I am thinking of going on the BABE rally next year, and I found a local Merecedes 300D. 1983. What should I be looking for? I am not too familiar with Diesels. BTW I am in CT so if anyone has any leads for a good BABE rally car that would be good too.
From my experience-watch for GIANT rust holes.
Check under the battery tray, you have to lift the battery out and undo the battery tray. On my otherwise rust-free Texas car there was a large hole there that leaked into the interior and made a puddle out of the passenger foot well everytime it rained.
Strong fuel smell could be worn injector return hoses (cloth-covered rubber)and/or end cap. These are easily fixed, MB sells special diameter hose. Betcha get away with an under $10 parts bill!
I think mercedes must not have thought about rustproofing untill the 80s. If the car runs and is solid you are set. The big $$$ item on the diesel is the injection pump. Other than that they only made a million of them so parts shouldn't be hard to come by. A friend said he saw a 300sd with 500k miles on it, so they are like the energizer bunny.
Good luck!
Early W123s can rust something fierce, the later ones are a little better but as everybody else has said, you need to check them over thoroughly for rust.
If those engines are being looked after properly, they last for a very long time. There's a reason that they were extremely popular as taxis in Germany. They're very basic Diesel engines, not very powerful but as long as they have good compression and the injector pump is OK, they'll keep running. There is a good reason for the old 'cockroaches and Mercedes Diesels will survive nuclear war' quip and it was mainly founded on the comparative longevity of the 70s and 80s Diesels.
benzbaron wrote: A friend said he saw a 300sd with 500k miles on it, so they are like the energizer bunny.
My mother bought a 1987 300D (W124) brand new. She sold it last March, still in very presentable and good running condition, with 677,000 miles (!) The engine and transmission were original and never rebuilt. Original turbo, too. Of course, her car was dealer-serviced since new, but the '87 6cyl diesels are supposed to be the "bad ones" that don't last.
If the bad ones go 677K, then the 5cyl "good ones" found in the W123 cars must simply never die.
Actually, from memory it's the turbo diesels that have a bit of an iffy reputation and that goes for the 5cyl turbo diesel as well (only available for a short time in the W123 wagon and I don't know if that made it to the US). The N/A ones are slow but long lived.
Yeah, the 5 cyl turbodiesel wagons made it here. Sedans too.
I had a 220D. Besides the rust (whoever thought that putting cloth between body panels was a good idea?) you have to watch out for a totally shot motor. The rings can be so bad that it will burn a quart of oil every 50 miles and you won't be able to tell because it still runs fine. I got took on that one. On a BABE car, that may not matter. Just fill up with oil and check the fuel.
We only got the wagons, the 300SD was never officially sold in Europe...
My friend took a look at the car.
"I put my foot under the car, and I could see my foot through the car."
Apparently really big holes in the floorpan and lower body.
Looks like the BABE search continues.
They all do that sir 
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