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Help! Considering the purchase of a 1985 300SD
By pure luck I found a 1985 300SD in perfect condition. Garage kept, rarely driven, clean, original owner with only 117k miles! I talked with the cars mechanic and according to him there are absolutely no problems. Ive been intent on purchasing a diesel for a VO conversion for awhile now and an old mercedes seems to be the only one in my price range. I have a long commute and will put plenty of miles on it very fast, will it be able to handle to torture? I have heard alot about these cars and their reliability is from i can tell legendary. However my family and I are still skeptical whether it will be worth it, although our main fear is that repairing the car would be overly costly. If there is anyone with technical knowledge, experience or general input about that particular model that can reassure me that buying this car is a good decision, it would be greatly appreciated.
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RE: Help! Considering the purchase of a 1985 300SD
Only you can make the decision, but I would advise you to proceed. The mid 80's MB are perhaps the ideal VO conversion candidates as the are usually cheap to buy and if well maintained are very reliable, besides having very tolerant engines and solid construction as well. Not knowing the price of the car, it would be difficult to determine if it is a good buy. I paid $1500 for an 85 300D at auction about a month ago and was fortunate as it is in near perfect condition. I've replaced the right side tie rods and bought new tires so I have about $2k into it now. I also have a CAI kit coming from www.wadeperformanceproducts.com I bought for $150 to help give a little more "go" (and I plan to crank up the boost a couple PSI at the wastegate, but that is free) and I will be replacing the timing chain so that's a few hundred more. These cars will go up to a million miles if well maintained. I will be purchasing PlantDrive's VO conversion kit so that will add another $1k so I will have about $3500 into the car when I'm done, but every month I drive for free I save about $300 in fuel costs. In one year's time the whole car (including repairs, upgrades, everything) will be paid for.
One note regarding the SDs, the mid 80's are good, but the 90's with the 3.5L are susceptible to 'rod bender' syndrome. |
RE: Help! Considering the purchase of a 1985 300SD
ORIGINAL: blhfla Only you can make the decision, but I would advise you to proceed. The mid 80's MB are perhaps the ideal VO conversion candidates as the are usually cheap to buy and if well maintained are very reliable, besides having very tolerant engines and solid construction as well. Not knowing the price of the car, it would be difficult to determine if it is a good buy. I paid $1500 for an 85 300D at auction about a month ago and was fortunate as it is in near perfect condition. I've replaced the right side tie rods and bought new tires so I have about $2k into it now. I also have a CAI kit coming from www.wadeperformanceproducts.com I bought for $150 to help give a little more "go" (and I plan to crank up the boost a couple PSI at the wastegate, but that is free) and I will be replacing the timing chain so that's a few hundred more. These cars will go up to a million miles if well maintained. I will be purchasing PlantDrive's VO conversion kit so that will add another $1k so I will have about $3500 into the car when I'm done, but every month I drive for free I save about $300 in fuel costs. In one year's time the whole car (including repairs, upgrades, everything) will be paid for. One note regarding the SDs, the mid 80's are good, but the 90's with the 3.5L are susceptible to 'rod bender' syndrome. |
RE: Help! Considering the purchase of a 1985 300SD
Please see my reply to the other current thread: ????'s about buying an 87 300sdl.
This is my first MB and MB diesel (though not my first diesel neither first German import), although I have worked on/been around other MBs (friends). I do know that if in disrepair you can spend some money, but that is of true of most cars. Most MBs that require big repair money haven't been cared for. For me, if the car has serious rust or accident damage it isn't worth it. And other than bad engine issues (unusual smoking/blowby) the problems aren't too difficult. The mid 80's were the best years for MB diesels. The 90's had the "rod benders" and the recent MBs (mid 90's+) have had lots of owner dissatisfaction. I would see what similar examples are going for on ebay and autotrader. If the owner won't compete then I'd tell him no thanks, unless there is something about that particular one that you like (convenience of location, color, etc.). These cars are out there if you have the perseverence/patience to shop. I think a low miles good example (no body work, original paint, no running issues) is probably worth $5K and will probably fetch it - just my "guess". |
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