Racer's Lounge - mercedes turbo diesels

the other day i saw a CLEAN old school mercedes, the old 80's turbo diesel coupe... They seem to be pretty popular around the LA area. After a quick browse on CL these things are super cheap in what looks like decent condition. I know a lot of people convert them to vegetable oil, but i have no interest in that.

anybody know anything about these cars? are they shit boxes? expensive repairs? good MPG's? fairly reliable? They look cool as shit, I would rock one for a DD anyday. here's an example of what i'm talking about, although it says nothing except "drives great":

http://losangeles.craigslist.org/sfv/ctd/2926966222.html

http://img688.imageshack.us/img688/9688/0685n.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/688/0685n.jpg/)
http://img818.imageshack.us/img818/6421/0675q.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/818/0675q.jpg/)
http://img163.imageshack.us/img163/6745/0647y.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/163/0647y.jpg/)
http://img23.imageshack.us/img23/9288/0608n.jpg (http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/23/0608n.jpg/)

I know absolutely nothing about them, but I think the one you posted is pretty cool from a vintage standpoint.

I know absolutely nothing about them, but I think the one you posted is pretty cool from a vintage standpoint.

that's exactly why i like them, would be cool to cruise around town in. The one i saw over the weekend really struck me, white leather interior and a clean olive green paint job.

I've heard the transmissions may not be up to par... not sure on repair costs. Otherwise I believe they get very good fuel mileage for a large car and it will run on pretty much anything since its mechanically injected.

You can pour vegetable oil in the tank as long as it's warm out and it'll run all day.

I've heard the transmissions may not be up to par... not sure on repair costs. Otherwise I believe they get very good fuel mileage for a large car and it will run on pretty much anything since its mechanically injected.

You can pour vegetable oil in the tank as long as it's warm out and it'll run all day.

:jest: :jest: seriously? without doing any modifications? that's awesome.

Cousin is on his second one. First was given to him by his parents for a DD car when in HS. His first he had straight piped and said it made a good difference in power. Would struggle to go up the pass to their place at 35 before than after he said he could accelerate up it. Thing rode nice and was just a beast all around. Said he typically got low 40's mpg. Car had 280k miles when he traded it on a newer 400E. Think it was an early 80's model.

Currently has iirc a 89 560SDL. Trans in it was toast when he got it and a valve for the shut off was screwed up. He rebuilt the trans himself for $600 or so and the valve was $120 I think he said. Car only has 86k miles but he swears up and down only reason it had the issues is because whoever had it before never did general maintenance and let it just sit outside for years.

Cousin is on his second one. First was given to him by his parents for a DD car when in HS. His first he had straight piped and said it made a good difference in power. Would struggle to go up the pass to their place at 35 before than after he said he could accelerate up it. Thing rode nice and was just a beast all around. Said he typically got low 40's mpg. Car had 280k miles when he traded it on a newer 400E. Think it was an early 80's model.

Currently has iirc a 89 560SDL. Trans in it was toast when he got it and a valve for the shut off was screwed up. He rebuilt the trans himself for $600 or so and the valve was $120 I think he said. Car only has 86k miles but he swears up and down only reason it had the issues is because whoever had it before never did general maintenance and let it just sit outside for years.

interesting... if you keep in touch with him, show him this car and ask him about some things to look out for when buying one. If it's a pretty solid car, you can't really go wrong for the $2k-$3k price range. Everybody is looking for hondas or toyotas for good MPG daily drivers, i pick an old school benz :jest:

the only thing that scares me is the turbo, while the motor itself may be solid idk how long a turbo/turbo components can go. Didn't mercedes make a non turbo diesel too? That might be a little too slow lol

I hate those cars pretty much more than anything on Earth. Whenever I see them I think of Black Hawk down when they drive that pile through the little village.

I think that theyre super cool...
I dont know anything about them though, but they look awesome IMO super old school!

I hate those cars pretty much more than anything on Earth. Whenever I see them I think of Black Hawk down when they drive that pile through the little village.

:jest: :jest: yeah i could see that. i still think they're cool though.

I think that theyre super cool...
I dont know anything about them though, but they look awesome IMO super old school!

hell yeah. If i get one I want to see about putting a surfboard rack on it, would make a pretty cool beach rig :jest:

The old Mercedes Diesels were bulletproof, very reliable. As said above, if the engine is warm you can just fill it with vegetable oil :) Don't know about the old Turbodiesel stuff though.

You should run two tanks if your going to veg oil. They don't start on veg oil. Also if that Veg oil is used you need to filter the shit out of it. Just run diesel not worth it.

:jest: :jest: seriously? without doing any modifications? that's awesome.

Yup, it will run on pretty much any type of oil, you don't have to filter vegetable oil if its new oil, but you can run like used cooking oil through it and that would have to be filtered down to about 2 micron but it'll still run fine.

parts are hard to come by for these. but they are known to last forever. yes, it is possible to run on veggy oil, but the engine needs to be at operating temperature. youll need to run a seperate tank and fuel lines with a switch to turn off the diesel fuel and turn on the vegetable oil. there was a right up in diesel power magazine a couple years ago where they ran a truck (duramax to be exact) off of straight transmission fluid. therers plenty of ways to drive a diesel cheap. just have to do some research.

WHEELS,

I found you a beach cruiser!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1980-MERCEDES-BENZ-300TD-Station-Wagon-109-000-miles-MINT-30-Yrs-Records-/160781495102?pt=US_Cars_Trucks&hash=item256f52eb3e

^that is clean!
I love those wheels, friends of mine had a Mercedes wagon like this about 10yrs ago.

needs an LS2

WHEELS,

I found you a beach cruiser!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/1980-MERCEDES-BENZ-300TD-Station-Wagon-109-000-miles-MINT-30-Yrs-Records-/160781495102?pt=US_Cars_Trucks&hash=item256f52eb3e


now THAT is fucking cool. there's actually one of those on CL here locally, but not nearly as clean. I wonder what the reserve is. I bet 6k

parts are hard to come by for these. but they are known to last forever. yes, it is possible to run on veggy oil, but the engine needs to be at operating temperature. youll need to run a seperate tank and fuel lines with a switch to turn off the diesel fuel and turn on the vegetable oil. there was a right up in diesel power magazine a couple years ago where they ran a truck (duramax to be exact) off of straight transmission fluid. therers plenty of ways to drive a diesel cheap. just have to do some research.

do you think parts are hard to come by because of the model/year, or is it a regional thing? i know these older "luxury" cars are VERY popular in LA, every street corner has a euro specialty repair shop/dealership.

My friend has had 3 of these so far. They have all ran on Chinese food. He has a deal with a local place that if he eats there once a week he can have their oil. It is cheaper for them to have him take it than to call a company to get it. The only thing is they are prone to rust. His first one the floor rusted through completely and it wasn't stable enough to drive anymore. We live in Ohio though so everything is rusting :jest:

My friend has had 3 of these so far. They have all ran on Chinese food. He has a deal with a local place that if he eats there once a week he can have their oil. It is cheaper for them to have him take it than to call a company to get it. The only thing is they are prone to rust. His first one the floor rusted through completely and it wasn't stable enough to drive anymore. We live in Ohio though so everything is rusting :jest:


lmao thats awesome. how does he filter it? these things crack me up, theyre like moving science experiments

lmao thats awesome. how does he filter it? these things crack me up, theyre like moving science experiments

He has a separate tank in his trunk that has all the veggie oil stuff in it that filters it and takes care of all the stuff. He also brews bio diesel in his basement. Then he has a valve up under the hood that he flips when he wants to run diesel or the oil. It's a pretty sweet setup. His little mazda diesel pickup is set up the same way. He also has an rx7 that he put a small merc diesel in too. He is pretty smart and has all kinds of oddball things around house. I don't think he has a water bill anymore because he harvests rain water and filters it to drink :jest:

My friend has had 3 of these so far. They have all ran on Chinese food. He has a deal with a local place that if he eats there once a week he can have their oil. It is cheaper for them to have him take it than to call a company to get it. The only thing is they are prone to rust. His first one the floor rusted through completely and it wasn't stable enough to drive anymore. We live in Ohio though so everything is rusting :jest:

That might have been a few years ago. Used cooking oil has value now, used to be the restaurants paid the guys with vac trucks to take it away, now they pay the restaurants for their oil. Also, grease theft has become a problem now as well.

http://www.thehour.com/story/519080/norwalk-detectives-investigating-grease-thefts



With these old Benzes, the thing to look for is if its maintained religiously. They tend to give you all kinds of expensive grief if they aren't. I wouldn't buy one without a stack of service reciepts.

Also, they sold a TON of these Benzes in the LA area back in the 80's, so parts should be easy to come by in the junkyard and hell I bet even autozone stocks some stuff for these cars since they are popular in your area. Now if you lived in Idaho or something I could see finding parts would be difficult.


Also, I'd drive both gas and diesel versions. The gas versions have A LOT more power and are so much quieter and smoother. I've driven an old w126 with the turbodiesel five cylinder, that was such a damn dog of a car. Really a shame, because it was such a solidy built car, just needed another 100hp or so to get out of its own way. I think the turbodiesel inline fives were rated at 125hp, inadequate in a big, heavy car.

He has a separate tank in his trunk that has all the veggie oil stuff in it that filters it and takes care of all the stuff. He also brews bio diesel in his basement. Then he has a valve up under the hood that he flips when he wants to run diesel or the oil. It's a pretty sweet setup. His little mazda diesel pickup is set up the same way. He also has an rx7 that he put a small merc diesel in too. He is pretty smart and has all kinds of oddball things around house. I don't think he has a water bill anymore because he harvests rain water and filters it to drink :jest:

now that is someone id like to meet lol.

now that is someone id like to meet lol.

He's a pretty chill guy. I have known him since high school.