Bought another Benz
 

Well I went and got myself another W123 and this one has spark plugs :eek:

Its a 1979 280E with 87k miles which seems to be accurate and backed up by a stack of records and even if its not correct I basically paid just over scrap price for the car. :D

The car has some rust in the drivers fender and behind the rear passenger door but no rot in the floors or the rockers which was a nice surprise. Someone must have replaced the drivers seat at some point since it is in perfect condition but the rest of the interior is pretty ratty.

So far all I have done to the car is install the missing door lock plunger to allow me to open one of the rear doors.

This will be my MB driver for the foreseeable future since my 240D may need some major engine work. Hopefully not but either way it should be fun. I will be updating this thread throughout the process.

The car in its new home.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...ps9760321b.jpg

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Separated at birth.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...ps6b8cd360.jpg

Wow, same colour! Switch trunk lids and impress people with the fastest 240D in the world :D

LOL good idea. The car is downright fast compared to my 240D (duh) and seems much quicker than my old 300D as well.

very nice acquisition. I hope you keep it for a long time since gasser W123's are rather rare

That is the main reason I snatched it up.

CONGRATS
 

A matched set......at least colorwise & outward appearance. Very cool. Looking forward to the updates. I may have missed it in your intro, where did you find it? One Owner? Etc.....

Found it on Craigslist here in Newark, DE. I believe I am the 3rd owner. The folks I bought it from saved it from a friend of theirs who worked at a fire department that received the car as a donation to use the jaws of life on but they didn't want to destroy a nice old car so they sold it to the person I bought it from. I know the original owner lived in DC so the car has spent it's entire life in the region. The car had been on Craigslist for a few months and the PO couldn't sell it so they were going to donate it until I bought it. Frankly I'm shocked no one grabbed it before I did since mechanically the car is in great shape.

GREAT STORY
 

Egad...that beautiful Benz possibly having its usefulness ended by the jaws of life! Now there's an oxymoron.... Glad the fire dept thought better of it....a nice car for you. With that low of mileage what needs done?

Sweet car - the perfect addition for that entirely too uncluttered garage. Enjoy Newark (used to live there, off Old Possum Park Rd). Spring will come to you too.

Had the day off work and got a lot done to both cars. Washed both the 280E and the 240D. Cleaned the interior of the 280E as best as I could without removing the seats which I will need to do to get it properly clean. Got the drivers side power window working. Replaced the broken front dome light with one from my parts bin.

Some clean pictures. I need to get some wax on both cars.


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...psbe09bffb.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...ps157cf9f5.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v4...ps62dc3cca.jpg

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Here is a quick video of the engine at idle which seems to be a little high to me. Thoughts?

280E idle - YouTube

what a weird thing happened to that seat!

I think idle is high, try this one My 2nd Mercedes 280E part II, M110 engine idle - YouTube

Heh, Heh. Not in R.O.W.

It is kind of a super weird situation. In Europe there are diesel models of any car everywhere but you will never find any of them in USA, only benzin model. But, W123 diesel is the only one you see in USA and in Europe relatively rare compared to gasoline :D

All diesel W123's from Europe end up in the middle east or Africa such as

Grand Taxi Departure Marrakech - YouTube

and

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T_ZWtQT_X5M

Yeah that one sounds better. No idea what happened to the seat. I think some covers are in my future for that car.

I have seen one of those taxi videos but it is still amazing to see how many of them are still on the road in taxi service 30 years later.