Congrats on getting your Benz! .
....... I'm a fairly recent addition to the club myself; I needed a safe but economical DD for commuting to work, running my pickup for that was just too expensive. So last year I bought a 1984 2.2 with nearly a half million K's on it, been mostly burning 100% biodiesel that a local guy makes out of used restaurant oil...... the exhaust smells like french fries! Mine has bad rust at the jacking holes & a little in the trunk wells, but mechanically she's pretty good except the air conditioning & Climate Control Unit don't work. You'll find that most parts for these cars are readily available from online stores, and as a DIY'er most of the work is pretty easy..... You'd be well advised to change all fluids & filters ASAP, just so you know where you're starting from, & maybe clean out the fuel tank vent... it hangs down under the tank, eventually gets clogged & causes all kinds of mysterious power problems. Its possible your crankcase vent system is cracked or plugged too, and that under-hood smoke could be from that or fuel/oil leaking out of perished hoses & gaskets....
Here's pix of a badge I got with a nice letter from MB Canada eh? ....and a shot of the remains of my battery tray which I tore out & replaced with a plastic box from local auto parts...