I am going to buy either a 97 e300d or a 91 350sd tommorow(maybe), now I read that the 91 350sd is a rod bender - how can I tell if the one I drove today has this issue? The things I noticed about it were that the tempature gauge never made it to 40 if it moved at all I can't recall, however when I turned the heat on all I had was cold air. It pulled ever so slightly to the left, and other than that it seemed to drive very nice.

The e300d had various strange issues, the car pulled to the right pretty good, there was a wind/whistle noise coming from somewhere by the hood release latch, it was actually noisier inside the car than out due to an almost grinding sound when you let off the gas, And lets not forget the oil that was only on one bolt, and then just a bit below it, (as you look into the engine bay from the front the bolt in question was on the front left corner). I asked the dealer about the pulling and grinding and made one of his guys go with me and they heard and saw the same things I did, and suggested it may be unequal tire presure or it needs an alignment which they will do (naturally) before I take it.

Both cars are on ebay and both have clean carfax reports, but after reading all the 350sd bashing and then just not knowing enough about these cars I came here for help. I currently have a 2001 Dodoge Ram 2500 4x4 and get 19mpg average, but I need a car that gets better (great) milage which is why I was leaning towards the e300d.

Here's the links for ebay, what do you guys think? should I just keep looking, or is there hope?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=6330&item=2493406247&rd=1#ebayphotohosting

and

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=6335&item=2493104247&rd=1

also note the bulge in the rear fender on the '97 is that normal?