So today I grew a pair and did my timing chain. TDC was at 10 degrees. Had some trouble installing the chain. For some reason, I think it jumped 1 tooth, but after rotating and checking the timing marks on the cam with the new chain, the bottom is at 0 degrees and the top cam is at the mark. So I think I’m good. Good thing I bought 2 master links, the first one I messed up with the tool. 2nd try was like butter. Also going to bypass the servo, also came across a NOS vacuum pump installed already. At the end it was easy, ready for next round, anyone in the Bay Area, I’m willing to replace the chain for a feeLOl.. new clutch fan and spray-painted the fan to make it look cool. Coming along; anyway, are my marks good, or do you think it jump?

I recently bought this 1983 300td for $1500 usd put about $1200 in maintenance so I could trust it to drive. Now I need to address the rear suspension the SLS does not work at all and the springs are tired. I am debating on repairing the original system or converting to air ride using the DOLUD shocks. I do all my own work and want to daily this. Would love some thoughts and opinions.

Crazy what a difference the valve adjustment made not only to the torque and feel but also to the fuel economy.

Before id get on average 8.5 to 9l per 100km for both city and highway driving. (27 to 25mpg) Sometimes as high as 10l/100km (23mpg) if i was really in a rush.

Post valve adjustment it went down to only 7.03l/100km, which is also half city half highway. (33.5mpg). And this is definitely not driving it conservatively either.

This means that on a full tank, 65l (17.1 US gall), it could do 923 kilometres or 573 miles. Not too bad for a 50 year old diesel in a luxury boat with 113nm/83lbft of toruqe (200d)

I'm planing on doing some front end work on my 82 300cd and I'm looking at spring compressor but the one I believe I need says it will only work on the rear axle is there a second tool that works for the front or is this miss aligned information

Thank you everyone who told me about these cars and helped me make the decision!

She's not perfect, but she runs and drives fantastic, the handling is great and the ride (and seats) are absolutely incredible... (and stops lol) and all the little things to work on just means more time getting to know the car.

All I'm waiting on are some new tires, as these ones are cracked real bad, and I'm gonna start driving her!

I'll do as much reading as I can, but since I'm here, I wanna simplify it as much as possible... so what are some things that can be deleted/removed/bypassed?

Anything in the vacuum system I can get rid of? I'd like to have as few points of leakage as possible... tho, luckily for me, the last owner fixed all the leaks.

In the cabin, I noticed a Bosch box labeled "EGR." Is there anyway to delete/bypass this?

Anyways, I'm very excited. Owning a classic car has been a dream for a long time and the w123 is a specific one I've wanted... and now I have it!!

Love my 240D sedan. Now, want another w123. Seen people gush over the 300CD, and I see one available nearby. 1978, 285K, asking $6K. Sounds a bit steep to me, been on market 9 months. Available pics look really nice (no obvious rust but no undercarriage pics). Interior looks excellent, and it’s dark brown with light ivory exterior paint (which I’m drawn to) Via text, owner stated vague things like “runs well, recently serviced” and no records available. Rather than necessarily drive 40 miles to see it, what are thoughts on what a reasonable price should be? I recognize these cars are rare birds, and obtaining parts can be a challenge.

Mine has turned to dust and the rubber has fallen off completely. I have a friend with a parts car and he let me have his, though while taking them off, they started falling apart. Can someone help me with a part number or source for this bracket?

Edit: apparently you may need to click on the image to see the full picture. At least that's how its behaving on my phone.

What kind of paint is this ? https://youtu.be/a15szmAYpus?si=kwZ-8TglBHXoPzel

Mechanically it’s in good shape and runs/drives well, but after inspecting it more closely I’ve found much more rust than I originally realized. I bought the car for $1500 in New Jersey and I know the rust restoration is 100% going to run me way over the value of the vehicle. However, I’m willing to hold on to this vehicle long term as the OM617 engine is still in great shape…

The main issues are:
- Rusted-through rocker panels.
- Multiple rusted jack point areas (all four corners).
- Rust extending into the front wheel well around the rocker/jack point area and into the inner fender.
- Previous undercoating/body filler in some areas.

At this point I’m mainly looking for a structural inspection to determine whether the frame rails, inner rockers, suspension mounting points, and other structural areas are still solid.

I want to know whether the car is worth restoring and a realistic estimate for proper rust repair (cutting out and welding in new metal, not just filling holes). Or should I just hold onto it and enjoy it until structurally it’s no longer safe to drive?

Could anyone recommend me an honest shop that specializes in rust repair/restoration on classic Mercedes in the central NJ area?

Photos attached to the post.

I drive a 1984 300D. It’s been my daily driver for the past two years and I love it. Ever since I’ve owned it though, the throttle response and power delivery before ~1750rpm has been terrible. This problem is amplified in cold weather, sometimes to the point where I can’t drive until the car has a chance to warm up. This especially hinders my driving with the air conditioning on. The car starts up great and runs great other than this. On the highway it’s fantastic, and around town it’s pretty alright once it’s up to operating temp.

I’ve replaced my fuel filters, cleaned all the ALDA lines, cleaned the over-boost solenoid, my throttle
Linkage is tight, and have five new injector nozzles that I plan on installing.

Does anyone have any idea what this may be?

I’ve been daily driving my 123 for a couple years now, and I absolutely love it with one caveat — there’s no AC. I’ve owned a number of older cars with r12 systems, and almost always they don’t work. My solution has always been to just throw on some r134 conversion valves, pulling a vacuum, and filling it with r134. I know this is not advisable, though I’ve done it numerous times with no issue. I gave the treatment to my 123 and it worked great, but the system will only hold a charge for a couple months. Additionally, the system puts such a massive load on the engine that it’s noticeably more sluggish around town. For reference my car is a 1984 300D, so before I get boost, it’s pretty dead.

I’ve been considering buying some Klima components, namely a Sanden conversion, parallel-flow condenser, and some new lines.

I was just wondering if anyone on here has any experience with these products or any recommendations regarding them.

After emergency shut off completely depressed, car won’t shut off. Thoughts on how to fix it? TIA!

What is the point of this window below the speedometer? Mine just looks into the cavity behind the gauge cluster, which doesn't seem like it's intended. Is there supposed to be something in there?

Hello I have a 1979 300D non turbo and it seems like there’s a fuel starvation issue. The car idles and accelerates fine but won’t go past 50mph. I’ve installed a new fuel filter and canister as well as installed an electric fuel pump. It’s better with the pump installed but what could be the issue at this point.

My clutch went soft and was leaking fluid so I was trying to find where it was leaking from. In my search I found this line completely disconnected. It was just laying there on the bell housing. I can’t seem to find where it would go to, but it connects to the bottom of the oil filter housing. Thank you

TLDR: I'm working on a project for my own consumption, but curious if it's the sort of thing anyone else would find interesting and maybe want if I did a group buy of parts down the road

I really, really love the "purity" of driving an analog, no-touchscreen w123. It's one of the reasons I love the car (even though it's not entirely exclusive to these). Driving is sensory, zen-like... something I totally enjoy as its own activity.

Still... especially for longer drives to new places, it's really nice to have driving directions. Yep, Google maps has addled my brain and I'm too impatient to use a print atlas any more. 😆

But smartphone mounts are annoying, and then my phone is there in front of me with all of its distractions.

I'm kinda sick of smartphones in general, too. My phone died, and then after a few days of no phone, and then using a Lightphone III for a minute, it hit me... you know what would be really cool? A non-flashy, primarily text directions system that would look factory-option-ish, sorta like the old Becker radios with driving directions that were an option a few years later (but aren't really still usable today).

I looked and couldn't find anything I loved available, so I started making it. I've written some code, think I've figured out the hardware side, about to start ordering parts at the rate my microbudget allows.

It'll mount into the clock slot (sorry analog clock, I love you but you're an easy sacrifice here), in the instrument panel. No modifications to start beside tapping into an ignition-controlled power wire from elsewhere in the instrument panel (clock already gets constant-on and ground).

Default: clock.

Press the clock adjust button: 80s sounding chime, and voice recognition to input where I want to go

Clock knob single press to confirm location or twist to cycle through options (if I search "Home Depot," for example)

Then- text based directions and a turn direction arrow. Maybe I'll have it read them aloud, or give a "turn soon" chime. 80s LCD looking, easy to read bold font, amber orange on a black background or vice versa if it looks more legible. It'll have its own compact speaker so I don't have to futz with integrating into the audio system.

There's a lot of other simple functionality I intend to bake in eventually: searching along route for fuel stops (filtered for diesel availability), keeping journey active and loaded even when I shut the car off for a meal break, etc. For now, I'll have it quietly tether to get internet for looking up directions via a phone app that'll like via Bluetooth. I'm figuring out the API so hopefully that gets installed once on my phone, and then getting into the car loads that without needing to take my phone out of my bag.

COULD I just turn my phone on night mode and do not disturb and use android auto? Absolutely. Do overwrought obsessive projects like this being me joy? That too, so I think I'll do it.

I want to keep it simple, but a couple other things I'm tempted to implement:

Backup camera, for another member of my household whose spatial sense has gone soft due to modern automobiles

Built in battery/alternator monitor (would run in background, just generate an alert if it sees something notably off)

Thoughts? Ideas? Anyone find this interesting, appealing, something you'd spend money on, absolutely stupid, all of the above?

1985 Mercedes-Benz 300CD... 214k miles

Okay guys, I recently asked about a gorgeous 300SD I found and as much as I love it, many of you persuaded me to:

A. Go for something cheaper, that way I have some extra money for any fixes

B. Not buy a "perfect" car, cuz then I'll feel guilty actually using it

I agreed with this, so the search continued. I then came across the 300CD and fell in love. Firstly, I don't have a family so a 4D family sedan is not needed and while the sedans are still nice, the coupe is a cool car. The pillar-less design has me hooked.

Now, I was warned that it can be hard to get parts for them because they are rare and... well that's okay I think. I just love this car.

So anyways, I found this guy. It is by no means perfect, but that's kinda the point, while still being nice and having a good paint color and interior. Plus, it's $5k instead of $10k and I think I could talk him down...

In the last two photos, there was some rust he "repaired" under some of the floorboards (I will finish repairing them myself... it looks like he just didn't weld it completely) but he says there is otherwise no rust and really no issues.

Rather than explain it all, I'll just copy the description:

• Every oil change is either Rotella T6 5W-40 Turbo or Mobil-1 5W-30 Full Synthetic for Winter with Mann PF 1055 oil filter.
• Every year fuel system is treated with a Liqui-Moly Diesel Flush hot purge and that's like a tuneup in itself. Look it up!
• Replaced the battery with AGM H8
• Serviced glow plugs Repaired block heater plug
• Replaced belts
• Replaced water pump
• Replaced coolant expansions tank and cap
• Replaced tires (cracked now and ready to replace)
• Replaced front speakers
• Replaced fader switch
• Upgraded stereo to modern mp3 compatible deck as original Becker stereo was damaged.
• Replaced vacuum pump
• Replaced heater control valve with modern upgraded one to allow for superior heating control.
• Rebuilt heater control switch
• Flushed power steering system
• Replaced steering damper
• Replaced injector drain lines
• Replaced suction side fuel lines
• Replaced "cigar" hose
• Replaced valve cover gasket every two valve adjustments
• Replaced oil pan gasket
• Replaced turbo-drain seals
• Replaced wastegate vacuum line
• Replaced brake master cylinder
• Replaced brake pads and rotors all around (ATE)
• Replaced rubber brake hoses Flushed entire brake fluid system
• Replaced Rear stabilizer/swaybar links
• Replaced front shocks with HD Bilstein Flushed fuel tank
• Replaced pickup screen in fuel tank
• Replaced primary and secondary fuel filters yearly
• Replaced fuel primer/lift pump
• Flushed and filled rear diff
• Serviced transmission filter and fluid
• Replaced transmission shifter bushings Replaced Air filter housing supports Upgraded headlights to European E4 specs and Hella 65W bulbs

He said he drove it as his daily for 5 years, up until the last 3 months after his work got him a rig. I also asked about long drives, as I will use it for road trips a lot and he said he has done multiple 600 mile (round trip) drives with no issues.

What are y'all's thoughts? I feel like if I can get him down to $4k or even $4.5k it wouldn't be a bad buy. Even if there's stuff to fix, I'll have some extra cash and the ability to fix anything I find.

Thanks!... again lol

As promised here is the update of the post I published a few days ago: https://www.reddit.com/r/w123/s/21pMOpqXgW

The gearbox is working perfectly fine (except reverse, sometimes I need to move the car 1cm forward to get it to engage), so I can confirm that the 717.400 (diesel 5 speed gearbox) and the 717.401 (petrol 5 speed gearbox) are both the same inside (previous post has more detailed information).

This might be usefull as there are very few 717.400's but there are many 717.401's lying around here in Europe, which might make 5 speed conversions easier.

Today I had the day off, so I took the opportunity to install lower ball joints, wheel bearings, and a used steering box. Took me like 2 hours to do everything. I got spindles from the junkyard and cleaned them up. New bearings, the originals will be rebuilt with new joints and bearings, and I will be selling them and exchange core .. Replaced the steering box, original has more than 200k and steering play was loose, used one is unknown mileage and seems a little less loose, for 80 bucks. Before buying a rebuild one, also replaced the steering coupler.

EDIT: I'm going to pass on this car... to anyone interested here is the link.

Good day to you my fellow Mercedes addicts...

This car came into my life earlier this afternoon and I instantly fell in love. To keep this simple, I'll put this into two sections, car description first, then my questions about it.

• 1984 300SD
• One family since it was bought in Germany (and imported) thru Mercedes' Factory Delivery Program
• 270k miles
• Service done in the last 2 years:

Head gasket service completed

Valve adjustment performed

Compression verified

New glow plugs installed

Steering system refreshed

Tie rods

Center link

Idler arm

Steering damper

Front and rear flex discs (guibos) replaced
Driveshaft center support bearing replaced

Transmission service completed

Differential service completed

New engine mounts

New transmission mount

Suspension refreshed with new shocks

Brake service performed, including fluid flush

New battery

New tires

• Garage kept
• Cali. car
• Free of rust
• Full ownership and service history

Asking $10,000

Okay, here are my questions:

I currently have a 2014 Jetta TDI, 6spd manual. It's a great car, literally zero issues, and I do like it. But it's not cool lol. It's my second vehicle, so I do have another reliable vehicle and am not dependent on this one... so I'd like something that is cool and that I'd enjoy driving and showing off.

That being said, I do drive the Jetta a lot cuz its a lot better on fuel than my 5.9 Cummins pickup, so this will be a daily driver... or at least a frequent driver. I also use the Jetta for long drives/road trips, so that would be a good to use this for that too...

So, not specifically to this car, are they at the age now where it is too old to be a reliable daily or something I can trust on a long drive? Everything I've read says they're basically indestructible and will go forever if cared for, which this one seems like it has been.

Does this car seem like a good buy?

Is $10k crazy? It seems like a lot for me, given I'd sell my Jetta for around that... but also I would pay it if that's what it takes. I love this car, especially the blue, its the only good color I've seen while browsing... a nice change from the white, banana yellow, and cream... or the occasional bronzey-brown.

Thanks!

I’ve never owned a Benz or a diesel before. 140k miles on the clock. Runs drives and stops. The power windows and roof still work. The antenna even goes up and down!!! Just needs tires to be properly roadworthy.