There's a nice one owner 1972 (I think) 220d for sale here locally that I was seriously interested in. I had it for the day yesterday and am going to return it later today. The car has less than 150k miles on it and has the records and other information backing up the owner's claims of mileage and history. It even has the hand-written type of records from the early days. Everything in the car is manual except it has an automatic and some type of non-factory AC system installed.

About 2 years ago, I came across a similar 240d someone at work was selling. I passed on it mainly because of the color (yellow).

At any rate, I'm rather interested to know what I should be expecting acceleration-wise. I live about 60 miles from work and can choose to make that trip via interstate. It seemed like the car was dangerously slow getting onto the freeway. Now keep in mind I have a 300SDL that's certainly no drag racer, but it holds its own quite well with traffic. Even with pedal to the floor, this 220d didn't reach the speed of traffic (75-80mph) until well after the entrance ramp ended.

Aside from that, I like the simplistic nature of this car. And it seems to be well put together with no squeaks or rattles to speak of.

FYI: the asking price is $5k. On a scale of 1-10, I'd rate this a strong 9 or 9.5. Does the price seem fair?

__________________
Lance Allison
Lance@LanceAllison.com

Current:
11 MB S550 4Matic, 55k miles, Designo Black/Black
14 Ford F150 XLT Lariat Crew, 73k miles, 5.0
Coyote V8 4x4. Black/tan.
09 GMC Envoy Denali, 5.3 V8, 4x4 SWB. 38k miles,
Jewel Red/Med Gray.

Gone:
87 MB 300SDL, 320k miles, Astral Silver/Blue.
98 VW Jetta TDI, 488k miles, Classic Green/Gray.
85 Olds 98 Brougham FWD, 4.3 DIESEL V6, 80k
miles, 3x Gray.

MBCA Member, Chicago Region

IMHO the price is too high- way too high. This car is a dog . If you want a 220 get a four speed. This car is dangerously slow and unresponsive even for 1970's traffic.

Lance

I've got about 150K miles experience in the 220D and IMHO its too slow to consider as a daily driver in an urban environment. Roads today are so crowded more power is needed to safely merge and pull out into traffic. If you live in a rural area you may be OK as long as you are careful.

220D automatics will top out around 75-80MPH. If you are fighting a headwind of say 20-30MPH you will have the accelerator floored maintain 60MPH.

If you've spent time in a 300SDL I don't think a 220D is EVER going make you happy.

5K is also pretty pricey for a 220D, even in mint shape. The 114/115 body rusts if there is a drop of moisture within 600 miles of the car.