I own a w-124 300td 6 cylinder a not to often seen auto thus engine parts not as abundant as I'd like.
Q. Is the 5 cylinder TD diesel as robust an engine as the I-6 300TD less troubles same mileage, The aluminum head iron block I think may be troublesome in the future?
Q. regarding the gasoline 300 single overhead cam motor vs. the twin cam 320. Which is the more desirable motor, longevity, etc, I notice seems troubles with head gasket. Is this a result of owners failure to monitor temp gauge coolant leaks, failing water pump, incorrect coolant, etc? As I gather my mbz collection to assemble my idea of the perfect wagon. I'd rather not learn the hard way "oh Bill that model is a REAL POS, I URGE YOU TO AVOID IF POSSIBLE BECAUSE....... THANKS LADS

[QUOTE=4bnbad;2888382]I own a w-124 300td 6 cylinder a not to often seen auto thus engine parts not as abundant as I'd like.
Q. Is the 5 cylinder TD diesel as robust an engine as the I-6 300TD less troubles same mileage, The aluminum head iron block I think may be troublesome in the future?
Q. regarding the gasoline 300 single overhead cam motor vs. the twin cam 320. Which is the more desirable motor, longevity, etc, I notice seems troubles with head gasket. Is this a result of owners failure to monitor temp gauge coolant leaks, failing water pump, incorrect coolant, etc? As I gather my mbz collection to assemble my idea of the perfect wagon. I'd rather not learn the hard way "oh Bill that model is a REAL POS, I URGE YOU TO AVOID IF POSSIBLE BECAUSE....... THANKS LADS["as ONE MEMBER SO SUCCINTLY ARTICULATED, there is nothing more expensive than a cheap Mercedes"QUOTE]

HA! In the FUTURE??? How about the past, present and future??? Those pop-can head diesels were trouble right out of the gate, I've never seen so many updates and changes in part numbers.

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The 5 cylinder engines seem to be more robust than the 6 cylinder diesels.

If you are seeking a wagon, other than the 87 300TD, you are looking at gas wagons.

My lovely wife had an 87 300TD for 13 years, and we replaced it with a 95 E320 7 years ago.

During this time I owned several 300Es with the OM103 single cam engine, plus the two E320 M104 cars we currently have.
I've also had two 400E V8s.

My favorite by far, is the M104 twin cam I-6

While I'm a diesel head at heart, the lack of a more contemporary diesel drove me to the 95 E320 wagon.

The M104 has significantly more hp and torque versus the M103 single cam, and the configuration for the later cars (low numerical dif, and 1st gear start) gives much better mileage and better performance.

The late cars (94-95) have a nice updated look, 8 hole wheels, and have a good chance of leather, CD players and heated seats.

Jim

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14 E250 BlueTEC black. 45k miles
95 E320 Cabriolet Emerald green 66k miles
94 E320 Cabriolet Emerald green 152k miles
85 300TD 4 spd man, euro bumpers and lights, 15" Pentas dark blue 274k miles

* 5 cyl tougher than 6 cyl, but both are pretty damn robust. 6 cyl a smoother engine.
* Both the SOHC and DOHC engines are great, more important than 'which engine is better' is the how well maintained it was.

In other words, find a good car with a good service history, and it'll probably last a long time.

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- Brian


1989 500SEL Euro
1966 250SE Cabriolet
1958 BMW Isetta 600

To all respondents thanks for your time and effort. in filling in my voids I'd considered a te I-6 while looking but not many wagons/TE's are well maintained it seems mostly over priced POS. IMHO

He's a professional mechanic giving you his opinion, that you asked for by the way. Your post above is out of line. I would suggest a) straightening up, or b) going away before you get banned.

I agree with Deanyel. Gilly has probably forgotten more about MB's than many of us here will ever know. The post is way out of line.

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1993 400E, 256,000 miles (totaled)
1994 E420, 200,000+ miles
1995 E420, 201,000 miles

to the op, gilly is right, the 60x series engines are weaker that the 61x. perhaps he could have phrased it differently, but, anything he says i'd stand behind. he sees more mbs in a day than i see in a month. your response is out of line. perhaps you should've looked at his previous post on other issues before deciding his personality traits. i admit, i didn't look at your history but i can surmise a few things from the title and signature. you asked for a knowledgable opinion and received a few. good luck, chuck.

To the OP and on subject.
The OM603 in the 87300TD is a motor loved by many. The more powerful, more modern (compared to the W123/OM617) combo of the limited production W124 TD makes it a desirable platform. As Gilly has mentioned, there were issues. Did it keep me from buying one? Hell no. Mine has had minor issues, but has been a wonderful car.

Advice: Since you have a post count of 8 at this point, I can assume that you are new to this forum and possibly the forum world in general. Allow me to give you two bits of advice.
1. Anything you read on internet social forums should be read carefully as your perspective as the reader may be very different than that of the writer. This is true above with your WAY out of line reply. (not good).
2. Rather than ask for a hand holding, try using the search function before making posts. A simple search of "87 300TD" could have gotten you enough info to keep you reading for a week.
3. (one more, I lied). DO NOT use caps lock, or all caps. It is SHOUTING in text and therefore rude.

So with a little more searching for issues regarding the wonderful OM603 6 cyl diesel, you will find mention of Cyl head issues. None of which would concern me. As I own one of these cars I just suspect that at some point I may have to pull and or replace the head.

Note: Do not ever allow it to overheat and you should be ok.

Oh, and welcome to the forum.

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83 300TD (need rear wiper assembly dead or alive)
84 300SD Daily driver
85 300TD almost 400k miles and driven daily.
98 E300D *sold
86 300SDL *sold and made flawless 10 hour journey to new home.

OH it looks like I must have missed something. OH well. I take it the guy didn't like my opinion of the pop can head diesels. That's fine, go ahead and buy one, see how you like it. Others have said they love them, that's good. I don't work on them any more, but back in the day, they were in all the time with problems. But the other side of the coin is if they didn't have problems, they wouldn't be in the shop, so naturally I would see only the cars having problems. But I stand by my comment they were problem engines right from the start, redesigning the heads right away, very confusing to know exactly what you have as things were changing so fast and to order anything related to the head you really had to look to figure out how many changes were done such as which injectors it had and prechambers and so on.

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Thanks for sticking up for me though, even though I didn't see it
No, "subtle nuances' are not my strong suit.
The only one I really care for is the 603 they put in the 350SDL, when those are running good you'd swear you were driving a 560. But of course they have the nasty habit of bending conrods.

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