Just thought I'd share an observation on 123's with the forum. I live in Avondale. One of the western suburbs of Phoenix. Recently I've noticed quite an uptick in the number of 123's floating around here. There are two 240D's almost identical to mine I see on my commute fairly regularly and over the last month I've seen several more in "single sightings', just yesterday found a 123 300TD near my work and a gorgeous 300D, dark brown metallic. Then last week I was sitting at a light when a mint 240D drove across the intesection. Sort of orangey brown color with dark window tint and the windows were up. Indicating a true unicorn, ie, a vintage Mercedes with functioning AC. Including my car that would mean at least seven 123's in a fairly small localized area.

- Peter.

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2021 Chevrolet Spark
Formerly...
2000 GMC Sonoma
1981 240D 4spd stick. 347000 miles. Deceased Feb 14 2021
2002 Kia Rio. Worst crap on four wheels
1981 240D 4spd stick. 389000 miles.
1984 123 200
1979 116 280S
1972 Cadillac Sedan DeVille
1971 108 280S

? Well ;

Diesel engines thrive on heat (compression ignition ya know ) so HOTazona makes sense for them to be happy there .

Same as old air cooled VW's : an endless supply of FREE coolant ! .

Of course, Hot Rodding any air cooled VW negates this aspect .
Back to W123's ~ ? they don't have functioning AC ? why not ? .

My Coupe and 240D's AC are nice and cool, last weekend I enjoyed 42* F air blowing out my coupe's dash vents, at the ceiling it was 72* F, nice and comfy and dry .

Hopefully your local hipster jerkhoffs won't buy them up and run them all into the ground like they did in La La Land .

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-Nate
1982 240D 408,XXX miles
Ignorance is the mother of suspicion and fear is the father

I did then what I knew how to do ~ now that I know better I do better

123 sightings are becoming very rare around here. Still a few around probably being driven by Purdue students.

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

Aside from my 240D I haven't seen another W123 on the road here in Delaware in at least 6 months.

East coast w123 sightings are always rare. Though when it does happen, the drivers always wave.

My r107 gets that type of love out here in SoCal. They're starting to get rarer which is sad.

I've noticed a lot of W116s suddenly, too--many of them 300SDs. The downside to a lot of the old diesels is many of them have the dreaded automatic climate control which is complicated to work on and costs a lot of money to fix, and down here it's insane to not have working air conditioning--and not just that, but GOOD air conditioning--so I think a lot of them got junked down here just for that reason.

Also, I remember when I lived in Washington, it seemed that every other car was an old Mercedes, and many of them were Euro-spec.

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Stop paying for animal enslavement, cruelty, and slaughter. Save your health and the planet. Go vegan! I did 18 years ago. https://challenge22.com/

DON'T MESS WITH MY MERCEDES!


1967 W110 Universal Wagon, Euro, Turbo Diesel, Tail Fins, 4 Speed Manual Column Shift, A/C
1980 W116 300SD Turbo Diesel, DB479 Walnut Brown, Sunroof, Highly Optioned, 350,000+ Miles

Yes, AC is important because the fresh air venting in these cars wasn't great .

The W123's had passable fresh air venting but the W116's were assumed to be bought by rich folks who'd of course expect the windows up always and forever .

My first and second 300CD's were Klima I equipped and bad, really bad so I took the time to teach my self how to test, diagnose and repair them, it's a fiddly job but do - able and once finished it was like a meat locker inside much to my enjoyment .

I sold that car during a heat wave and they guy who came from up North was amazed when I picked him up at the air port, he was soaked through his shirt in the 110* F temp and inside my Coupe it was a balmy and dry 65* f .

Sadly, the design aspects of the wretched EVIL SERVO FROM HELL is such that even once you've bought one with an aluminum body (can't crack & leak out all your coolant, yay !) you still have to be right on top of the cooling system all the time, allowing it to sit for the shortest time will likely cause the servo to jamb again, this fries the little ($!) amplifier behind the glove box and the downward cascade begins anew .

When working it's as good as anything GM (and NO ONE does AC like The General !) ever made .

There were digital up grade systems, I have one salted away God alone knows where, I never id install it .

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-Nate
1982 240D 408,XXX miles
Ignorance is the mother of suspicion and fear is the father

I did then what I knew how to do ~ now that I know better I do better

And here I thought Central phx had the most concentrated w123s in the city. I drove a 76 w115 240D with a poorly converted r134a A/C system in Phoenix for two years before I couldn’t take it anymore. The 560SEL I had last summer had a properly converted system and did surprisingly well.

Yeah, the evil automatic climate control and servo--that's why I ripped out all that nonsense and did a full conversion (including the wire harness) to manual climate control. It was a huge job, but it's going to be SO MUCH easier to maintain and repair, and it blows nice and cold running a Sanden, parallel-flow condenser, larger fan, and R-12. I took no shortcuts, did the job the best possible way, and it paid off. Driving my car through seven Arizona summers without air conditioning was brutal.

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Stop paying for animal enslavement, cruelty, and slaughter. Save your health and the planet. Go vegan! I did 18 years ago. https://challenge22.com/

DON'T MESS WITH MY MERCEDES!


1967 W110 Universal Wagon, Euro, Turbo Diesel, Tail Fins, 4 Speed Manual Column Shift, A/C
1980 W116 300SD Turbo Diesel, DB479 Walnut Brown, Sunroof, Highly Optioned, 350,000+ Miles

Well hell ;

In seven years you could have rebuilt it twice and had blue lips & fingers whenever it was working...... .

Really, once it's working the Klima I / Air Temp II HVAC system is wonderful ~ incredible really .

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-Nate
1982 240D 408,XXX miles
Ignorance is the mother of suspicion and fear is the father

I did then what I knew how to do ~ now that I know better I do better

There are at least 10 W123's within walking distance of my house and several are super nice, there are a ton of them in this area of So. Cal.

The AC in ours works too, but the fuse blows if I turn the fan up to III LOL.

It's always fun to see them on the road.

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1981 240D Four on the floor, Orient Red over Parchment, bought with 154,000 but it's a daily driver and up to 180,000 miles, mostly original paint and all original interior.