Mercedes Diesels

Were any Mercedes diesels offered with manuals in America?

Yes. 190d's were offered with a 5 speed manual that will swap to the larger 602/3 motor and possibly others. The w123 240d was offered with a 4 speed manual that will swap to the 617 motor. Also some of the even older diesels (w116 body and older) were offered with 4 speed manuals.

If you are interested in an older M-B, but WITHOUT it being a diesel....there's a 280SL here in Memphis that's been for sale forever (or almost forever). Go to www.cityauto.com and click on search.

QFT

old_ wrote: Yes. 190d's were offered with a 5 speed manual that will swap to the larger 602/3 motor and possibly others. The w123 240d was offered with a 4 speed manual that will swap to the 617 motor. Also some of the even older diesels (w116 body and older) were offered with 4 speed manuals.

That 280 with the 5 speed is a very rare car. Wish my car had a 5speed. If it has been for sale for ever I'd bet they'd take 5grand for it. That one has a body kit on it. Loose the wheel arch chrome because it promotes rust in the wheel arches. You'd have to give it a good inspection though, 185hp of german might giving mileage of 20+mpg, can't beat it!

96DXCivic wrote: Were any Mercedes diesels offered with manuals in America?

Yes early late 70's /80's 240D's.

Very slow cars. I forget the exact years. in the mid 90's I worked a a MB dealership moving cars around we the only manuals we go were a couple 240's and 1 190E 2.3-16v

I had a '77 240D with the 4-speed.

Fun factoid: The 240D was one of the few cars who's quarter mile time was FASTER than the 0-60 time

0-60 - 29.5 seconds 1/4 mile - 25.2 @ 52mph

My dad had a 69 220D? with a 4 speed and a 72 220D? with the automatic. The neighbor he got them from also had a 300TD with a manual, it was original but might have been a gray market car.

I had a 76 240d with the 4spd. It was a fantastic car! I miss it.

There's a few gray market 280's with 5 speeds floating around down here. I am pretty immune to the whole 107 chassis mystique- except for those. Daddy like. There are also several row your own 240D's that we see regularly and a couple of weeks ago we had a 190E 2.6 5 speed given to one of our techs. That's right, a 6 banger 5 speed 190E. It's rough but runs, it may be at a LeMons race near you soon.

I have driven a 4 speed 240d around town and on the freeway. I tried to make it feel slow, but I didnt ever really notice anything other than having to slow down becasue other people were driving slower than i was. While its not fast, they dont seem too slow for normal use (except that I dont think you are supposed to drive over 65mph for long periods of time, which would be unsafe where i live).