Discourage/Learn me: Mercedes Diesel

Been thinking about a new beater lately. My requirements for a beater are that it is cheap to run, cheap to fuel, and either fun to drive or stupid comfy. One that keeps popping in my head is a early 80s W123 turbodiesel 300D. Examples with ~250k miles pop up close enough to me for $1200 on a routine basis.

-I hear these engines are typically good for 400000 miles with nothing but routine maintenance and a timing chain job around the 200k mark, how true is this? What about the transmission?

-Do they really get 25-30 mpg with everything tuned up correctly?

-What likes to break and is expensive? I know that suspension bits, particularly rear links, can get pricey. How much is dealer only? My closest MB dealer is about an hour away.

-Judging what I have seen in Detroit, where old mercs are plentiful, these cars don't really rust relative to most 30 year old cars in the salt belt, am I right?

-Are they stupid comfy?

Please talk me out of this horrible idea. I think my opinion is being swayed by a friend of a friends trouble free experience with a 190e, and me riding in it. Prior to that I didn't know a car could both handle and ride nice.

Look up some parts costs for the engine

The wait for Dr Boost to chime in.....he should be here any second.

I like them a lot. The OM617 is a great motor but not one you will go fast with. Transmissions aren't as good as the motors but they aren't bad. IMHO a W123 is newest Mercedes I would buy. They have been on a steady downward slope since then. They are fairly comfortable with nice interiors but the front seats are not my favorite.

I had a 72 220D. I rebuilt the motor. The entire car fell apart around the motor. I got tired of working on the car on my only day off for the month. Every month.

HappyAndy wrote: Look up some parts costs for the engine The wait for Dr Boost to chime in.....he should be here any second.

And here I is!
Ok, full disclosure, I have a W124. There aren't a heck of a lot of differences in the chassis on these cars. In fact, I just bought a steering part for my 92 that is shared back to the early 60's.
Mine is comfy, but I don't like the seats in a 123 very much.
I get over 30 on the highway, not much less than that on average. For such a big car, that's VERY good. There are 4,291 bushing in the suspension and they will go out one at a time just to piss you off. Save some money and do all of them at once. The rear lower control arms (for the 124) are over $3,000 each!!!
Other than that, I'll say this. Do NOT go with cheap parts on this car. They were engineered much better than most folks are used to and Autozone crap just isn't going to cut it. Most chassis parts can be ordered through online places, I like peachparts.com.
Internal engine components are scary expensive. my oil pump cost me $500. I've spent MUCH of the last 12 months (I've owned it for almost 3 years) catching up on deferred maintenance. You can not run these cars with no maintenance, they require quite a bit. I didn't know that, I do now.

I'd also be scared of a $1200 Merc. I paid more than 3X that and wish I would have spent double what I did because I wouldn't have a ever growing list of things that needs to be replaced.

How long of a commute do you have? Are you handy and have plenty of tools?

They are not stupid comfy. They may have been when new but mine with 250k miles wasn't. I got around 25mpg estimated (odometer didn't work).

The commute varies, up to 100 miles between home and school. I am more than capable of doing all work on my own car.

Kenny_McCormic wrote: The commute varies, up to 100 miles between home and school. I am more than capable of doing all work on my own car.

To me, the only reason my car is worth it is because I run veggie oil. How does 3,000 miles to a tank of diesel sound?

The w123 should have almost the same suspension as my r107 so there aren't as many bushings as the w124 which I believe has multiling rear suspension. I've either replaced myself or had replaced almost all of the bushings on my car, the only ones that haven't been done are the rear traverse control arm bushing as you have to drop the rear end assembly to get at them.

The rear links for my car were 30$ from mercedes and took about an hour to install so they aren't very difficult to fix. Many of the parts(starter, alternator, some bushings, PS parts, etc) are shared between the models so parts for the diesel shouldn't be hard to find. There is no reason to buy parts from vatozone as they will be both more expensive and of lesser quality than parts you can order from Autohaus AZ and free shipping on orders over 50$.

If you are going to get a diesel mercedes I suggest budgeting for a beard and enough gas to get to Santa Cruz.

Just did a search. You are right Daryn, the 123 is much simpler.
I've thought about selling the 124 and getting a 123, but I'll just wait for the right time and pull the diesel and put it in a Wrangler. Then I'll burn the 124 while dancing nude around it eating a Klondike bar.

DrBoost wrote: Just did a search. You are right Daryn, the 123 is much simpler. I've thought about selling the 124 and getting a 123, but I'll just wait for the right time and pull the diesel and put it in a Wrangler. Then I'll burn the 124 while dancing nude around it eating a Klondike bar.

Depending on what year it is, can I have the seats?

mtn wrote:

DrBoost wrote: Just did a search. You are right Daryn, the 123 is much simpler. I've thought about selling the 124 and getting a 123, but I'll just wait for the right time and pull the diesel and put it in a Wrangler. Then I'll burn the 124 while dancing nude around it eating a Klondike bar.

Depending on what year it is, can I have the seats?

It's a 92. When I part it out, I'll post it here for sure.

HappyAndy wrote: Look up some parts costs for the engine

Exactly. You should look up the parts for a rebuild.

Actually I'd have a very close look at any W123 that lived in the rust belt for a while, contrary to popular belief they can rust quite well. The later the car, the better rust proofed it is though.

mtn wrote:

DrBoost wrote: Just did a search. You are right Daryn, the 123 is much simpler. I've thought about selling the 124 and getting a 123, but I'll just wait for the right time and pull the diesel and put it in a Wrangler. Then I'll burn the 124 while dancing nude around it eating a Klondike bar.

Depending on what year it is, can I have the seats?

You mean like seats to watch him dance nude around it eating a Klondike bar as it burns?

One of my friends bought one and got about 18-20mpg.

This was when Diesel was a buck a gallon more than gasoline.

On the other hand, guy I work with drove a loaded-down Malibu Maxx last weekend on a trip to Florida. 75-80mph, A/C set to "stun", 32mpg, and that's on $3.30 87 octane rather than $4 #2. He's done as high as 35mpg.

And I'd say that it's a whole lot more comfortable to drive than a Mercedes, unless your shins are about 8 inches long. (WHY do you make dashboards that make it impossible to reach the pedals unless you drive straight-legged?)

DrBoost wrote: I've thought about selling the 124 and getting a 123, but I'll just wait for the right time and pull the diesel and put it in a Wrangler. Then I'll burn the 124 while dancing nude around it eating a Klondike bar.

Intriguing!

So I don't want one, got it.

I've had a W123 for ten years, 100K plus in that time, but not my only car. The AC system can be expensive to repair. a damaged engine is a totaled car. Otherwise they are inexpensive to operate in my opinion. The seats look more comfortable than they are.

I get mid 20's mileage, mixed, has good range (500 miles +) on a full tank.

Kenny_McCormic wrote: So I don't want one, got it.

I'm not saying that. There aren't many cars that are as comfy as a benz that'll pull down 30 mpg all day long. Also, mine has 293K and climbing and still feels more solid than any Malibu Maxipad ever did.
Even though I talk bad about Adolph, I can't say anything bad about what I've had to do to it. It's either normal issues that come with a 300K mile car, and/or deferred maintenance. The only thing is that it's been a PITA to work on. Run it on veggie and any amount of trouble is worth it. I think I spent about $200 on diesel last year?

I'm a full time student, no way would I have the time or space to deal with WVO or biodiesel.

I should have spent some more time on my answer. The W123 can be a great car for a student. They are cheap to obtain and insure, and things tha wear out like brakes and shocks can be replaced in your driveway. there are some things you can't or shouldn't do yourself without the expertise and resources but that goes for everything, and I'm thinking like drivetrain stuff.

I've been driving mine for 10 years, not every day biut every week, and I stil take it on 1,000 mile trips. I bought it at around 200K, it now has 306K. During this time, I've replaced the shocks, rotors, water pump and starter. Otherwise its on its third battery.

If you just leave it the way it came and replace things with decent parts, they are long lasting and reliable. I posted mine for sale here but since changed my mind-it is very difficult to lose a car that works so reliably.

Kenny_McCormic wrote: I'm a full time student, no way would I have the time or space to deal with WVO or biodiesel.

I work full time and have a family, plus 5 cars. I think, on average I spend maybe an hour a month dealing with veggie oil, from the collection to putting it in my tank.
The space, that could be an issue. I have a corner of my garage, maybe 4X8 that houses my filtering setup.
I'd be more than happy to help anyone that wants to give it a go.

DrBoost wrote:

Kenny_McCormic wrote: I'm a full time student, no way would I have the time or space to deal with WVO or biodiesel.

I work full time and have a family, plus 5 cars. I think, on average I spend maybe an hour a month dealing with veggie oil, from the collection to putting it in my tank. The space, that could be an issue. I have a corner of my garage, maybe 4X8 that houses my filtering setup. I'd be more than happy to help anyone that wants to give it a go.

It is the initial investment--both time and money--that kill the veggie car idea for me, not the actual upkeep.

I have a w126 300sd, I bought it because I wanted a cheap car that was reliable and easy to get parts for and fix when needed, and it has been fine. Older mercedes, especially w123s rust quite badly, so be careful of that. Other than that they seem fine if you get a good one, in addition to the timing chain, injectors, vacuum pump, glow plugs, etc need periodic attention as well. Most aftermarket parts for euro cars (with a few exceptions) are really terrible quality, so you need to commit to getting either factory or oem brand parts for the most part to have a good experience.