I've seen a couple ads of wrecked e320's of this era and were selling cheap. I always wanted to know how much money would something like this (1997 E320 Diesel) would be needed to get it back on the road?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Mercedes-Benz-E-Class-300d-1997-Mercedes-Benz-E320-DIESEL-Repairable-SAVE-1000s_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ6335QQihZ009QQitemZ190085675869QQrdZ1QQsspagenameZWDVW

Maybe I should of posted this on the Bodywork side?? Any opinions?

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1983 123.133 California
- GreaseCar Veg System

As the owner of a body shop or an experienced body man, you should know the answer. If you don't own a body shop, are not an experienced body man, and don't have a best friend who qualifies for one of the above and can answer that question, you should not buy such a car.
Hey . . . you asked for opinions . . .

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Bernard
Ventura, Calif.

My current Diesels:
1995 Mercedes E300D SE
1992 Dodge D250 Ram with Cummins Turbodiesel
1985 Mercedes 300CD Turbodiesel Coupe
1978 Mercedes 240D (daughter's 1st. car)

You get what you pay for.

4K dollars is not cheap for a wreck like that that will need thousands of dollars in repair consuming both time and money. After the work is done, the car will likely not be the same as a car that was original.

Forget it.

Cosmetic damage is one thing, structural damage is a totally different ball of wax.

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RRGrassi


70's Southern Pacific #5608 Fairmont A-4 MOW car

13 VW JSW 2.0 TDI 193K, Tuned with DPF and EGR Delete.

91 W124 300D Turbo replaced, Pressure W/G actuator installed. 210K

90 Dodge D250 5.9 Cummins/5 speed. 400K

With a salvage title it will not be able to be insured for Coll or Theft (at not in Calif) and will be much more difficult to sell again.

I think the parts list is optomistic. I would add radiator, tran cooler, condenser, horn, fog lights, etc. I'd be concerned about teh rest of the AC system $$$$

The rear is unibody and not good.

If someones only going to charge $1000 larbor to repair and paint that damage i'd sign em up quick if I were the owner.

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Terry Allison
N. Calif. & Boca Chica, Panama

09' E320 Bluetec 77k (USA)
09' Hyundai Santa Fe Diesel 48k (S.A.)

With the advent of crumple zones it doesn't take much of a hit to render a vehicle unfixable (at least for a reasonable amount of money). Either a light front end or light rear end hit might be worth further investigation but a car having both should probably be considered just a parts car.

For about the same amount of money as a nice E series you could fix up one like that

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1980 300TD-China Blue/Blue MBTex-2nd Owner, 107K (Alt Blau) OBK #15
'06 Chevy Tahoe Z71 (for the wife & 4 kids, current mule) '03 Honda Odyssey (son #1's ride, reluctantly) '99 GMC Suburban (255K+ miles, semi-retired mule) 21' SeaRay Seville (summer escape pod)

Swamp Yankee . . .
you said something valid. A long time ago I had my first (and last) Volvo, a 1989 760 Wagon. I liked the idea of having the safest car on the road. Incidentially, while crawling though traffic at slow speed, a Ford Taurus cut in front of me and instantly hit the brakes. I hit him on the rear bumper at perhaps 5mph. Only a scratch on the Ford, but my Volvo looked bad, like it hit something at 50mph. It was almost a total.

So, yes, Volvos are safe for everyone, at the expense of giving their life for sometimes no reason. Whatever a (relatively) "modern Volvo hits, is junk. Modern Mercedes cars follow that path. With all the plastic and sound deadening used, repairing one can become economically unfeasable.

In this regard, the W123 is the ten times better car than the W124, and even more the W210. Good indicator for a good car as far as I am concerned: open the hood and you should see the road surface underneath. Another one: removing a seat should require only to remove 4 bolts. If you have to figure out how to remove the seat-mounted side airbags, and the seat-back-integreated fan, and the seat-sensors, and the seat-specific air conditioning . . . that's not a car I want to own . . . ever.

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Bernard
Ventura, Calif.

My current Diesels:
1995 Mercedes E300D SE
1992 Dodge D250 Ram with Cummins Turbodiesel
1985 Mercedes 300CD Turbodiesel Coupe
1978 Mercedes 240D (daughter's 1st. car)

Yep I did ask for opinions. As far as owning a body shop, that is not me. But my extent of being an experience bodyman is working at a bodyshop during my summers in high school and a little in college some 17 years ago. Not sure if that means anything today, but anyway I was just hoping maybe someone out there wrecked an E320 and had the insurance estimates handy. I was figuring that the cost to fix it would probably add up to the price of one that is in good running condition. I just needed a little validation.

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1983 123.133 California
- GreaseCar Veg System

I would buy that car just for its engine,transmission, driveline, rear end and related electronics and swap it into a W123 300CD .... oh the fun the joy.. of a 606 in a w123.. But its a N/A so a turbo would be needed

Well, if the airbag went off, you would have to replace two of those on the front. New stuff for steering wheel. Oh and a new dash at $1,000. So there is at least $2,500 and we are not talking about any body damage. If any seatbelts were worn at the time, you have to replace those (in theory). But if you factor this stuff in to me it does not make sense. Find a used one in one piece for well under $10,000 easy.

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raMBow

1999 E300DT Obsydian Black Metallic, Heated Full Leather Parchment options, E2, K2, 136,000+, best 36.5 mpg - GP's 12-04 & 11-12 Zero Stuck
2010 Honda Odyssey - The BrideMobile - best 26.5
(2) 2005 Honday Accord- (1 -Corporate 1 - Personal) - 110,000 4-cyl 30mpg
2000 VW Golf GLS TDI, Upsolute Chip (sold to Brother, now 300+k on it) 48.5 mpg like clock work
1987 Honda CRX HF - Sold 87,000 always over 50 mpg Max 67 mpg

Thats an easy $10K to fix that. Better to part it out for all the reasons mentioned above.... RT

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When all else fails, vote from the rooftops!
84' Mercedes Benz 300D Anthracite/black, 171K
03' Volkswagen Jetta TDI blue/black, 93K
93' Chevrolet C2500HD ExCab 6.5TD, Two-tone blue, 252K

I would like to have the $$$$ to put a 606 turbo in a w107 and 3/4 ton Chevy Silverado.

For $10k you can buy one that is not crushed! Thats the way I would go.

Now I wonder if the engine is hurt? To bad its not a turbo charged 606, that would look nice in my car.

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1999 SL500
1969 280SE
2023 Ram 1500
2007 Tiara 3200

I had a friend of mine who repaired body damage on cars. He said on a Ford or Chevy, he has 5 milimeters of leeway. Meaning, if he were 6 milimeters off putting on a fender, the hood wouldn't close, and the door wouldn't close.

He said with Japanese cars, he only has 3 milimeters of leeway.

Prior to Mercedes buying Chrysler (this was around 1997 when I was talking to him), he said Chrysler's were so poorly constructed, he had 7 milimeters of play when putting them together.

Then he continued, "But if I get to a German made car, a Mercedes or BMW, etc., I only have 1 milimeter of play. That means I have to be within 1 milimeter for everything to work properly".

Something to think about when thinking of getting a repair on the body.

jeff 1991 300d, 102k

There's no such thing as a 1997 E320 diesel.

The first diesel labeled 320 in the USA was the 2005 E320CDI.

The 1997 is an E300.

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Kent Christensen
Albuquerque
'07 GL320CDI, '10 CL550. '01 Porsche Boxster
Two BMW motorcycles