of course we all hate the 603, but why do you hate it the most?
 

Is it because of the crap design of the head?
The cracks in it?
The breaking headgaskets?
the clearly dumb designed and malfunctioning cooling system?
The lack of torque for such a huge engine?
The breaking turbo's?
The leaks all over the engine?
The fan that will never come on when it has to?
The way it starts like it is on the verge of dying, even after 20 seconds glow?

or all of the above?

why o why does no 124 603 ever have the cooling fan come on. why??? what is so hard?
god I hate them.
who needs a wagon???

If that's been your experience with the 603, it seems clear you've never owned a good one.

I hate how crowded it is to work on the glowplugs thanks to the charge pipe. I hate removing that crossover section EVERYTIME I want to get into the injector area to perform whatever needs to be performed (compression test, washers, leaks, spray pattern, or whatnot).

That's it I suppose. I've never had any serious problems WITH THE 3.0 liter. The 3.5 however belongs in a dumpster.

ill take it off your hands :D

We don't
 

You don't know the joys of a 6 cylinder diesel when that turbo comes to life.
No torque? Absurd.
Sounds like you have no compression.
Put it all in order and then complain.

this is my 3rd 603. they have all been slow. but maybe that's fast to others, who knows. compression is fine. turbo as well.
the only decent 603 I ever had was a 350sd. that had torque! wow.

If its the one in your sig for $700... got pictures anywhere? I could use a spare wagon ;)

I love mine! 265k miles, and I have the original head and head gasket, turbo, and IP. My cooling system works perfectly and has been totaly trouble free.(because I replaced every last cooling system part 3 years ago, nothing lasts forever!:D) I don't really have any oil leaks, doesn't burn any oil, always starts regardless of temp.

On top of that its pretty smooth, has decent power, and returns 21mpg-23mpg around town. Considering that a 560SEL in similer use would return about 12mpg, its a very good car for its day.

The 603 is a great engine, I have had mine for almost five years now, I'm never going to get rid of it. I have put a lot of work in my car, but most of that was into the car itself. The engine has been damn near trouble free. Actualy other than a few accesory problems when I first got the car, I don't beleive I have ever had an engine problem. Its been the most trouble free part of the whole car!:D

Pretty much all MB diesels are slow.:D

300SD/L, 350SD/L=SLOW W126
560SEC AMG Hammer Wide Body with a 6.0L V8=Fast:D

If I could easily swap my 617 for a 603, I would.

If I could swap my 603 for a 606 I would!:D

I'll agree with the lack of power and torque 100%. There's some hills where I'm at, sort of the foothills of the mountains, not even seriously in the mountains... there's some hills that from a dead stop, I put my foot on the floor and I'm almost afraid it won't even climb it. I thought diesels were supposed to be able to tug anything... but I've seriously thought I was going to end up not making it up a moderate climb before, not even a serious mountain road.

Changed all the fuel filters until I'm blue in the face. Removed EGR, etc. Nothing helps. It's just weak.

Turbo seems about useless. Don't know how you tell if it's "working" or not. You can easily feel a blast of air from the crossover pipe when you rev the engine, but I have no idea if it's enough pressure or not. Turbo leaks oil worse than the rest of the engine.

Trying as hard as I can but I'm starting to wonder if I've even got enough to work with or not.

That's the 98-99 e300 turbodiesel, right? If I had the funds, I wouldn't even worry about a swap. I'd just flat out sell and buy. Same with a 300sd though.. .but I've got so much in this SDL at this point that I literally can't afford to sell it. not yet anyway. If I do anything I'll just keep saving and add to the collection. The 98-99 is out of my price range until pretty much post-college -but if the next two or three summers yielded enough savings to start out with a mid-range 300SD and work with it for a while, I think at this point I'd do it, even if it meant taking the SDL off the insurance for a while.

My 603 is the love of my life ... so don't ask me to commisserate. :D It isn't perfect ... my god, the thing throws a new challenge at me every week it seems. But most of them are small challenges, and because of the car, I've learned (or tried) a lot of things I never would have even been aware of otherwise. Whether you have a 603, a 617, a 606, it's all going to come down to how you deal with the imperfections ... and luck. You may just be unlucky enough to have had a string of lousy cars. A 603 should not be "slow." They aren't going to toast most cars off the line, and they feel heavier than a gasser, but if it's slow, something's wrong.

Different people prefer different cars. I can see why some guys like 617/616s better, but I love the 603. My personal approach is figure out what you like, stick with that, and don't waste time complaining about or bashing the other (well ... there's nothing wrong with some good-spirited ranting now and then :D ). Maybe you've gotten bad 603s, or maybe you're just not a 603 guy ... but, as others have suggested, if you want to pawn off your 603s, many of us would be glad to give them a loving home ... :kiss:

ok I drove it home just now and realized the ac relay isn't hooked up. maybe that's why the front fan won't come on. and thus it overheats.
and yes it is fast enough, you just gotto floor it and keep the rpm's high. that wasn't the case with my 350. that had a turbo that spooled very early in RPM's. double blade. that had torque like a V8.

but still. I will not buy a 603 engine benz ever again. They are junk compared to their older stuff. and any mechanic will tell you the same thing.
squeeky 124, eating tires, needing shocks etc etc.
stick to your 126 gentlemen!

I think this pretty much says it ... a 603 is fast for a 20yo diesel. But folks who think it's going to be really FAST are of course going to be left scratching their heads. 0-60 is nine-point is nothing to be ashamed of, but it's not going to plaster you to the back window. Now a new E350 BLUETEC ... that's fast ... But I still wouldn't trade Bodhi for one!