Having solely tinkered with W123 diesels over the years, I finally took the plunge and picked up a gasser: 1978 280CE, with around 53K miles on the clock (85,575 km). This appears to be a true Euro grey market car. It has the Euro bumpers, Euro headlights, and Euro rear headrests. It had the factory installed trailer hitch, although that disappeared along the way although the normally missing inner frame arms are still installed. A few oddities include a factory installed alarm system and SLS system. From what I can tell, the car has been sitting since circa 2013. I towed it home last evening, April 6, 2026. The few bad or problematic areas include no keys and the fuel tank is utterly funky.

Day two, April 7, 2026: pressure washed the car and removed around five pounds of mulch from all the normal hiding places. The interior is pristine although there is some mild mold here and there. I am missing the passenger side sun visor. For such a low miles car, the doors are rotten at the bottom and so are the fenders. The rockers will need to be replaced one day. I opened the hood, trunk lid, and doors to let it air out and to hopefully have most of the water vape away … I am planning to pick up some Marvel Mystery Oil and some other snake oil products and will pour a few ounces into each cylinder and let that soak before tempting fate by seeing if the engine will turn by hand. I will drop the lower pan and reseal after cleaning out things. The oil itself looks about new but I am thinking it sat so long the junk in the oil settled at the bottom. Same with the transmission fluid. If I can get the engine to turn by hand by this upcoming weekend I should be in pretty good shape since I just need to refurbish / replace the fuel system to see if the ol’ girl will run. I need to figure out how to drain the SLS system so that I can fill with new fluid and filter as well.

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Here are some additional photos.

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I will post my progress. Goal is to have it running by the end of April 2026.

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looks pretty good!

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

Thank you Tom, ^ ^ ^

Day Three, April 8, 2026: Found a local locksmith who is a car guy and tinkerer. Took in the driver's side door lock assembly and within 60 minutes I got the call that the key was ready. Showed up & received a mild heads up. Instead of 10 wafers or leaves, the driver's side car door lock had only eight, so ....

Locksmith made me two keys, with a caveat both may work just fine, only one may work, or one may only work the ignition and driver's side door. Turned out -- of course -- only ignition and driver's side door, so another trip in the near future and this time I am bringing in all locks. However, the key which works the ignition and driver's side door lock works flawlessly, has a very crisp feel, et cet.

Got this in the mail today also, and what a steal for $30.

Going to try to keep up the momentum of doing something every day instead of drifting off to different projects ...

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In about 1990 the ignition switch in my '81 300SD went bad. My indy replaced it and gave me a new key. It looks EXACTLY like the new key in your pic. I still use it today.

Day Four - Nine, April 14, 2026: Waiting on the locksmith to re-do the keys.

Dropped the lower oil pan, and found some small particles of metal in the pick-up screen, but none in the 1/4"+ of goo in the bottom of the pan. The car must have run very rich when it was running, which I am guessing last occurred 2013 as there is a heavy stench of gas.

Removed the oil filter housing, and no observable metal in the filter.

I cleaned each spark plug port, removed the spark plugs, and gave each cylinder a healthy blast of PB Blaster along with a few ounces of Marvels Mystery Oil. My plan is to let that sit for a few days to see if I can turn the engine by hand. If so, I will re-move the spark plugs again, and try to see if the starter works, assuming I get my keys back. I will air blast out what oil remains in each cylinder before re-installing the original sparkplugs.

The oil ran out of #4 cylinder (counting back). I am hoping that just means a value is open ...

yep. i'd say.

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

Where did the oil run out from? If it was sitting on top of the piston and ran out that is a ring/piston problem. Check for stuck valves, try to open and close each one a touch before cranking it to prevent bending one.

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"Rudeness is a weak man's imitation of strength" - Eric Hoffer

Not sure. I just know I did a healthy blast of PB Blaster for each cylinder and a few ounces of the Marvels. I saw it dripping from underneath. The lower oil pan is removed.

That is why I am concerned. Not sure "how" or from "where" the oil could run leak out. I think #4 is actually #6 in the firing order, and one of the pistons has to be in the upward position. This may explain why the car only has 55K miles, but looks really rough underneath and has not ran since at least 2013. After around eight hours, the PB Blaster & Marvels is seeping out of the engine, so it is working its way past the rings.

I plan on turning by hand from the crank bolt before trying to turn it over.

Trying to decode a few things.

The car is a W123 1978 280CE. Attached are the chassis plates' photos.

Codes:

812: Rear Speakers
248: Rear Window Defroster
585: A/C and Front Power Windows
480: Self Leveling System
466: Central Locking System
420: Auto Trans, Floor shift
Paint Code is 906G Grey Blue Metallic or Light Blue Metallic

VIN: 123.053 12 000710

The 123.053 means Coupe with M100 / CE280

The #1 means left hand drive

The #2 means automatic trans

I think the 000710 means #710 off the assembly line.

No clue what 7109837 means other than maybe M110.983 ? version of the engine, however, it should be M110.984.

Not sure why my photos disappears ...

Codes 2, M 0, 3B means ????

And trying to find a block casting is now elusive for me. Nowhere to be found ...

Photos ...

If anyone can weigh-in regarding the unknown codes, please do

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Day 13, April 18, 2026:

Maybe one of the bigger milestones ....

After the snake oil elixir percolated for a few days, and it started to weep out, it was time to see if the engine would turn.

A brief moment of anxiety as the engine would not budge with just a 1/2" drive ratchet so had to resort to a breaker bar, and it was still holding ... but it broke free, so I went as slow as possible a full, few turns. Then, from underneath, with just the ratchet, I could turn the engine by hand. No odd sounds or jerky movement, but I am hoping my compression is pretty high from the tightness ...

Traveling mostly this upcoming week, but I will devote myself to cleaning up the engine bay, adjusting the valves, reinstalling the lower pan, and seeing if the starter will spin the engine. Two big tests:

1. Do I have adequate compression?
2. Do I have spark?

If so, then just the fuel system ...