I have owned a '96 E300D for several years & just recently stumbled on a great deal on a '97 E300D and bought it. I noticed right away that the '97 has much better performance the the '96.

The '96 runs well, very smoothly, and gets 30MPG around town & ~37+ MPG on the highway, however, it is dog slow compared to the '97....I mean the difference is like night and day.

Both have about the same number of miles on them, neither smokes excessively or uses oil.

Oh, one other difference, the '96 turns over much more slowly than the '97 and always has....it starts fine but turns over so slowly it seems like it might not. The battery checks out just fine.

Any ideas ?

Thanks,

Brian

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1987 560SL - 95K
1996 E300D - 183K
1997 E300D - 162K
1982 240D - 160K