i have a chance to buy an 86 300 d grey market wagon. always garaged 114k miles 602 motor with an auto . ? is how slow are they? mileage ? reliable?
any special things i need to look for?
thanks in advance
JOHN M

A 1986 300D wagon? You say "gray market" so I assume you mean this car was shipped from Europe by it's owner, as MB did not offer a diesel wagon to the US until 1987 / 300TD.

Although I have a 603, the 602's are in the same family of diesel engines and are very reliable. Head gaskets maybe an issue here but not sure if head cracks were an issue as was with the 603. Someone here I'm sure can share more info on the 602.

The 602 is a great motor. No known major problems. If it's a turbo, power should be fine. If non-turbo, well, it won't be fast. You'll want to get a copy of the Euro EPC for the assorted items that your local dealer can't look up (they only have info on USA models), and you'll need to make friends with speed-autoteile.com, who can send all those specialty Euro parts your way at wholesale cost from Germany. (Shipping is outrageous, unfortunately.)

Could be a really nice car - it would help if the price is right. If it's a turbo that would be even better.

__________________
Dave
Boise, ID
Check out my website photos, documents, and movies!

thanks
its a non turbo
any idea how not fast?
john m

Last year, I test-drove a 5-speed manual transmission version of the car you're talking about. If I remember correctly, it was a european model (from Germany), it was called a 250TD, and it was non-turbo. I would have bought it if the seller wasn't asking $10K for it.

Anyway, I drove it for about 45 minutes in city, highway and gravel road conditions, and I found it to be fast enough. For normal driving, I wouldn't consider it to be slow at all (but I drive a 190D )

__________________

1989 250TD Wagon 5-speed, 160,000mi ::: Dark gray metallic / black cloth
1984 190D-2.2 5-speed, 287,000mi ::: Silver-blue metallic / black MB-tex ::: SOLD

I would guess it's faster than a 190D and slower than any other diesel W124 imported to the USA. Maybe 15 seconds 0-60? Hmmm. Lemme check my TDM and see if it has any specs. (puts cat down and walks to shelf) Well how about that! The car is a 124.185 (2.5 non-turbo), and spec is 0-100kmh in 18.8 seconds with one passenger. The five-speed manual is a little quicker at 17.6 seconds. Figure 0.5-1.0 seconds quicker to 60mph and with one occupant. You won't be winning any drag races but it should beat any 240D quite soundly. Oh yeah, max speed is 160kmh.

Dave,

I think you gave the specs for the 200TD instead of the 250TD.
Nitske's book has them listed as:

250TD

Power 90 hp (DIN) @ 4600 rpm
Torque 154 Nm (113.6 ft/lb) @ 2800 rpm
0-100 km/hr 16.2 sec automatic: 17.0 sec
Top speed 175 km/hr (109 mph) automatic: 170 km/hr (106 mph)
Fuel consumption @ 120 km/hr 30 mpg automatic

200TD
Power 72 hp (DIN) @ 4600 rpm
Torque 123 Nm (90.5 ft/lb) @ 2800 rpm
0-100 km/hr 18.5 sec automatic: 20.4 sec
Top speed 160 km/hr (100 mph) automatic: 155 km/hr (96.7 mph)



The specs above are incorrect for the wagon. They are for the 200D/250D sedan.


Chris

Nope - my data is directly from the Mercedes Technical Data Manual, December 1988 edition. I don't entirely trust Nitske's numbers, he has been inaccurate before. I don't know where he got his numbers, but here's the Mercedes TDM information:


250TD (124.185)

Power 90 hp (DIN) @ 4600 rpm
Torque 154 Nm (113.6 ft/lb) @ 2800 rpm
0-100 km/hr 17.6 sec manual; automatic = 18.8 sec
Top speed 165 km/hr manual; automatic = 160 km/hr


200TD (124.180)
Power 72 hp (DIN) @ 4600 rpm
Torque 123 Nm (90.5 ft/lb) @ 2800 rpm
0-100 km/hr 21.7 sec manual; automatic = 23.0 sec
Top speed 150 km/hr manual; automatic = 145 km/hr



My 1993 edition TDM lists the same numbers. Maybe Nitske was pubishing car magazine test data instead of factory ratings...? BTW, the factory numbers are with two occupants and are +/- 7% accuracy.

The engine won't be too different from the engine in the US spec 190D 2.5.

I took a 124 250D AT for a spin and thought it had decent power even though I took a 124 300TDt AT for a spin on the same day.

Sixto
95 S420
87 300SDL