The car has about 200k. What will be coming up in the future? I think that '85 was the last year for this car. Is their enough improvments in an 85 that would warrant buy a later model verseres the 81? Is their anything else to look for? I really don't much about diesels.

Search for "new buyer," "buyer's checklist," etc.
There's lots of people who have asked similar questions in the past.

For a quick answer, a 1985 300CD is a turbo, a 1981 is a NA. The 1985 also has some gadgetry (some good, some bad) specific to the year- vacuum, EGR, trap ox (if you look at a Cali model), transmission, lowered rear end gearing for lower revs at highway speed.

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The 81 will have the 85 climate control and not the troublesome Chrysler one, it's the best N/A 300cd. The 85 has more things to break (turbo, more vacuum stuff) but will get better mileage than the 81 (about 2-3 mpg better, my non turbo 300cd gets 21mpg regularly) and have more power.

Make the biggest deciding factor be the one that's in better shape. Check window seals and see if all the windows go up/down, check the condition of front seats since it's hard to find springs and pads for those, that's my coupe specific advice. Check under the doors for rust since the door seals fail and water gets in.

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1980 240d
1999 SL500

dont be bashfull about pulling out all of the carpets, specifically those in the rear, I always bring a long screwdriver and tap all of the underside of the floor with the plastic handle, taps are good, clunks are bad. as with all of these cars the double walls in the floors and rocker make them very difficult and labor intensive to fix rust. any floor rust beyond surface rust, is a deal breaker for me.

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1982 300CD Turbo (Otis, "ups & downs") parts for sale
2003 TJ with Hemi (to go anywhere, quickly) sold
2001 Excursion Powerstroke (to go dependably)
1970 Mustang 428SCJ (to go fast)
1962 Corvette LS1 (to go in style)
2001 Schwinn Grape Krate 10spd (if all else fails)

Look for the car that has the most complete set of service records. The more things that have been done by the PO, the less you will have to do.

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"Buster" in the '95

Our all-Diesel family
1996 E300D (W210) . .338,000 miles Wife's car
2005 E320 CDI . . 113,000 miles My car
Santa Rosa population 176,762 (2022)
Total. . . . . . . . . . . . 627,762
"Oh lord won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz."
-- Janis Joplin, October 1, 1970

The window regulators seem to be under built ,heavy window glass plus well built window motor vs a weakly designed window regulator = poor power window alignment.Its back window is also designed this way.The weather stripping is another thing to look at,to replace it is in the neighbor hood of $400.Other than that its a 300d jr.I would say on the up side the turning radious is better ,at least it feels like it is.I like the looks of the coupes also ,try searching for some 1999 clk rims if you buy it ,it finishes the cars looks.

[quote=chasinthesun;2123061]The window regulators seem to be under built ,heavy window glass plus well built window motor vs a weakly designed window regulator = poor power window alignment.Its back window is also designed this way./quote]
In my CD's records, it shows the driver's window regulator replaced 3-4 times... and it's broken again Definitely a weak point.

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1980 240d
1999 SL500

Ive seen here on this site a welded piece some one attached to fix their strength problem for this issue ,cant find it.Archive search ,it might be easy to find with the right phrase .

I thought the coupe and the wagons had the turbo in 81...

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John HAUL AWAY, OR CRUSHED CARS!!! HELP ME keep the cars out of the crusher! A/C Thread
"as I ride with my a/c on... I have fond memories of sweaty oily saturdays and spewing R12 into the air. THANKS for all you do!

My drivers:
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 190D 2.5-5SPEED!!!

1987 300TD
1987 300TD
1994GMC 2500 6.5Turbo truck... I had to put the ladder somewhere!

I did that too but it didnt fix the problem. I plan to experiment with a weak spring on the front arm to pull it down in the front track and keep it from binding and self destructing.

for the original poster, be careful winding the rear windows up and down as they are a ticking time bomb.

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1982 300CD Turbo (Otis, "ups & downs") parts for sale
2003 TJ with Hemi (to go anywhere, quickly) sold
2001 Excursion Powerstroke (to go dependably)
1970 Mustang 428SCJ (to go fast)
1962 Corvette LS1 (to go in style)
2001 Schwinn Grape Krate 10spd (if all else fails)

The driver side window has had brazing done on one of the bolt locations; it appears that the regulator works loose over time, starts to flop around and stress other areas of the regulator. Mine cracked so I drilled a couple of holes and fabricated a plate that I bolted on to hold it together. Then I remounted the regulator using loc tite so it cant work loose. This was 2-3 years ago, and it has held so far.

The rear windows like to pop a circlip because the regulators twist. I seem to remember drilling holes thru the shaft the circlip goes on and putting a small cotter pin thru over the circlip.

If you dont get them re assembled with the arm in the right orientation, the rear windows will only wind down half way.....I forgot last time I did this on the drivers side, and it looks like the car has 'child safety' rear windows.

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95 E300D working out the kinks
77 300D, 227k, station car
83 300CD 370k, gone away
89 190E 2.6- 335k, no more
79 VW FI Bus- 145k miles, summer driver
59 VW Beetle ragtop- 175k miles
12 VW Jetta- 160k miles

yes, it got it one year before the sedan

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1979 240D- 316K miles - VGT Turbo, Intercooler, Stick Shift, Many Other Mods - Daily Driver

1982 300SD - 232K miles - Wife's Daily Driver

1986 560SL - Wife's red speed machine

The window regulators are definitely a huge problem with the coupes. Make sure all the windows go up and down...but if they don't, it's not horrible expensive or difficult to fix them. Just check that all of the coupe-specific parts are working/in good shape and you should be fine.

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Current cars:
2000 ML55 AMG, 174k miles
2003 C240 T-Modell, 202k miles
1995 S320, 207k Miles

True, but IIRC from the production charts I've seen they still produced some NA coupes in 81 - so an 81 could be either an NA or a Turbo - depending on production date.

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1984 300 Coupe TurboDiesel
Silver blue paint over navy blue interior
2nd owner & 2nd engine in an otherwise
99% original unmolested car
~210k miles on the clock

1986 Ford F250 4x4 Supercab
Charcoal & blue two tone paint over burgundy interior
Banks turbo, DRW, ZF-5 & SMF conversion
152k on the clock - actual mileage unknown