During the height of the gas price boom in 2008, my father decided he needed something a little more fuel efficient than his 8.1L Silverado 2500HD's 8 miles per gallon combined as a daily driver.
After spending several weeks over-researching what the best route would be for a reliable economy car, he finally settled for the legendary Mercedes Benz diesel. He spent several more weeks looking for a suitable candidate, from a 1977 240d to a 1993 300d and everywhere in between.
He finally found a reasonable deal in a $3200 forest green 86 190d, strangely enough the seller ended up being the former CEO of Owens Corning.
The W201 chassis was legendary for reliability, and was really the true predecessor to the C-Class.
After more late night internet browsing, we discovered that these cars have a cult following of people that run them on vegetable oil! So wait, you're telling me you can get 40MPG highway AND not have to pay $4+ a gallon for diesel? SOLD! we ended up finding a supplier locally that filtered waste vegi oil and sold it for $1 a gallon!
Over the next several years i helped my dad with maintenance and all the Mercedes-specific issues brought on by age and vegetable oil gum. I was hooked.
For my 16th birthday, I was dead set on buying a Mercedes diesel. Little did i know this would end up being a profitable hobby for me in the coming years.
Like the impatient teenager i was, I spent all of 2-3 days searching online before i finally found what seemed to be the car for me, a 1983 300SD in champagne metallic. Armed with the bulletproof om617 turbo and an MSRP equivalent of $102,000 in today's money, the car seemed like a steal for $1900 in 2011! And indeed, the car looked great in person. or at least from 50 feet away. Getting closer, i could see clear signs of bondo work over rust, but even that had a base coat-clear automotive paint covering it, it wasn't rattle can paint. the car drove great so i decided what the hell, MINE!
After getting to know the car for a couple months, i knew it had been neglected cosmetically for at least a decade. the seats had been covered in a glue-on vinyl covering which started to peel off after a couple months. The rust repair work was literally just slapping bondo over unprepped or untreated rust, and that rust underneath began spreading again in no-time.
I ended up meticulously maintaining this car for 2 years, upgrading things here and there to integrate modern convenience features. One of those being an aftermarket stereo for the car, as well as a recycled Panasonic internally amplified surround sound bar that just hammered the rear of the car with amplified glory. I ended up upgrading The front speakers as well as i felt they were lacking in highs.
During the ownership of this car, i ended up sparking a friendship with another local Mercedes enthusiast. His interests in the cars were a bit different however... he spent several decades amassing possibly the largest non-commercial stockpile of 1960's-1990's Mercedes Benz parts in the United States. And luckily enough for me, they were dirt cheap and he was within 10 miles of my parents house. We will call this 'The Parts Barn'.
Well in june of 2013, a mint low mileage 1991 560 SEL with a blown engine rolled into the parts barn in queue to be disassembled. i got to looking at the car, and the interior IMMEDIATELY caught my eye. I have never in my life seen such a well maintained interior. this car was over 10 years old and there wasn't so much as the slightest bit of discoloration or so much as a crack in the leather. The dash was still glistening without a single crack. A light tan, almost white color. It even had the premium sound system with door speakers! (my 83 doesn't have door speakers.)
I ended up buying the entire interior for that car for $500. Headliner, rear deck, dashboard, EVERYTHING. I even took out all the speakers, amp, and wiring harness for the speakers. The only caveat being i had to remove the interior myself. No big deal, and the parts guy ended up offering me a job due to how impressed he was at the speed in which i stripped the car.
I spent a week swapping that interior into my 83 diesel, and man was it a transformation.
Well during the process of ripping the carpets out, i ended up discovering about half of the rear floor pans were entirely rotted out.like GONE. it was hidden on the underside by the undercoating that was still in good shape. I ended up repairing it correctly and welding in new steel. I repaired all of the other rust on the car as well while i was at it.
After friends and family marveling at how nice this SD looked and receiving several offers, I then realized, maybe i have a knack for this? I could buy a car already at peak depreciation, maintain it and upgrade it while driving it for a couple years, and then sell it for more than i bought it? This ended up being a habit for the next 2 years.
I sold that car in early October of that same year for $5000 after buying a new project.... (Remember this was before SD prices began rising again, $5000 was quite a bit in 2013.)
The next project was a 1991 300D, with the 2.5L turbo om602. the car was high milage, Deer impact damaged, and the clear coat was starting to fade. BUT the car ran and drove perfectly with no issues. the interior was also in very good condition.
I bought it on Ebay for $1500 out of Connecticut. and had it shipped to Michigan for an additional $500.
More on the restoration of this car in another post! i ended up selling it to a friend for $5500.
The next car, and the last one before the legend of my current 2005 E320 CDI, was a 1999 E300D turbo diesel i picked up in February of 2014.
This car was the last of the non common rail diesels that Mercedes ended up releasing in the US.
It was the most powerful diesel Mercedes had released thus far, and ever since i started studying up on these cars, i knew i had to have one. Prices were a bit high at the time for a nice example, in the $8000 range.
I ended up finding out about an hour and a half away from me, with a shot transmission. The car was MINT. absolutely mint. Gold exterior with a black genuine leather (NOT MBTEX)interior. It was owned by an elderly woman that had just passed away, and was being sold by the estate. The exterior was freshly polished and waxed. the interior was absolutely spotless. the engine compartment was spotless, not a leak in sight.
The car started and ran great, even on a cold Michigan February. It seemed the only thing wrong with this car was the transmission. I ended up buying the car for $3000, and trailered it home.
i pulled the trigger on a good used transmission from a 2003 E320, swapped bell housings and torque converter from he original trans, and it was back on the road again!!!! SUCCESS! i had never attempted a project as mechanically involved as swapping transmissions before, but the job was a success. i ended up totaling that car in a bad accident in October of 2015. good thing it was insured, i ended up getting an $8500 check from my insurance company!
Now we get on to the biggest story, my 2005 E320 CDI with 428,132 miles on the odometer as i write this. No, that's not a type-o. I said four hundred thousand miles. Original engine. Original Transmission. Original differential. Original paint. Original owner. From my knowledge, this is the highest mileage CDI in the country.
I picked this car up in November of 2015 for $4900, due to a couple issues it had. It ran and drove great, but had a few issues i will get into in my next post.
i have flipped several extra cars over the years as well, such as a 1991 300TE wagon, a 2003 S600 (BiTurbo V12, man that car was amazing,) and a 2007 E320 Bluetec i ended up keeping for my sister.
All of my family now drive Mercedes Benz diesels because of this addiction, with the exception of my wife. she drives a sleek little 2005 Benz CLK320 gasser, which has also been incredibly reliable.
our fleet now consists of:
2005 E320 CDI
2005 CLK320
2006 E320 CDI
2007 E320 Bluetec
2008 ML320 CDI
And another ML320 CDI i maintain that belongs to a buddy.
This whole spiel gives you a little insight into my life and my experience with Mercedes Benz ownership, and i hope you stick around with me as i document this adventure of Mercedes ownership and maintenance, along with stories of previous cars now gone.
ALL of the work on these cars i do myself at home, and ill show you how i do all of it.
