I'm considering acquiring my first diesel. There's this '82 240D in my area for $250. It's got about 140,000 miles. The engine starts and runs OK from cold, according to a friend who went to look at it when the seller was home. Also my friend said the power widows and other accessories still seemed to be working (except for of course, the AC - no suprise)

I stopped by to see it a few days later, but the owner wasn't there, so I couldn't hear it start or see how the oil pressure was after warmup, but I had a pretty good look at the body and floors. Beige exterior, tan interior. Most paint still shiny. Body looks pretty straight, except front passenger door, which has ding and the side molding is missing.

Now for some bad news - it's not driveable due to the left rear suspension arm having rusted partly in half, so the left rear wheel now sits twisted at a most peculiar angle. Other rust includes part of the drivers side floor alongside the inner sill and similar, but smaller, rusting on the passenger side floor, though the rockers still seem largely intact. Also there's a big rust blister on the left rear fender behind the wheel, plus the right front fender has been bondoed & repainted but it's now blistering through the bondo. A few years ago, I repaired much worse floor rust in someone else's 300D so I'm not scared off because of the floors in this one. Anyway, if I decide to take the diesel plunge, I'd be fixing this up as a driver, not a showcar. Interior looks decent except for a big hole in the driver's seat (I'm thinking sheepskins here!)

I am concerned because this is an automatic.
I know these are slow anyway, but I'm more concerned about durability. Are the automatics a weak link on these cars?

Has anyone ever seen one of these W123 rear suspension arms rust out? I have a '72 W114 250 parts car. Will a rear suspension arm from the W114 fit a W123?

I know many say there's no more expensive Mercedes than a cheap Mercedes, but I suppose (worse case) I could always part this one out.

On that note, There's this 300D with a decent body, sitting in a neighbor's driveway down the other end of my street. It might be availible cheap because the automatic died a few years ago.
Final question - will a 240D automatic work in a 300D?

Happy Motoring, Mark

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DrDKW

It's hard to say without seeing it, but this sounds like it's more of a parts car than a driver. You may be better off finding another one with a bad engine and transplanting the engine (if you are confident of the mileage and condition). It will probably cost more than you think to fix this one if the rust is as bad as it sounds. Either that or look around for a good $2000 driver that doesn't need much work.

Well, this cheap 240D could become the parts donor for that neigborhood 300D with the bad transmission. If a 240D auto won't work with the 300D engine, I suppose dropping in the whole 240D engine & tranny might be feasible, but then I'd be stuck with the infamous 300D ACC.

Meanwhile, except for the left rear suspension arm, the rust on this 240D isn't nearly as bad as the '80 300D that I patched up for someone else a few years ago. That car had totally rusted open the rear wheel arches, the firewall had perforated where the battery had eaten the metal away, the drivers floor was so bad the seat had partly fallen through, and the rust had eaten so far up the inner sill that the lower driver's seatbelt anchor was hanging by a shred! I had to fabricate two long heavy guage steel plates to repair the seat and sill area.

As for a 'good $2000 driver', thats what some in the DC area are asking for a driveable 240D in similar condition as this one, but without a rusted out rear suspension arm. Last week there was an '81 240D advertised in the Washington Post, with 80,000 miles, for $6500. Presumbably at that price, the car would be in perfect, or near perfect, condition, but I sure wouldn't bet on it.

The seat mountings in this $250 240D appear to still be OK and I'm hoping the rust hasn't terminally eaten up into the sill, lower pillar and seatbelt areas yet. I'll call the owner tommorrow, so I can get a more thorough second look, and hear it run myself before I make a decision.

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DrDKW

Mark-

My 82 240D was originally a Northern Virginia car and has similar issues. Of course, the trailing arm and front fenders can be replaced, eliminating those problems and the floor can be easliy patched. The transmission will not work well with a TURBO 300D. If the car is otherwise mechanically sound, I would go for it and look for manual transmission parts to swap in.

We would enjoy having you here on the diesel forum.

Rick

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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 (??)

Of course I would prefer a stick-shift in this car. The fact that it's automatic probably weighs more against the car for me than the rust, as I can't properly test-drive this car, other than perhaps to see if it will move forward and back a few feet.
If the auto-tranny is still sound, I hope to be able to use the car as-is while I put her into shape and decide whether to keep or sell or consider a WVO conversion.

Over the years, I have occasionally driven an automatic 240D that didn't feel totally gutless. Specifically, one fellow's '74 model many years ago that actually felt quite zippy around town. Unfortunately, his engine seized several months later. Don't know if that was related to whatever 'high-performance' tuning his car may have had.
On the other hand, I remember test-driving another '70s automatic 240D back then that was PAINFULLY slow. That one made the '72 gas 220 I owned at the time, seem a hotrod by comparison!

Happy Motoring, Mark

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DrDKW

Well, I did it! Tonight there was a full moon, I turned 50, and for my birthday, I acquired my first diesel! The seller's wife was not happy that I haggled the price down to $225!

There's a bit more rust under the drivers seat than I hoped, but the seat mountings seem OK for now. The rear wheel arches, which can be so difficult to properly repair, are rust-free. Except for some trunk-lid scratches, the 8 year old repaint still looks good.
Engine starts up instantly from cold (at least with today's 70 degrees - we'll see how she does two months from now when it's freezing!) Guage reads max oil pressure, even idling in gear after warm-up. I couldn't actually drive her more than a few feet back and forth, due to the aforementioned cracked rear wishbone

She's a 'full-dress' 240D, with power locks, power windows (all working!) manual sunroof, automatic tranny (claimed rebuilt 3 years ago) cruise control (condition unknown) and four new Mchelin X tires!
AC is dead (no suprise) but heater heats and blower works fine (but of course the W123 must have one of the easiest to change Mercedes heater blowers) Thankfully NO ACC!
Will post more after daylight allows further examination.

Happy Motoring, Mark

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DrDKW