New Member with 1983 300d - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

JT Burkard · #1 07-11-2010, 07:47 PM

Hello Everyone,

I just wandered into the forums and thought this might be a place to get some good advice on my newest purchase. Between my wife and I we have 10 cars and there seems to be no end to the collection. I came across this 1983 300d by sheer luck. I work for a classic car dealership and the shop next door had this w123 sitting behind there shop for about a year. One day they had their flatbed behind my shop with a wrecked van on the back and a sad looking Diesel Mercedes ready to be wheellifted and hauled to the scrapper.

At the last moment, the shop guy came into my place and asked if I was interested in buying the car before they brought it to the Junkyard. Be it for me to let a German car go to waste. What I didn't realize was this was a rust free car with only 87,000 miles on the clock. Yup, thats right under 100,000 miles on a diesel Benz with no rust about to go to the junkyard. Well, I could just hear the car whispering "Save Me" - We we made a deal and the car was mine.

I pushed the car to the back on my shop, gave it a bath, vaccumed it, and put a charge on it. Wouldn't you know it, she fired up with no hesitation. The deal just got better.

So now the car is at Exclucive in Lakewood, NJ getting checked out since I don't know the first thing about Mercedes Diesels and I figured it would be a good thing to have the car checked by a specialist.

It will need a new windshield and paint. The bumper strips are in the trunk. Once it gets back from Exclucive, the car will then go to my paint guy and get a fresh coat of the factory teal color. Here are a couple pictures. The last one was right after I made the deal, they decided to remove the vine from the grill and had to retighten the wheels as they were going to remove them.

Side note - The tan 1977 BMW 320i in the background is also mine.

toddyvol · #2 07-11-2010, 09:03 PM

Wow..nice car. If it were mine the tint would be the first to go. Does everything work on it?

toomany MBZ · #3 07-11-2010, 10:24 PM

Nice find, congrats.

JT Burkard · #4 07-11-2010, 11:14 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by toddyvol

Wow..nice car. If it were mine the tint would be the first to go. Does everything work on it?

Oh trust me, that tint turned purple will be removed soon enough. I always make sure my cars are mechanically sound before doing cosmetics.

I will post updates and pictures as I go.

layback40 · #5 07-11-2010, 11:16 PM

Welcome to the forum!!!
There are many on here that would be drooling over your car!! You are very lucky, it looks great!!
Time to start reading previous threads on here, its unlikely that you will have a problem that some one hasnt had previously.

Good Luck!!!!!

vstech · #6 07-11-2010, 11:46 PM

them seats are pretty ratty for an 87K vehicle.
be sure it's rust free before you start serious restoration, pull the battery and battery tray and check in the hood spring pockets too.
what'd ya pay for her? find a set of pristine seats, and get her cleaned up well, and it'll pull high $$ on ebay for sure! mind blowing find! congrats.
you also found the best site for information and assistance!

Diesel911 · #7 07-11-2010, 11:59 PM

Check the Rear Trailing arms of the suspension for rust holes. The Steel that they are made of is thicker than you would expect.

Check the Oil Cooler Lines for leaks.

Check the Flex Discs that take the place of U-joints.

Check the CV Boots for cracks or leaks.

The Hoses and Flex Discs going bad can cause damage

JT Burkard · #8 07-12-2010, 10:44 AM

Thanks for the well wishes and advice. The only spot of rust I found was under the battery tray - all surface rust. When I get the car back from Exclusive, I am going to pull the battery again, treat the rust then POR 15 it so it doesn't get worse. The underside of the car is still in amazing shape and still has some of the factory paint on the suspension components. It is not all rusted under there. I have a feeling this was garage kept up until the last few years.

As for the seats being ratty, its still a 27 year old car. If no one ever treated the leather, they will get cracks. I am going to condition them when I get the car back and see how much they come back. I don't think they are that bad in comparison to most of the cars I've seen out there. No rips or tears and they are only showing some wear on the edges. Eventually I will recover them but for now they will do.

vstech - I paid more then scrap price for it but still a good price where there is still some up side when I decide to sell it. I sent it to a specialist to get it reliable and will be spending good money on a quality paint job so my initial price paid will be nothing in comparison to the total invested. For me its all about taking a car on the verge of certain death and breathing new life into it. The satisfaction of knowing this car was going to be junked just because they just had too many cars sitting behind their shop and I had rescued it gives me that warm fuzzy feeling inside. This w123 deserves a new lease on life and I am the person to give it.

ID240D · #9 07-12-2010, 10:53 AM

I am glad you saved it from a certain untimely death!

The car is in great shape and it sounds like it will be a beauty when you get done with it! Look forward to seeing the pictures as the work progresses.

Justin

vstech · #10 07-12-2010, 10:56 AM

oh, those seats are not leather are they? it's hard to tell with a 123, but they appear to be mbtex (vinyl) and it's REALLY hard to crack tex, also the seats all have the faded pink hue that we all affectionately call "pinkamino" because they were originally the light brown color Palomino from MB. my guess is that one cracked seat was parked in direct sunlight for at least a year and it shows it. So you are going to add it to your impressive list of cars you routinely drive? great! nobody needs to see these cars flipped. still, the thought of spending 1K on a car and selling it for 10K is tempting!
glad you are going to give the full deal to the details on the car. also glad there wasn't serious rust under the battery tray.
I have that exact same car in my stable but the battery tray was neglected, and it's eaten through to the cabin, and it's a SERIOUS tough repair job to fix!
Congrats!

barry123400 · #11 07-12-2010, 01:36 PM

Getting to know these cars takes a little. If the upholstery is vinyl the seat bolster being worn through is higher milage. The worn windlace around the entry is another givaway. At 87 K the factory oil change manual with oil changes dated should still be in the dash. The booklet is valid to over one hundred K.

I am not trying to depreciate your find really. Just get to know the car well before pouring money in. Also ask any mercedes dealer to pull any records on the car in their computor. I think all you need is the serial number. This company is far better than most in this regard. Another good indication might be in pulling one of the reporting services records on cars. Not always the information you seek is given. Sometimes enough though to give a solid indication.

Now if the upohlstery is leather forget my comments. Mercedes vinyl is far more durable than the best leather in long term service. Possibly the strongest vinyl seating material in the auto industry. Yet there is still that ratty windlace.

Also this series of cars has the most unreliable odometer readings to depend on of any car on the road. It is so bad a general situation that I discount 95 percent of the cars of this model I see unless there are really positive indicators otherwise. Even then the suspicions remain and I am not paranoid.

Nice rust free examples in the New Jersey area much like were I live are a real upside at the same time. These cars love to rust especially in the rust belt. Mercedes did not invent rusting but it is one area for such an expensive car new they fell way short in that era.

My best guess would be if no past history was given at time of purchase. This car came from the south not that long ago. Or the owners for years wintered in a better climate with that car.

I really hope that I am totally wrong with the milage indications. Welcome to the site.

vstech · #12 07-12-2010, 03:02 PM

taking a second look, I think the seats are indeed leather! Fantastic find! rare in a 123! does it have ABS? it should if they popped for leather! hard to miss the brake octopus on the fenderwell. that wood looks excellent, ya need to take the glove box door apart and reattach the trim there. how does the dash look? glare in the pics keep me from seeing it well.

JT Burkard · #13 07-12-2010, 03:12 PM

I really don't think this car was maintained at the dealership in a long time. As for previous history, I have none. It might be a good idea to Carfax it just to get somewhat of an idea of the previous history. What info I got was the car was giving to the shop owners father a year ago. It was driven there. It was parked and sat and not started until I played with it when I got it in April. I cleaned the car and put a battery in it. At that point the car sat until last week when I dropped it off to the independent Mercedes tech. I had a few other projects that I had to tend to first.

I buy and sell a lot of cars and work full time for a classic car dealership. Just by the general condition of the car, I truly think the miles are correct. I've seen a bunch of these rot to death and interiors in much worse shape. You are probably correct that the interior is MBTex. Inside the trunk and under the carpet is looks practically brand new and it is a solid car.

I understand the warnings you give but I have a pretty good gut feeling this car is true. Time will tell.

Thanks again to everyone for your comments. I value your opinions as this is new ground for me as I mostly know BMW's and this is the first Mercedes I own, but most likely not my last.

Anyone know of a Gullwing sitting around in a field that I can rescue? LOL

vstech · #14 07-12-2010, 03:31 PM

I don't think so. looking at your seats, I think they are leather. mbtex doesn't fail like that seat is cracking. it looks like leather.
as to the gullwing sitting in a field... my father actually found one like that...
in the desert in saudi arabia I think. this was in the late 60's and I think he sold the car for somethin like 20K back then...

JT Burkard · #15 07-12-2010, 03:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vstech

I don't think so. looking at your seats, I think they are leather. mbtex doesn't fail like that seat is cracking. it looks like leather.
as to the gullwing sitting in a field... my father actually found one like that...
in the desert in saudi arabia I think. this was in the late 60's and I think he sold the car for somethin like 20K back then...

When I get the car back, I will double check the seats to see if they are leather or MBTex. You are most likely correct. I was posting at the same time you did and didn't see your post before I posted mine.

When I get the car back, I will check on the octopus on the fenderwell.