Hey Gang,

I'm thinking about getting myself a 1983(ish) 300D (preferably turbo.) I'd like to run biodiesel on this car (I'll keep some fuel filters handy during the transition.) These cars seem to be maintained very well (from the ones that I've seen) and in this forum I've seen few problems with them, think one poster said the 83 300D was the finest Mercedes built?

How well does this car do as a daily driver? Is it a comfortable drive? My routine may have me in stop and go traffic sometimes for an hour. Does it pick up from a dead stop alright? I've seen conflicting reports about it's peppyness. How about going from 0-60mph? How well does it corner? How about parallel parking? (Of course I'll take one for a test drive, but just wanted to check here first.) After 24 years, does the MPG still hold up well? When looking at one is there anything in particular I should keep an eye out for?

If all goes well, in 3-4 years I'd most likely give the car to my son. Is it a safe car for a 17 yr old?

Sorry for the deluge of questions, but thanks for any help you can offer.

 

I drive my 78' 300D 150 miles a day on a commute. I don't think twice about reliability when I back out of my driveway. I have car pooled from time to time and actually received compliments about its comfort over the trip. I have the Bilstein shocks on the car with a set of Michelin MX Energy tires. You can't go wrong with a 123 chassis. 1983 would be a fine year. I hear 1980 is a little rough on the 240s, maybe the 300's too.

These cars are not known for their peppyness, but I drive my car on the highway and merge ok. I do leave myself more room to merge than my other car because you do run into people that do not know that the car 0-60 is about 2.5 days. I have 165K on mine and I get about 25MPG. I plan to do a diesel purge and change out my filters this spring. I do hope to get back to 27MPG, which is what I have at 125K 2 years ago. Either way, I am happy with the MPG. Valve adjustments are also recommended as well.

A quick story on safety.. they are known to be the safest around.. next to a Volvo. When I bought my 300D, 2years ago, I had a friend help me do a walk around on the car. His friend Drewwas a mechanic that came along too. Drew owned 2 of them. One was a daily driver and the other was a 73' that he was restoring. He said, he would only drive these because of them being safe. He said, when he was 17, he was hit broad side my a cement truck doing 45MPH with a few friends in his car. They all walked away safe.

Good luck.

 

lets see.. daily driver? no problem. cornering? the 300D got a lil body roll so dont be takin off-ramps at 90. trust me, i tried it. 0-60 should be about 15 seconds, but it can be gotten down to 12 by adjusting the ADLA alone. very comfortable car. it rides like a rolls royce, seats 5 ppl, big trunk with a full size spare. turning radius is very tight, so parallel parking is no problem. perfect car for a bio conversion