In a few hours, we're going to go acquire a 1987 e300.. I fell in looooove with this car. However, I've only owned a 1989 Oldsmobile prior to this, so anything I should know would be very welcomed! The car itself has 190k miles on it but is in pretty good shape, aside from some peeling paint. It's got the "typical" (I was told this, don't actually know this myself) minor transmission fluid leaking and fails emissions sometimes.. is there anything I can/should do about that? Also, i'd love a suggestion on a manual for this car, since we plan to learn to work on it ourselves.

Thanks!

 

I think you mean 1987 300E? Mine is a 1989 300E with 75,000 miles. Minor oil leak (sometimes none at all). Runs and looks great. I am a little worried about the "failed emissons" comment. That could be something more complex.

You might want to consider ordering the Mercedes Benz E-Class Owner's Bible, 1986-1995 by Stu Ritter. I bought mine from Amazon.Com for twenty something. Here's a link to Bently Publishers about the book: http://www.bentleypublishers.com/product.htm?code=gmob

The book provides great information about your prospective car and some technical hints and procedures. It is not meant to be a detailed mechanics manual like you would find in automotive repair shops.

 

Use good gas, keep the vehicle clean, run good oil through it with change intervals of no more than 5000 miles and take care of the tires. Other than that, it will cost a bit more for the small pieces that need to be replaced at that age and mileage. Remind yourself that no other car rides like your Benz on the road. Period. I'm on my second and know that this won't be my last Benz. Read these chat boards and you will get great info on how to save money by doing the repairs yourself.[8D]

 

Great car,a real classic
also look into joining mbworld.org forum lots of tips for your model.
clean it up,detail it,check state of tune,you both will have fun and at the same time find out what seems to be a lost art,except to the people on these forums,how a car works and how to work on one.More power to you!