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  #1  
Old 08-06-2012, 02:12 PM
JimFreeh's Avatar
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Location: Hampton Roads, Virginia
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Just picked up a smacked 95 E300 diesel

This car belonged to one of our local MBCA club officers. His wife was driving it and got rear ended. Pretty good smack.

He settled with the insurance company and kept the car. I bought it for the buy back cost with a clean title.

I've talked to my bodyman and the rough estimate to repair the car (replace RR quarter, etc) brings my total cost uncomfortably close to my limit on what I'm willing to spend bringing it back to life. Est $2.5 - 3.5K. I've got a 94 E320 parts car with all the extra parts I'd need to fix this car. Next step will be to bring the car over to the shop and get a "real" estimate, vice just looking at pictures...

Overall, the car is in nice condition, is up to date on all maintenance, has cold A/C and 215K miles. Car runs and drives well, looks like the hit was high and didn't significantly bend any of the lower structure.

I think if I fix it, I'll be close to the street value of the car when I'm finished, whereas if I part it, I can do much better financially.

I bought it sight unseen, figuring it for a parts car, but she is so nice, I kinda hate to do it now. I can justify keeping the car if I sell the Explorer, and use the E300 as my commuter.

I don't see a lot of these cars around, and I think it is capable of getting some pretty good fuel mileage, which would be a good reason to swap out for the Exploder. Wasn't this the model that could go 700-800 miles on a tank (23.+ gal)?

It would be nice to get into another diesel, I miss my 83 300D and 87 300TD. And it's a black car. My favorite color.

So, what's your thoughts?

Jim

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Just picked up a smacked 95 E300 diesel-e300-4.jpg   Just picked up a smacked 95 E300 diesel-e300-1.jpg  
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  #2  
Old 08-06-2012, 02:22 PM
TheDon's Avatar
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I would, if I had the money to burn, fix it.
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  #3  
Old 08-06-2012, 04:33 PM
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Fuel mileage

For a "normal" driver, high 20's city, mid 30's highway.

Last edited by ds190; 08-07-2012 at 08:50 AM.
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  #4  
Old 08-06-2012, 05:51 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ds190 View Post
For a "normal" driver, high 20's city, mid 30' highway.

Now, that's impressive....

And this car seems to have some scoot as well.

Jim
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14 E250 BlueTEC black. 45k miles
95 E320 Cabriolet Emerald green 66k miles
94 E320 Cabriolet Emerald green 152k miles
85 300TD 4 spd man, euro bumpers and lights, 15" Pentas dark blue 274k miles
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  #5  
Old 08-06-2012, 11:57 PM
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Seems like a clean and centered hit. The deformation is just the crumple zone doing its job. If there is no evident door misalignment, or roof dimpling or popping anywhere, it will be an easy fix.

Looks and sounds like you have a real find there. Good luck with it.
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2002 e320 4matic estate│1985 300d│1980 300td
Previous: 1979 & 1982 & 1983 300sd │ 1982 240d

“Let's take a drive into the middle of nowhere with a packet of Marlboro lights and talk about our lives.” ― Joseph Heller, Catch-22
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  #6  
Old 08-07-2012, 12:29 AM
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On a Diesel buying bender?
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  #7  
Old 08-07-2012, 03:11 AM
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Fix it! This is a great car. The DOHC engine loves to rev. I haven't had mine on the highway long enough for a real fuel economy test but around town and suburban driving the average over 3,200 miles on B20 biodiesel is 27.2 mpg. With its 24 gallon tank the range is on the order of 750 highway miles.

Jeremy
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Our all-Diesel family
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  #8  
Old 08-07-2012, 05:39 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TylerH860 View Post
On a Diesel buying bender?
Just dented, damaged diesels.
Some people are suckers for stray cats, for me it’s old cars.
Jim
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14 E250 BlueTEC black. 45k miles
95 E320 Cabriolet Emerald green 66k miles
94 E320 Cabriolet Emerald green 152k miles
85 300TD 4 spd man, euro bumpers and lights, 15" Pentas dark blue 274k miles
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  #9  
Old 08-07-2012, 05:47 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Zacharias View Post
Seems like a clean and centered hit. The deformation is just the crumple zone doing its job. If there is no evident door misalignment, or roof dimpling or popping anywhere, it will be an easy fix.
The shut line on the rear doors is uncompromised. Nice and even from top to bottom on both. No noticable misalignment on the subframes, drives nice and straight.

If I was into it when finished for 1/2 the retail, there'd be no question about which way to go. The bothersome problem is that I'm getting close to retail value by the time I'm finished, which takes some of the appeal out of the equation. I don't really need the car, but I could justify to some extent replacing the low (fuel) mileage Explorer as my commuter. If it is really capable of real world mileage significantly above the EPA (24/30) I think there is good reason to go ahead. Of course, I can rationalize just about anything...... That's why I have 12 cars.

J
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14 E250 BlueTEC black. 45k miles
95 E320 Cabriolet Emerald green 66k miles
94 E320 Cabriolet Emerald green 152k miles
85 300TD 4 spd man, euro bumpers and lights, 15" Pentas dark blue 274k miles
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  #10  
Old 08-07-2012, 05:56 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jeremy5848 View Post
Fix it! This is a great car. The DOHC engine loves to rev. I haven't had mine on the highway long enough for a real fuel economy test but around town and suburban driving the average over 3,200 miles on B20 biodiesel is 27.2 mpg. With its 24 gallon tank the range is on the order of 750 highway miles.

Jeremy
Jeremy,

Thanks! Good positive reinforcement.

Here's my benz cat...Riley the mouser (white) is on the top cover.

Jim
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Just picked up a smacked 95 E300 diesel-9_1_new-cabriolet-003.jpg  
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14 E250 BlueTEC black. 45k miles
95 E320 Cabriolet Emerald green 66k miles
94 E320 Cabriolet Emerald green 152k miles
85 300TD 4 spd man, euro bumpers and lights, 15" Pentas dark blue 274k miles
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  #11  
Old 08-07-2012, 07:38 AM
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My 95 gets 37. 6 mpg. around town ivn flat fl. .

I had an 82 wagon that was rear ended and looked 5x worse than your 95.
I took it to an MB place that had a computerized frame alignment or pulling machine. They charged me $400.
When they were done everything had "popped" back into place.
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  #12  
Old 08-07-2012, 08:07 AM
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If it was me and I was going to keep it and drive the snot out of it, I would bang it out best I could and get another trunk lid. I think you could make a good 10 footer out of it with some sweat equity and a quarter can of kitty hair bondo. Unfortunately, it would be a lot easier to get away with that idea if it were white rather than black....

With 215k miles on it, that strikes me as a $3-4K car, and as you say, once the bodyman gets done with you , you are close to or upside down in market value. Sounds like since YOU know the history of the car, it's worth that or more to YOU, but hard to convince an objective buyer.

http://spacecoast.craigslist.org/cto/3117041546.html

If you do waste a weekend banging/pulling on it, you probably won't wreck it enough that the pros can't fix it, since they would be cutting the quarter panel off anyway...
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  #13  
Old 08-07-2012, 09:02 AM
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Be wary of unrealistic MPG claims. It's a heavy car. Good torque, which you noticed.

Other expensive repairs for the E300 would be head gasket, wiring harness, and leaking evaporator. Important to inspect ball joints, flex disks, and center support bearing bushing. Over 200k miles, expect to maintain suspension and steering components.

I like my E300, and haven't had to deal with the big three potential failures yet. Knock on wood.
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  #14  
Old 08-07-2012, 10:59 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JimFreeh View Post
If I was into it when finished for 1/2 the retail, there'd be no question about which way to go. The bothersome problem is that I'm getting close to retail value by the time I'm finished, which takes some of the appeal out of the equation.
Ah okay well I wasn't going to stick my nose in here but now that the subject is open... I wouldn't pay a dime over $2.5k for that repair.
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2002 e320 4matic estate│1985 300d│1980 300td
Previous: 1979 & 1982 & 1983 300sd │ 1982 240d

“Let's take a drive into the middle of nowhere with a packet of Marlboro lights and talk about our lives.” ― Joseph Heller, Catch-22

Last edited by Zacharias; 08-07-2012 at 11:25 AM.
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  #15  
Old 08-07-2012, 11:14 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ds190 View Post
Be wary of unrealistic MPG claims. It's a heavy car. Good torque, which you noticed.

Other expensive repairs for the E300 would be head gasket, wiring harness, and leaking evaporator. Important to inspect ball joints, flex disks, and center support bearing bushing. Over 200k miles, expect to maintain suspension and steering components.

I like my E300, and haven't had to deal with the big three potential failures yet. Knock on wood.
I've owned W124 chassis for almost 20 years, and have had 9 different cars. I'm pretty well versed on the W124 problems.

That said, this car has had the evap changed, and the front end and driveline have been maintained as needed. Engine is very clean, no signs of oil leakage around the head. Need to ask about the wiring, but no glitches in it at present. Just before the accident, the car was driven from Virginia Beach to Detroit (and back!). PO is a retired engineer, and his hobby is tinkering with his two diesel MBs.

Jim

__________________
14 E250 BlueTEC black. 45k miles
95 E320 Cabriolet Emerald green 66k miles
94 E320 Cabriolet Emerald green 152k miles
85 300TD 4 spd man, euro bumpers and lights, 15" Pentas dark blue 274k miles
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