This is a 84 300D turbo diesel

It is the 85 300D Calif model. The 10th digit of the VIN should be "F" (indicating year of 1985).

David

thanks david. believe it or not i have not seen any other models even 300d's with that configuration. notice the air filter is totally different than it should be.

I have never seen that round tall air filter (believe it or not I still have 10 of them in my garage to service three 1985 Cal diesels)in 1984 300D. Are you sure your car is 1984? If it is, I will have to look at it with my own eyes.

David

well it is kind of a strange situation about the model year of the car. The owners manual in the car says 85 (may or may not be original) but the door tag says 11/84. maybe 11/84 actually comes under 85 model year.

With just about every make of car sold, they sell the model year from about October to October.

So...

If your car was made in November of 1984, it WOULD NOT be a 1984. IT WOULD BE A 1985.

It also takes about 1-2 months for the car to be shipped to a dealer. Most manufacturers start the model run in production during August of the preceeding year.

Most (very few exceptions) cars made after 08/84 will be 1985 models.

This October of 2002, go check out the 2003 models in your local MB showroom. Guess what? It's not even 2003 yet, but they're selling 2003 models! And therefore, they MUST have been made in 2002, as it's pretty much impossible to make a car in 2003 and sell it in 2002!

In fact, Mercedes is talking about having the 2003 model SL roadster available soon. In 2002! I imagine the first ones will be produced in 2002. Seems to make sense if they are planning to sell them this summer (2002), they might have to make some first.

And those first 2003 SL owners will have a 2002 production date.

IGNORE the production date in determining your model year. IGNORE IT. Look at the VIN. Ask your dealer. Look at your registration. Call MBUSA with the VIN (1-800-FOR-MERC) and ask them.

Odds are that your 11/84 car is a 1985. My 1998 C230 was made in 10/97, and I took delivery in December 1997. Even though I took delivery in 1997, it is a 1998. No doubt about it.

__________________
John Shellenberg
1998 C230 "Black Betty" 240K

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yeah! black mercedes makes sense. they do not make 2003 models in 2003. that would cost them at least a coupe of months to get them on the shelf(so to speak). i looked at the door tag as the model year rather than the production date.
thanks.

As I said previously, the 10th digit of your VIN shows the year. Your should have a letter "F" which stands for 1985.

David

That's why a lot of time they ask for your VIN when you purchase the parts. they might have different configs for that year.

__________________
BJ

09 GL320 Bluetec 65K+
07 E320 Bluetec 43k+
05 Nissan Frontier NISMO 4X4 72K+


07 Kawasaki Vulcan 900 5k+ gone
87 300SDL 158k+ gone
91 300D 113k+ gone
83 300SD 220K+ gone
89 300E sold
87 190E sold
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