Okay so this really clean 1991 300D 2.5T popped up on CL as a $700 Mechanic's Special..PO said it wouldn't start after going to London for two months and was a great daily driver before that. I believed everything he said and ate it right up,$700 handed over and she was pulled up on the flat-bed of the AAA truck,done deal.



Come to find out,the very next morning I charged up the very dead battery,and saw smoke pouring out of the passenger side under cranking..thought that was weird,also the starter was struggling to turn it over.. Well dam I thought,guess she needs a new starter.Threw a reman starter in and it is doing the same things the original was doing..Turns out the smoke was actually because the downpipe is completely disconnected where it runs under the car.. Okay,after I cracked a few of the fuel lines I saw it was getting fuel and still wouldn't start...I heard bubbling in the radiator,and decided to pop the reservoir tank open,and it bursted a mix of coolant and oil...Greeeeat I thought,I was greeted with this lovely sight.



It gets worse,earlier in the day I decided to take the air intake inlet off the turbo and feel the shape of the turbo,because I find them interesting and what not.. What the heck,the turbo was seized! I hooked it up to a cordless drill via the 8mm nut on the front and started injecting Marvel's Mystery Oil into the feed part of the turbo..now it can be turned over by two fingers... I decided to check out the rest of the interior at this point and then I found two bottles of this in the rear cargo compartment..





Okay,so this $700 no-start great daily driver just turned into a big potential nightmare.. I need some advice guys, I can part the car out/crush it,and break even (in it $800 at this point),or I can pull the head off and see if this is savable.. I already ordered the M10 socket for the head-bolt removal,but just wanted to get some more advice.. In a little bit deeper than what I wanted to be,but I really do like this car.This could be the car for me to keep and get sorted..interior is basically perfect,A/C is cold(so said the PO),CC works,paints pretty good,etc but it does have ~240k miles on it..

Man I need to stop believing people,and getting burned on CL..
I always see the good in people,sigh.

So is this savable?
Or worth saving?

Thank you PP,I really appreciate it.
matt