[300 D]

Hi,

I'm in final stages of gaining ownership [shipping set up, etc] of a 300E diesel, pewter [smoke silver], special edition. Car has 182k miles on it [gulp], but is rust free, no dings, no dents, no braille parking bumper issues. Car presents itself well . . . Carfax is good . . .

Car has had two owners. This last owner just spent $2,300 having his favorite mechanic do things like: replace glow plugs, housing inlet?, thermostat, tie rods, fuel pump & housing, lines, new fluids throughout, filters, etc.

He also had 4 new tires put on some months back, claims about 1,000 miles use since then.

My twitch is 182K miles. I'm not used to buying cars with over 30, 40K miles on them, let alone 182K.

Also around here, the delta between gas and diesel is about 12-cents, plus or minus 1 or 2. Pundits claim the differential will become closer as time passes by.

The only change I'll probably do is spiff up the wheels with five or six spoke chrome wheels. Might be tough, since tires are 15's and new, so don't want to trash them by going to 16, 17, 18 inch what have you.

Any advice, counsel, and the like on this ride will be most appreciated . . .

Should you know of after market sellers of chrome wheels for this car, especially 15 inch, please post links, and/or other information . . .

Thanking you in advance . . .
Jas

 

[el pres]

W124 diesels were imported to the U.S. in both wagon and sedan form.

 

[Zeitgeist]

Not quite sure what to make of your post, but welcome nonetheless. It sounds like you're acquiring a '95 E300D Special Edition sedan with the normally aspirated OM606 diesel engine with 182k. That might seem like high miles for a "normal" car, but this is a Mercedes, and one of the finest chassis the company ever built. These cars can chew up miles and still remain refined, comfortable and quite safe. If it's a '95 then it does suffer from deteriorating original engine harness issues, but thankfully on the diesels, there's not much of a harness to worry about. On a car with that sort of mileage, I'd start looking at how well the rear suspension is holding up, as well as determining if the AC works and whether the evaporator has ever been replaced.

Again, welcome to the forum. You should fill out your profile so we can figure out where the vehicle will reside, which can impact the types of advice you'll receive from other members.

 

[300 D]

Not quite sure what to make of your post,

It means it [was] too long. I've since edited it.

The real premise of the post was about diesel, MPG, mileage ... just not used to buying high mileage autos.

The rest ... extemporaneous chatter.

For the other poster, have found precious few wagons. So, decided not to make them an issue.

Once I get my hands on it, I'll do as you mentioned and post more re: profile. I live in Wisconsin, so car will need to start when it's well below zero, another small concern I have. Car will be garaged, and will inherit a common magnet device used to heat engine oil. They put out 300 degrees Fahrenheit. My gas cars benefit a lot from such devices, easy starts. I'm sure everyone knows about them.

Jas

 

[Funky Mad]

Magnet device to heat engine oil? Say what? Apparently I'm not everybody! What's that?

 

[Zeitgeist]

I'm not familiar with the magnet device either. If the car's gonna be garaged, then you may not even need to worry about such things. The OM60X series engines start quite well below zero.

 

[deanyel]

We're still trying to figure out what the car is - since there is no such thing as a 300E Special Edition.

 

[300 D]

Funky Mad, the device is manufactured by KAT's Heaters. When it is to be very cold, you simply reach under the car and place it against the car's oil pan. I have a piece of card board I use to lie on, takes seconds to attach. There's a magnet portion within it, to keep it in place. You then plug it into a 110 outlet. They cost around 80-bucks. They get quite hot. Since oil is nice and warm, makes starting much easier on the starter, battery, et cetera. Let alone getting warm oil to all the appropriate places a little sooner.

Zeitgeist, same as above, I've heard that OM60X engine you alluded to are quite user friendly.

deanyel, okay, okay, semantics aside. It is a Mercedes-Benz E-Class E300 Diesel, at least that's how most are advertised. This one had Special Edition included in the ad piece. I use the D to differentiate it from other [gasoline] versions.

Jas

 

[Zeitgeist]

An even easier option would be to call your nearest Mercedes dealer and order an electrical cord made specially for the block heater that's already installed on the car. Simply remove the plastic cap, plug the cord into the heater, then zip-tie the cord to the frame and lead the male end out to somewhere near the grill. That way there's no crawling under the car.

Oh, and the oil pan on this car is aluminum, so magnets won't stick.

 

[deanyel]

That's better, and the E300 was offered with Special Edition, but a lot of cars are misadvertised as having it, because of a CarFax screw-up.

 

[300 D]

That's fine as well, will continue to use it on car bought it for.

Nice to know that MB has [had] that base covered, leaving it up to buyer to invoke it, or not . . .

Will probably do so, since like to give a car every advantage when winter calls for such.

Info supplied substantiated the Special Edition portion ... which, by the way, had little influence on the outcome . . .

FWIIWD, mechanicals, door, body, trim, "dings," bumper "trails," [lack thereof] condition of paint, plastic pieces, and like issues are more important [to me]. Than color, or options, especially for a car this old, and mileage it has. Another item that helped a lot, was that owner provided service paper trail that went all the way back to original owner to date of purchase in late '94.

Carfax, Experian, don't always reflect continuity of such detail items. For me, lack of dings, bumper scuffs, very good paint, very clean interior, etc., for example. Tells me a lot about how the previous owners - in this case two - took care of it, let alone service history.

I usually will "walk" from a prospective car purchase if it has dings and such . . .

My S.O. hates it when I park quarter of a mile away from the busy portion of the parking lot at Malls, for example. So, I drop her off at the Mall entrance, she waits; and I walk back to her, after parking the car. After shopping, whatever, I go and get the car, and most always remember to pick her up at the Mall entrance.

Rather than go after the semantics of my posts. I would really like to hear about "do's & dont's" regarding the car. Other car clubs and forums I'm a member of, talk about idiosyncrasies [the good, bad, and indifferent] of the car, and specifics as to the model, its options, so, so forth.

In time I will be able to search for such. That, however, assumes I know what to look for. That's where a lot of value comes from forums, such as this one. I have to presume there's a theatre full of experience and knowledge at the ready ... this forum.

I don't mind doing searches, hopefully, this site has better search engines than most I deal with.

That said, still doesn't answer what to look for. Kinda like the J's 5-W's. That's the big nit, there's always something(s) peculiar about the car/model that owner(s) with history already know. That someone new to the car/model would never dream to be vary of . . .

A good sample, is that MB has an engine heater at the ready ... good news, and do appreciate now knowing that Zeitgeist. May have taken a while to learn of this, now I know.

What I hope to hear, are those things, those items, to be cognizant of. So, that I get as much benefit and appreciation from the experience as you have . . .