I'm super glad I bought mine. The CDI I6, that is.

Love the mileage of these new CDI's but I hate to see future repair bills on them

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Puleeeeeeease.......

For the mpg they return - that's a non-issue, especially when you learn to work on them yourself. They're the best value play bargain of the 21st century.

I now have 50k miles of ownership experience with my CDI, any interest in comparing total repair costs over the last 50k with your w123's over their last 50k miles?

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98 Dodge-Cummins pickup (123k)
13 GLK250 (135k)
06 E320CDI (323K)
16 C300 (62K)
82 300GD Gelaendewagen (54K)

The CDI generates great numbers for over the road, long distance, non stop traveling. I can quickly drop my numbers with a few stop and starts, and in town driving. It's got mass, which costs money to accelerate.

That being said, since the weather has warmed, I've been getting an average of 40 point something on my 30 mile round trip commute. A/C off in the AM, on in the PM.

Replacing the thermostat made a big difference in the mileage, prior to replacement, the temp was about 1/4 scale, now it's just above 1/2 scale.

I also pumped the tires up to 39psi for the trip to see if that would make any difference.....

As TimFreeh said, it's the combination of POWER and ECONOMY that makes this car so impressive.

Much as I enjoyed my old W115, W123 and W124 diesels, they just don't hold a candle to this new technology. If you can invest in the software to talk to the car, the W211 is arguably easier to work on than the old diesels.

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

Years and years ago they never drove any. The figure was just a calculation of grill area, horse power, gear ratios, and net weight. Don't know about today.

I'm curious if these newer diesels, last as long as the 617s and 616s.

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1999 w140, quit voting to old, and to old to fight, a god damned veteran

Not really a fair comparison.

1) let's compare repair costs back when the W123 was only as old as your CDI is today. I have all the receipts for my 1985 300D going back to 1985. It didn't need anything but regular fluid service until about 115,000 miles, about 15 years in to its life. I sincerely hope you have the same experience with your CDI, getting 15 years without any notable repairs.

2) most of us have come across our W123's after they have experienced a period of neglect from an owner who has moved on to newer cars. The majority of our expenses come from catching the cars up. A friend of mine put all the repair money in to his '84 300D at once when he bought it to get it caught up, and has now been driving it for two years and his only expense outside of oil changes has been a voltage regulator.

While I am not arguing that the CDI can and will be very reliable, it's also not fair to compare it to an old car. Additionally, it doesn't negate the fact that if and when something goes wrong it's going to cost you more and be harder to DIY. That's simply the nature of newer cars. Many are OK with that, some are not, thankfully we all have a choice

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1979 300D 040 Black on Black - 1985 300D Maaco job (sadly sprayed over 199 Black Pearl Metallic) on Palamino

http://i.imgur.com/LslW733.jpg

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Visit the W123 page on iFixit for over 70 helpful DIY guides!

Is this from the trip computer or did you calculate this yourself at the pump?
I've seen 41-42mpg highway in the 5spd 300D so its definitely possible in the CDI with a lockup torque converter. Probably a hypermiler.

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CENSORED due to not family friendly words

I average 32 on my CDI, but that is on homemade BD. The few occasions when it had pump diesel the mileage would jump to 37. I use the throttle liberally and regularly run at 80+ mph on the highway.

Repair costs...I purchased at 130k, now have 231k. Over the last 101k miles...airbag wiring, new fuel pump, new front spindle, new thermostat...perhaps $1500 in repairs, all but the airbag wiring was done myself.

Love my CDI.

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Mark in MA
05 MB E320CDI 402k Granite Grey Metallic
05 MB E320CDI 267k Black
05 MB E320CDI 232k White
05 MB E320CDI 209k Tectite Grey
99 Dodge 2500 Cummins 5sp 148k
62 Jeep CJ-6 120k

Speaking as a guy that has done total rebuilds two OM61X engines with fewer miles than my current CDI has I'm not at all curious. For me the question has been definitively answered.

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98 Dodge-Cummins pickup (123k)
13 GLK250 (135k)
06 E320CDI (323K)
16 C300 (62K)
82 300GD Gelaendewagen (54K)

I disagree, age certainly has some factors that complicate the comparison but I think mileage traveled is a much more significant factor. In your example you cited 115K miles after 15 years before anything required attention, if the car had been driven 25K miles per year do you really think it would have made it to the 15 year point before anything 'significant' happened? As a former long-time W123 owner I'm going to have to say no chance.

Here is another interesting W123 vs W212 comparison. In 1981 a 300D had a base price of $26K, using an inflation calculator that is the equivalent of $68K in 2014 dollar buying power. IIRC the base price of an E250 bluetec is around 54K so in terms of real cost the 2014 version is actually 20% less expensive than a 81 300D..... and the 2014 version of the E-class is about 5 times better.

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98 Dodge-Cummins pickup (123k)
13 GLK250 (135k)
06 E320CDI (323K)
16 C300 (62K)
82 300GD Gelaendewagen (54K)

I've heard this about every new chassis MB has fielded in the market for the last 3 decades. While there are certainly plenty of stories floating around the web all I can say is that my experiences have been totally the opposite.

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98 Dodge-Cummins pickup (123k)
13 GLK250 (135k)
06 E320CDI (323K)
16 C300 (62K)
82 300GD Gelaendewagen (54K)

To me, it would be difficult to mount a meaningful argument against owning an 05 or 06 CDI sedan, when you've never owned one. I don't see any possible downside going forward in my CDI purchase of last year.

It's from the trip computer.

I found pretty close correlation between the computer and the manual calculation. Close enough, that I stopped doing it manually.

For comparison re your second statement, our 87 300TD ranged between 24 mpg to 29 mpg over 13 years and 150,000 miles. Never more, never less. I'd expect a couple more mpg from a sedan, and the 5 speed advantage was worth 2-3mpg when comparing my 5 speed 86 300E with several other M103 W124 cars I've owned. I could get 25 mpg from the 5 speed, then I got a 400E and duplicated it.... bye, bye 5 speed.......

Best mpg with my 95 E300 diesel was 34.
My W123 cars were 28 mpg (best) for the 300 turbo, to 32 or so with a 240D.
The W115 could get over 30, unless it was an automatic. Then, it pretty well was floored all the time.


To reiterate: The CDI is fast. Not just diesel fast, but faster than the equivalent W211 3.2L gas engine.
If you like diesels and have never driven one of these, you literally have no idea just how f'in fast these cars can be.

It's unbelievable. And economical.....

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