I just saw an "S350....Turbodiesel." I have never seen one before, and I thought I was somewhat turbo diesel educated.

Is this a graymarket vehicle, or is it something that is not allowed to be imported into the People's Republic of California? If not, what years did they bring them in and how many? It's the full-size "S" series, does anyone know what they retailed for, and what are they worth now.

83 300SD 170K

The S350 is essentially the successor to the 300SD and it was imported to the US in the mid 90's. It retailed for about $60K if I remember correctly. You can find more info in the research section on www.cars.com

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2004 VW Jetta TDI (manual)

Past MB's: '96 E300D, '83 240D, '82 300D, '87 300D, '87 420SEL

That 350 was the dreaded "rod bender". MB took the 3.0 liter 6 cyl diesel engine and bored it our to 3.5 and it caused BIG problems. I don't know if they were sold in California or not.

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

That's a W140 body - the 90's S-class. In 1992/93 it was badged the "300SD", and in 1994/95 they fixed that mistake and called it the "S350". And yes it was a flawed engine - had weak connecting rods, which may bend, and if not fixed would oval out the cylinder walls requiring an impressively expensive fix (or a new engine). Most folks avoid this car because of this, but for those who simpy love the 140 chassis (it is pretty amazing - look at one sometime) you can replace the rods BEFORE they bend and it will last forever. Mercedes redesigned the rods and only the new, improved ones are available now. Big job to change the rods out, but a lot cheaper than a new shortblock if you wait for it to blow up...! Also, only about half the engines fail, the other half seem to survive - don't know why.


Regards,

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Dave
Boise, ID
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