Two weeks ago I saw a '81 300 SD with approximately 230,000 miles for sale, asking $3500. I am not really in the market for another car right now, but if a nice 126 comes up, I might just have to do a big sales pitch to convince my wife this would be a good move (I would like to be rid of the '93 Suburban she drives).

I had a chance to go look at it yesterday. I don't think this is the 126 I am looking for, but I wanted to get some opinions from this forum. First off, the paint is one of the worst repaint jobs I have ever seen. That is enough said about that. The body was, if not perfect, very straight. I only saw three very minor dings and no visible evidence of rust.

The leather interior is relatively nice, no hole at the driver side seat bolster like my '80 SD. The heated seats both work. The seat switch on the drivers side does not have all it's capabilities. The carpet is kind of a mess.

The AC blew cold, although it was only in the 50's while I was driving it. The air distribution system was not working 100 %. There was plenty of heat output. Almost all the buttons were so worn you could not tell what the sysmbol was. It did not have the Becker radio.

All the power openings worked, however the driver window would not completely close and the sun roof was pretty slow. The owner said the cruise worked well, however I could not get it to engage. I don't think the antenna moved. The passenger side power mirror mostly worked.

When I tried to start the engine, it wanted to fire right off. It started, then would not idle. I tried two more times, it started, then I had to keep my foot on the accelerator pedal for a short time before it settled into a relatively smooth idle. The air cleaner bracket is broken, so even though the idle was pretty smooth, there was quite a racket coming from under the hood.

The turbo had quite a coating of dirty oil on it. This oil started to smoke a little before I left for the drive. The engine control linkage seemed very stiff to me, it took quite bit of pressure on the pedal to make it move. The engine seemed to have more power than my 116. The car drove nice, it has new front tires and new brakes all the way around. I kicked the tranmission down once and a cloud of black smoke poured out that outdid my 116 by a large margin. The tranmission seemed to shift properly, only minor adjustment of the control linkage seemed to be in order.

I pulled the car over and opened the hood. The oil on the turbo was smoking more. I did not really look for where the oil is coming from. I looked under the car and did not see oil running off of the engine. I let it idle about five more minutes and did not see any instant oil puddles starting.

All in all, as I have said, I don't think this is the 126 for me. As I was leaving I told the owner this and he said the "we are open to offers" line. As I looked around his house I could see a '80 300 SD and a '77 240D (both for sale), another 240D under the carport, two Jeeps ( one for sale), a '99 or later Ford diesel pickup, and a Volvo sedan. I could see why he might be open to offers.

What would your offer be? If the car could be bought for $1000, would that be a good deal for the buyer? If you could get it reasonably enough a person could afford to do the required work to make it a respectable daily driver.

I do know one thing. This was the first 126 I have driven and I LIKE it. Thanks all,

Doug V.

__________________
1980 Mercedes 300 SD, 215,000miles
2001 F-350 Powerstroke turbodiesel, Crewcab, 4x4, 81,000 miles
1993 Chevy Suburban, 185,000 miles

Doug:

Sounds typical for the age and milage.

Oil leak on turbo is external, probably the oil supply fitting.

Black smoke at full throttle and lumpy idle cold make me think of low compression. Could just be leaking valve guide seals -- was there any blue smoke? White smoke?

The EGR vavle may be stuck, too -- will cause idle problems and huge clouds of inky black smoke.

Ijection timer stuck will also cause huge clouds of black smoke at high rpms.

Leaking fuel lines that allow air into the IP will cause the engine to die immediately after starting. Usually limits speed due to lack of fuel.

Funny air distribution is usually bad vacuum actuators in the climate control, or a bad vaccuum line -- system defaults to mixed heat/defrost, I think if there isn't any vaccuum.

230,000 miles on an origial turbo is getting up there -- if the owner wasn't good about letting it cool off after highway runs, it is likely to be shot, and since it isn't typical to hear MB turbos, hard to tell without closer inspection.

If the engine runs well warm, and the tranny works, there isn't any serious body damage, and the interior is OK, $1000 would be a great buy. The worst you will be out is engine overhaul and new turbo. $2000 wouldn't be bad, either, assuming you can do the work yourself and don't have to depend on the car for daily transport immediately.

The W126 is heaven on wheels -- my brother bought an 87 300SDL in spite of his wife's reservations. Ha, he barely gets to drive it now -- a week in the MB and the Buick was history! Seems she has a much greater choice of parking spots at work, now that she has a car that can be manoevored better, to say nothing of the ride and how it drives!

Peter

__________________
1972 220D ?? miles
1988 300E 200,012
1987 300D Turbo killed 9/25/07, 275,000 miles
1985 Volvo 740 GLE Turobodiesel 218,000
1972 280 SE 4.5 165, 000 - It runs!

psfred,

Thanks for the reply. I forgot to mention I think the car is a Euro version. The climate control was in centigrade, the cruise lever wording was in German and it had Euro headlights. Also, has anyody seen very many of this vintage with heated seats? I wonder if this was more of a Euro option.

The engine emitted some blue smoke at idle. About like my 116. I did not see any white smoke. The black smoke was emitted at the transmission kickdown. I don't know enough about the EGR, causing black smoke. I see a lot written about plugging the hose with a BB. Could you elaborate a little more on this? I could use a little help on this for my 116.

Could the fuel lines leak down just a little bit and cause the engine to not idle well immediately after starting, then allow it to idle OK once it has warmed up a bit?

I think the ACC system was at the default configuration as you described it.

Heaven on wheels, that is an apt description of the 126. Now I just have to convince my lovely bride of this fact. All in all though, I don't think this will be the car for us though. I am in no big hurry.

Thanks again,
Doug

__________________
1980 Mercedes 300 SD, 215,000miles
2001 F-350 Powerstroke turbodiesel, Crewcab, 4x4, 81,000 miles
1993 Chevy Suburban, 185,000 miles

Doug:

The EGR is supposed to close partially at full throttle. If it sticks open, it will quench the buring fuel, resulting in poor power than unburned fuel (smoke). I'm not sure if this a problem in the Benz, it sure was on the Volvo -- the car behind would dissappear in the smoke cloud (good for tailgaters!).

I don't think your 116 has an EGR -- only 123 nad 126, unless I'm mistaken. Easy to tell -- up front, connects the intake to the exhaust, has corrogated steel hoses.

The other two main causes of black smoke at full throttle are low compression and over-fueling (adjust the ALDA). Too much fuel will reduce preformance, too!

Stuck injection timer usually also causes heavy knocking at idle intermittantly, when it is stuck at full advance. Not common.

Air in the injection system is usually from leaking fuel lines -- the filter will contain mostly air, so when you start it, you get fuel starvation until the pressure builds up again. Most often the suction line from the steel standpipe to lift pump is shot, allowing air in. Can also be the priming pump.

Blue smoke at idle can be worn valve guides, old tired valve guide seals, worn rings, or a leaking vaccuum pump diaphram. These all have other indicators, too -- excessive oil consumption, blue smoke on decleration, vaccuum problems, etc.

Peter

__________________
1972 220D ?? miles
1988 300E 200,012
1987 300D Turbo killed 9/25/07, 275,000 miles
1985 Volvo 740 GLE Turobodiesel 218,000
1972 280 SE 4.5 165, 000 - It runs!

TXBill,

You are correct. There were no German market "S" Class Diesels at least through 1985, as I just checked my old "order books" for cars in Germany from those days. No such thing. Jim

__________________
Own:
1986 Euro 190E 2.3-16 (291,000 miles),
1998 E300D TurboDiesel, 231,000 miles -purchased with 45,000,
1988 300E 5-speed 252,000 miles,
1983 240D 4-speed, purchased w/136,000, now with 222,000 miles.
2009 ML320CDI Bluetec, 89,000 miles

Owned:
1971 220D (250,000 miles plus, sold to father-in-law),
1975 240D (245,000 miles - died of body rot),
1991 350SD (176,560 miles, weakest Benz I have owned),
1999 C230 Sport (45,400 miles),
1982 240D (321,000 miles, put to sleep)

My wife dearly loves our 81 SD she says if it ever wears out (doubtful) that we have to replace it with another one ,I share her feelings .Most of our driving is on winding mountain roads and for a large comfortable car it is surprisingly agile and as easy to drive in the city as on the hiway...
PS we had a suburban with a 454 which I liberated for my hot rod Blazer...
William Rogers...

Would a Canadian or Mexican 126 SD, if there is such a thing, come with Celsius markings on the AC? Don't know about the German markings on the cruise control.

Sixto
91 300SE
81 300SD

Other than in the United States market the calibration of the temperature markings on the air conditioning will be in Centigrade and we are the only dopes to hang on to the Fahrenheit system in our daily use.

As for the cruise control markings, I would be hard pressed to believe there are any languages other than English and German for these. Jim

__________________
Own:
1986 Euro 190E 2.3-16 (291,000 miles),
1998 E300D TurboDiesel, 231,000 miles -purchased with 45,000,
1988 300E 5-speed 252,000 miles,
1983 240D 4-speed, purchased w/136,000, now with 222,000 miles.
2009 ML320CDI Bluetec, 89,000 miles

Owned:
1971 220D (250,000 miles plus, sold to father-in-law),
1975 240D (245,000 miles - died of body rot),
1991 350SD (176,560 miles, weakest Benz I have owned),
1999 C230 Sport (45,400 miles),
1982 240D (321,000 miles, put to sleep)

My 1984 300SD has Celsius markings on the climate control temperture wheel.

__________________
Bob Roe
Lehigh Valley PA USA
1973 Olds 88, 1972 MB 280SE, 1978 Datsun 280Z, 1971 Ford T-Bird, 1972 Olds 88, 1983 Nissan Sentra, 1985 Sentra, 1973 230.6, 1990 Acura Integra, 1991 Volvo 940GLE wagon, 1983 300SD, 1984 300SD, 1995 Subaru Legacy L wagon, 2002 Mountaineer, 1991 300TE wagon, 2008 Murano, 2007 R320CDI 4Matic 52K, some Hyundai, 2008 BMW 535xi wagon, all gone... currently
2007 Honda Odyssey Touring, 2014 E350 4matic

psfred,

I checked under the hood of Stella (our '80 SD) for the corrugated piping. I do have an EGR. How do I disable it, and tell me, why do I want to do that?

TXBill,

I would think a little more seriously about this car, except the paint is absolutely terrible. Someone painted it what I would describe as being "battleship grey". I lost count how many runs I saw in the paint. The doors, door jambs, hood and trunk area were masked off, and show the original color. I have never seen an MB painted as poorly as this one is.
Otherwise, the sunroof, windows, etc. could not be any more difficult than my 116 was to get ship shape. Again, if I could get it cheap enough, I might think seriously about it.

Jim Smith,

I have never seen anything other than English on the cruise lever of an MB (not that I have seen that many). I wonder if exports to other countries would have German instead of English text?

Again, thanks to all for the replies,
Doug V.

__________________
1980 Mercedes 300 SD, 215,000miles
2001 F-350 Powerstroke turbodiesel, Crewcab, 4x4, 81,000 miles
1993 Chevy Suburban, 185,000 miles

Doug:

Pull the vacuum line off and plug it (to keep dirt out of the vacuum system). If you are subject to visual emission control inspections (CA), put a ball bearing in the line large enough to plug it and them put it back on the actuator.

Peter

__________________
1972 220D ?? miles
1988 300E 200,012
1987 300D Turbo killed 9/25/07, 275,000 miles
1985 Volvo 740 GLE Turobodiesel 218,000
1972 280 SE 4.5 165, 000 - It runs!

My '80 SD's temp. numbers are in Farenheit, but my cruise control is written in German. My father owns a '85 300D and his temp control is in Celcius. My engine doesn't have a EGR valve and it is the original engine. I don't know when they started installing the EGR valves.

__________________
1999 MB SL500 (110,000 mi)
2004 Volvo V70 2.5T (220,000 mi)
2014 Tesla Model S 85 (136,000 mi)
MBCA member

A good base coat clear coat paint job will run $2000.00 + with body work extra .I paint a few cars for myself, friends and family but use only
acrylic enamel as I am not set up for the nasty chemicals that are in base, clear......
William Rogers....

AFAIK, Diesels are not subject to any type of scheduled inspection in CA. Not even in the smog check II areas like Sacramento and L.A.

There are random roadside checks, but that's for smoke belchers and Japanese cars with 5" exhaust tips.

Sixto
91 300SE
81 300SD