After more than a year and a half of owning one, I finally spotted another 300CD on the road tonight. I've seen a couple of 280CE coupes, but this one was the first diesel coupe I've seen.

It was a china blue non-turbo, with bundts. Had to be a little older than my 84 since it had the chrome vents on the front cowl. Nice looking car.

__________________
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

Had to be 78-81 if wasn't a turbo diesel. Did you wave?

__________________
1982 240 D, 308,000 - 321,127 miles (sold)
1982 300 TD,166,500 - 226,000 miles
1998 E 320, 120,000 - 144,000 miles
2005 C 230 K, 26,000 - 77,000 miles (sold)

Unfortunately, I wasn't driving my own coupe today. Of all days!

I had to go to the warehouse to pick up our cub scout pack's popcorn sales order, so I wasn't able to drive my car today. I was driving momma's grocery-getter (2001 Jeep Grand Cherokee).

I thought about waving, but the 70-year-old old guy behind the wheel would probably have just thought I was nuts.

__________________
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

I know there's quite a few 300CD's in Wa. State as they come up for sale often

Here in La La Land they're all over the place , not a week goes by I don't find a battered survivor one and want to buy it and resurrect .

I pass them daily on the highways & byways too , happy faces behind the wheel...

Lotta young folks are buying them now , hopefully not the easily disolusioned ' free fuel ! ' noodleheads .

BTW : where the hell is the spellcheck button ? my spelling is atrocious ! .

__________________
-Nate
1982 240D 408,XXX miles
Ignorance is the mother of suspicion and fear is the father

I did then what I knew how to do ~ now that I know better I do better

Really? Where are you looking? I keep a pretty close eye on Craigslist and in the 6 months I was shopping for one and saw less than a half a dozen and haven't seen more than a dozen all total in the last two years. I did see 3 or 4 on eBay in that same time period, but only one had a starting bid below 6 grand.

You must be awfully good at finding them then. I just spent a week in LA/Anaheim and never saw a single one! I only saw a couple of sedans the whole week.

Hopefully not. I've seen enough horror stories to believe that unless it is really done right and well, WVO can be the death of one of these engines in most climates.

__________________
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

It surprises me that you haven't seen more. I see at least one a month putting around Seattle. But yes, diesel coupe sightings are a lot more rare than wagon and especially sedan sightings. I live in a little neighborhood about a 20 minute walk from the space needle and in addition to my car, there are two other 123 diesel sedans within two blocks on my same street. Someday maybe I'll join the exclusivity of the coupe club. . .

__________________
1984 300D, 228k, Light Ivory, Java MB-Tex

Veggie oil has killed more Diesel Mercedes than anything else... folks don't want to take the time to do it right . I have friends who do it 100 % correctly and they have zero problems . I can get all the WMO I want but think it a waste of time , I'd rather be wrenching or driving

If you drive anywhere in So. Cal. in residential neighborhoods , old Mercedes (and anything else) are all over the place , look for fogged up windows and leaves stuck to cobwebs.... really ~ I bought my 60,000 mile two owner '80 300CD cheaply a week after I spotted it languishing on 115th St. in.... ? Torrance? I dunno .

The Wa. state ones are _everywhere_ Flea-Bay , various Diesel forums , local newspapers , Car Trader typ rags , etc. , etc. you have to beat the bushes .

I'm always leery of Western Wa. vehicles ,they're usually rusty . less to choose from on the Eastern (dry) side but excellent condition usually .

I'd LOVE a China Blue Coupe ! (yes , I know that's not China Blue)

__________________
-Nate
1982 240D 408,XXX miles
Ignorance is the mother of suspicion and fear is the father

I did then what I knew how to do ~ now that I know better I do better

If this has been your personal experience with western and eastern washington cars, I find it interesting. Much of eastern washington roads are covered in salt during the winter and that's not true on this side of the state. Salt's much worse than just rain, and it doesn't rain here as much as most people think. Maybe the wa cars you've seen haven't been originally from wa.

__________________
1984 300D, 228k, Light Ivory, Java MB-Tex

Ha! It would appear that you and I can't agree on anything other than the consequences of a poorly implemented veg oil system.

I've lived in western WA for 25 years and I can tell you with 100% certainty that rust is NOT a problem around here. The only rusty cars you see in this area are out of state imports.

My coupe for example spent its whole life in western Oregon - Eugene specifically (250 miles south of Seattle) - where the weather and climate are pretty much identical to western Washington. The whole underside hardly has a spec of rust on it anywhere, and what there is is light surface rust where the undercoat has been scratched.

__________________
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

There are some W123s I pass by to work and back but most of them are beaten up and you know the owner doesn't care and just uses it for transport. Though sometimes there is the occasional semi enthusiast who looks and waves back or at least gives back a friendly return signal.

However, there is this 300SDL in Diamant Blau who always has an old couple and I think the gentleman brings his wife to work daily, the car is also seen going back to where it came from on certain times.

At work there is sometimes this Euro 240D in white w/ hubcaps that I see rarely on the parking lot. Never knew the owner, and this very rarely happens that I see the car. Probably the only other W123 I've seen.

Sometimes I also see this 560SEC AMG which seems like an authentic one w/ blue/yellow CA plates to boot.

__________________
http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7271/7...144c3fc1dc.jpg