I want to get a new car soon, and I have driven a couple of 4 speed 240Ds, and now I really want one. They really do not seem that slow, it just feels like a normal car. Any problem areas to look for? I had asked about 300Ds before so most of the car is the same, but Im mainly wondering about engine and transmission stuff. Does anyone actually know what kind of fuel mileage they get? I have heard 35 is normal for freeway driving, but that seems high for a car that big.
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Jan. 9, 2011 4:22 p.m. Travis_K Dork
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Jan. 9, 2011 4:45 p.m. Curmudgeon SuperDork
35 MPG is right in line. I have customers with automatic tranny versions claiming that.
Like Harleys, they all leak oil. You can go broke/crazy trying to stop them, so learn to live with it. The most common things we see are vacuum pumps (rebuildable), driveshaft center supports, engine mounts and alternators. The alternators are typical 1970s and 80s technology, you might look into swapping a newer flavor for better charging at idle. The engine doesn't make enough power to hurt itself.
The fuses will corrode in the fuse block, causing all kinds of weirdness. Ditch the fuses with the gray metal, get the ones with brass metal, clean the fuseblock terminals throughly and 90% of the weirdness goes away. Of course, you still have the light sockets etc that will get nasty, there's the other 10%.
Try to find a non sunroof car, as they are horrendously expensive to fix. If you get a sunroof car, leave it closed! The battery boxes will rust, causing a flood in the passenger side. If the car smells musty, that's probably the cause.
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Jan. 9, 2011 5:01 p.m. Sonic Dork
My mom had 2, one was a clapped out automatic, one was a pampered, perfectly maintained 4 speed that, according to her M-B diesel specialist mechanic, was the strongest 240D he had ever driven.
Whenever I drove it, the only way to keep up with traffic was foot on the floor, redline shifts, every time, all the time. When doing that, it would keep up with traffic, and would cruise at 85 (which is getting close to top speed). I thought it was dangerously slow, especially the automatic. I timed it from 0-60, I think it was 26 seconds. The 4 speed was significantly better, like 22 seconds. They only have like 67hp, and it is a tank of a car.
The fuel economy was closer to 30 on hers, even though they (especially the 4 speed) was in perfect tune and had only like 150k on it.
The handling was...ponderous and deliberate. THe wheels and tires are undersized. The steering is vague at best, and more of a suggestion than anything else. The sloppiness and lack of grip assisted her in losing control in a normal driving situation, where she spun and hit the guardrail. In a more modern car with some semblance of handling, it would have been avoided.
As with all W123s in the northeast, they both tried to return to the earth.
She replaced the 4 speed (which had replaced the automatic) with an 85 300D turbo. What a huge difference. I don't particularly like this car, but having double the power make all the difference. The 85 model also had a one year only transmission change that makes a nice difference for the automatics. It gets mid 20's for mileage, maybe closer to 30 on pure highway.
After driving diesel 123s for 15 years, she just got an e46 325xiT, and couldn't be happier, and she was about as die hard a fan of those cars as could be found.
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Jan. 9, 2011 5:26 p.m. Dr. Hess SuperDork
I had a 220D with a 4 speed. I got about 26 MPG. It was very well engineered and thought out. Relatively easy to work on. Which was good, because on my 1 day a month off, I had to work on it, fabricating whatever fell off, etc. You had to call your shots before pulling out in traffic. As in, (looks), Humm, there's a car coming and it's only 3 miles away. I better wait. Mine didn't leak oil (after I rebuilt the motor). We replaced it with a '97 Camry and couldn't be happier.
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Jan. 9, 2011 5:38 p.m. nderwater HalfDork
My Dad's old 240 was a beautiful old tank, but like was said above, was the slowest vehicle my family has ever owned. Box trucks, schools buses, tractor trailers - you name it, everything was faster. You had to anticipate hills in advance so that you could build up momentum so as not to slow to a crawl near the top. These cars make better garage queens than drivers ;)
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Jan. 9, 2011 5:49 p.m. Travis_K Dork
Hmm, the ones i drove didn't seem that slow (at least up to about 70 mph) nor was the handling especially bad (yeah, not real impressive compared to a miata or something like that, but not much different than my dads 2.2 legacy). I have a feeling that they would be an improvement over my current car as far as time spent fixing things that fell off, I would most likely get a w123 rather than a w115 too, unless I found a really nice one for cheap.
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Jan. 9, 2011 6:53 p.m. Tyler H Dork
I've driven a couple. A friend of mine bought one from the original owner with 85k miles on it and it looks damn near new. Solid, simple car. Marginal AC and dangerously slow, as others have mentioned.
If you don't have to do a lot of freeway commuting, it would work for a DD.
You don't have to worry about modulating the throttle. It is either on or off.
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Jan. 9, 2011 8:31 p.m. EvanR Reader
I had one too. I actually think it made me a better driver. You are forced to think a lot, and plan your moves way ahead.
Fun fact: the 240D is one of the few cars whose 1/4 mile times are better than the 0-60.
I took mine to the bracket drags once and dialed in a 29.5 :)
The crowd loved it!
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Jan. 9, 2011 8:33 p.m. Vigo Dork
Ive only driven a few as customer cars, but for what little i did drive them, i found the same: Seem to be a neat car, except for the dangerously slow acceleration.
That has not stopped me from being curious about them.
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Jan. 9, 2011 9:12 p.m. EvanB Dork
i would prefer a 300td (i had one and it was great). i now have a w116 280se but it hasn't run right yet.
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Jan. 10, 2011 6:30 a.m. conesare2seconds Reader
I had an 83 manual-trans. Really well-built, and I think of the handling as pretty good, though I wasn't auto-xing at the time. The throttle linkage is elaborate (yeah I know diesels don't really have a throttle, but dunno what else to call it) and something that exacerbates the inherrent slowness is bushing wear. You end up with lots of slack and lose the ability to open the throttle all the way - and as others have noted, you really want to be able to "floor it". Refreshing the bushings helps.
Other than that, keep spare fuel filters (there are two) and change them at oil-change intervals. Unless you drive in really fast expressway traffic, it's a decent commuter that will keep pace with sluggish stoplight-to-stoplight mobs.
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Jan. 10, 2011 9:42 a.m. Travis_K Dork
Is it reasonable to expect one to start in the morning it it sits outside overnight in 20 degree weather? Thats about as cold as one would ever see with me driving it. I don't think where I drive the slowness would be an issue most of the time, both of the ones I drive I took on the freeway and they kept up with traffic ok. The only time i could really see it being kinda scary is when someone is in front of you that uses power to compensate for their inability to carry speed though a corner on freeway onramps.
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Jan. 10, 2011 10:11 a.m. Sonic Dork
As long as it is in good tune and the glowplugs work it will start just fine at 20 degrees
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Jan. 10, 2011 11:29 a.m. Streetwiseguy HalfDork
Mercedes also built the very worst seats in the entire world for a period in the 70's and early 80's. They always remind me of those bouncy toys in kids playgrounds where the seat is mounted on a coil spring.
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Jan. 10, 2011 5:54 p.m. mattmacklind SuperDork
I have an 84 300D turbo, and love it. Its been my DD for almost 10 years now. I switch to synthetic oil in the winter and it makes a huge difference. Never have driven a 240, but the 300 is slow enough. I actually find the handling to be a strong point, but its hard to explain why. It feels like an airplane on a runway, just solid and planted. Its underpowered so it can never get away from you.
I love it but I've been acculturated to them.
