless it is undrivable-- to those that say it is too high-- Shop around a bit and see what 1500 buys with a star on the grille! Not much, I'm afraid.

I don't trust the guys in Birmingham over by the projects and Jim Burke Subaru-- My fuel filter plugged once and he wanted my car towed in to be looked at without even mentioning that it could have been a plugged filter. Everyone here mentioned that first off.

I know of one shop off of 78, also in a ghetto, that usually has a lot of Mercedes cars in the lot, but wouldn't wan my car to sit there after dark and especially after signing a "we are not liable for...." contract. I need to find a shop myself, so keep me posted!

*edit*

The gymnasium comment was because I thought the previous poster was in Huntsville--Bleh!

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http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i1...Untitled-1.jpg

Font too small, can't read, but I agree with what everyone else is saying

Offtopic but:
get firefox (http://getfirefox.com) and hit + to enlarge the font.
Really helps.

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'83 300D Turbo
Current: ???K mi - 19.2mpg -> 17.4mpg -> 22.9mpg ---> ODO Died
bought at: 233.8K mi - 10MPG For $1.00
3.5 cylinders work: 320 320 100 340 280
Got insurance? FarmersReallySucks.Com

"The gymnasium comment was because I thought the previous poster was in Huntsville--Bleh!"

Hey! I live about half my time in HuntsVegas. Well, WE have a Saturn 5 booster AND a fake space shuttle....does Bham? I don't think so!

Anyway, I bought my SD in Albertville for $1400 (after alot of haggling) at 282,000 miles...inoperable items were AC, 2 windows, tach, instrument lights. Paint is rough. So, I'd say your deal is reasonable for bama. Good luck.

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1983 300SD 307k miles
1993 Ford Escort Wagon 215k miles
1995 Isuzu P'up 214k miles

Tranny is always a concern with that many miles. Here's another item to look at. If you buy the car put a new diaphram in the vacuum pump. My first MB was a 1980 300CD. Same interior as yours. Trans slipped a little. But the car was a Mercedes!!! It had 240,000 miles. The drivers door locks all with vacuum. One day nothing locked. And I noticed alot of oil being dumped into the air breather. The diaphram had pierced and oil was being pumped everywhere vacuum was supposed to be. Many hours of dismantling every vacuum pot and blowing out all lines passed. I learned alot about the system that year. I spent alot of time at Pic N Pull dismantling their cars to see how things worked.

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Selling used Mercedes parts on Ebay...always changing...
cdplayer51 take a look!
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