Anyone have much experience with the older Mercedes diesels?

[Andrew280SEL]

AKA my guilty desire thread

If anyone was to ask me what car I would buy today, given the opportunity and $$$, my response may surprise - it would be an old Mercedes diesel, something like a W123 240D or 300D or maybe even a W124 300D since I discovered they actually exist. Obviously I'd probably love a W116 variant, but they were only offered in the USA, correct me if I'm wrong. Plus you'd need a pretty beefy diesel engine to pull the W116 bulk I imagine.

I've had this strange fixation with them for a while now and I've watched countless YouTube videos of the classic W123 diesels etc and I love even the sound of the engine, both at idle and acceleration, and just how simple and robust the engines even look.

It's not just because they being a diesel, they're "different" as such. I've had plenty of experience with various diesel engines in my lifetime (working on a farm will do that too!) so I'm no stranger to them.

However, my local Mercedes man once told me to stick with the petrol variants of these older Mercs, saying the diesels are "too old" now and need too much maintenance and even use more juice than the petrol 4 cylinders.

Yet everything I see online, whether it be videos or reading peoples posts online in Merc forums, seems to contradict this quite heavily.

How about the fine people on TK? Any opinions on these cars?
I'm not kidding when I say I want one. I REALLY want to get one and would need a bit of convincing not to.

I kind of wished my W123 230E had of been a diesel instead, but it's still a great car for what it is and I do find the M102 engine to be a very sweet and surprisingly performant engine regardless, I wasn't gonna pass it up. I probably would prefer a W123 diesel over a W124, but given the right condition of the car and price, I wouldn't say no to one of those. I just like the chrome and metal door handles etc of the older model.

 

[Oversize]

I had Lotsa of experience with the w123 diesels & I assume the w116 engine was very similar. In a nutshell stuff all power noisy & a total pita to adjust tappets even with the correct tools. I really hated that job when required. And finding one without rust would be very hard. That said the rest of the car & service items were very easy & reliable. If it was me I'd look for a w124 since they were much quieter & didn't require tappet adjustment. And although the cars are pretty boring by today's standards there are ppl in Europe that are getting big power with the engines (check out some of the w123 drifting videos). Note they're using the later w124 engines (I beleive) in the w123s... Maybe there's your answer and the perfect solution??

 

[Andrew280SEL]

Hi Mark, thanks for your insight.

You may well be right... I imagine the W124 would get a bit more mileage too, in terms of fuel. Food for thought there.

 

[Michel]

There was a time when I toyed with the idea of shipping a 300SD (w116) from the USA.
They seem to go cheap enough, however, that was when the Aussie dollar was around US$1.10

I still would consider that option if I wanted something different in Australia.
You could even convert one to RHD using Aussie parts.

 

[Styria]

Andrew, my experience with Diesels is limited to a one hour drive in a 300D. By the end of that drive, I was exasperated by the lazy response from the five cylinder Diesel. It had become boring.

Straight after I got into Gleaming Beauty and that further reaffirmed my determination to not become involved with an old Diesel, such as the one in the 300D. I also drove a Citroen 1.9 litre Xsara Diesel in Europe for about eight weeks. It was non-turbo, and just a little pedestrian, but handled as if on rails. 150 on the Autobahn was about its practical limit. However, Diesels have come on in leaps and bounds, but I am talking modern, amid they are virtually unbeatable for value and economy. Regards. Styria

 

[Andrew280SEL]

That's understandable, I doubt there would be an old diesel out there that would in any way come close to the effortless power and response to a 6.9

Personally I don't think that would worry me too much, I don't need to be anywhere too quickly and I'm used to "working" smaller/less powerful engines. As long as one doesn't have to unnecessarily "scream" the engine in lower gears just to even get a hint of acceleration on slight hills, I'm happy enough.
One of the worst underpowered vehicles I've driven is actually a 2011 Kia Rio Hatch (4 cyl petrol, auto). 5 gears are available, often needing to utilize 4th and then even 3rd for slight hills to get any acceleration.. and by then the engine is screaming out at nearly 5000+ revs and it's not a nice sound.

Even the 230E with a 4 speed auto and a still fairly significant hunk of metal body, seems vastly more effortless and powerful compared to that, not to mention happier to rev when it needs to.

 

[Michel]

Do yourself a favour.
Find someone with an old diesel and beg them to take you for a drive or better, let YOU drive.
Then decide...

 

[Andrew280SEL]

Well I'm certainly on the look out. I don't imagine there's many of them here in Tasmania, however I have seen a couple over the years.

Anything I would think of potentially purchasing I would certainly give a good test drive beforehand.

 

[Oversize]

There's lots of others that love MB diesels too.... Of special note is the rust in the guards of the W124 and the apparent poor state of tune with some of these cars judging by the amount of smoke coming from the exhausts.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q1SM3LgW_hM

 

[Oversize]

An interesting one on what BSR were running a while ago. 1998 MB E 24V engine. Seems these engines are pretty bullet proof despite the revs

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YlwTxw-027o

 

[Oversize]

An insight into the drifting culture in Finland...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hf5lLMCWWYc

 

[260ebenz]

Never seen so much burning rubber from a Diesel W123!

 

[Andrew280SEL]

Wow I had no idea there was such a diesel racing/drifting culture. They clearly love their "black smoke"