My new (to me) $1,500 '05 E320 CDI

[ROLLGUY]

Thanks to RunningTooHot for giving me the heads up on the CL alert thread, I picked up this '05 E320 CDI today for the asking price of $1,500!

It does have a CEL, and is in limp mode, but I was able to drive it the 100 miles home with no issues. I was told it has a turbo issue, and I suspect it has a bad turbo positioner. The repair for me to do is less than $200. I have to say, this is the nicest, most well equipped $1,500 car I have ever purchased. A list of options: Dynamic seats, heated AND cooled seats, back seat side and rear window sun shades, Excellant custom wheels and almost new tires, trailer hitch, pass through rear seat and "ski bag", wood steering wheel. There may be more that I might have missed. The interior would be about a 9+ if the front seat bottoms were re-upholstered. The exterior has a couple small dings- nothing that PDR would not fix. The clear coat and paint is coming off in a couple spots (rear spoiler and top of rear DS door), but other than that the paint is nice. Once I get the turbo problem fixed, I can get it smogged and on the road! YAY!

EDIT: I forgot, it also is equipped with Keyless-Go!

[chronometers]

Nice ride. What error codes is it showing?

[SonnyMorrow]

Awesome! Some people simply get fed up with their cars and sell them for a super low price. When in reality, it might not even be too hard to fix all of the car's issues. Good luck though, and update this thread as you progress on it.

[biopete]

Score! Nice job. How does engine look ? How many miles? Im loving my 3500 one from Jim. I pointed it out to a coworker today and she said “thats not your car. “. I said yes it is. Unlocked it. Showed it to her. I said “guess how much i paid ? “. She said “40k “.

Lol. People that are not car people dont know how old it is.

[GregMN]

It looks like there is a button for the headlight washers, but the bumper cover has been changed out from a car w/o the washers. Let me know the VIN and I will post the build sheet.

[ROLLGUY]

Originally Posted by biopete

Score! Nice job. How does engine look ? How many miles? Im loving my 3500 one from Jim. I pointed it out to a coworker today and she said “thats not your car. “. I said yes it is. Unlocked it. Showed it to her. I said “guess how much i paid ? “. She said “40k “.

Lol. People that are not car people dont know how old it is.

255,000 miles. That seems like a lot, but it appears to have been serviced well. It looks like there was "Black Death" at one time, but not now. It seemed to get decent MPG for the 100 mile trip home. Once I get the turbo fixed, I will see what kind of power it has. I have driven two others, so I have an idea what to expect........Rich

[ROLLGUY]

Originally Posted by chronometers

Nice ride. What error codes is it showing?

I have not had a chance to scan for DTC's yet. I will post them when I find out what's there.

[ROLLGUY]

Originally Posted by GregMN

It looks like there is a button for the headlight washers, but the bumper cover has been changed out from a car w/o the washers. Let me know the VIN and I will post the build sheet.

The car does have a salvage title, and it looks like some front end body work was done (very nice job though). I will get the VIN to you tomorrow. Thanks, Rich

[GregMN]

The washers came with the active curve bi-xenon headlights. The best headlights I have ever had.

[vwnate1]

Congratulations Rich ! .

[ykobayashi]

What a Score! It seems like yesterday when I read about the release of the CDI and it’s $60k price tag.

Wow, simply wow.

There was one recently on the SoCal Craigslist for less than $4k. I guess people are getting scared of fixing them?

I noticed some videos and websites coming up on DIY repairs to SBC pumps. Kind of tempting.

I just bought an 85 300d over the weekend for $1400 for comparison. Amazing a CDI for that kind of money. Cool beans!

[ROLLGUY]

Originally Posted by ykobayashi

What a Score! It seems like yesterday when I read about the release of the CDI and it’s $60k price tag.

Wow, simply wow.

There was one recently on the SoCal Craigslist for less than $4k. I guess people are getting scared of fixing them?

I noticed some videos and websites coming up on DIY repairs to SBC pumps. Kind of tempting.

I just bought an 85 300d over the weekend for $1400 for comparison. Amazing a CDI for that kind of money. Cool beans!

I have been seeing the overall prices on CDI's decreasing since I first found out about them a couple years ago. Even cars with 150K average miles on them are getting much more affordable. It seems that as the price of Diesel increases, the availability of good cars goes up, and the prices go down.

[moon161]

It's amazing how cheap some good stuff can be. A volvo C70, recent main seal, bushings, throttle unit, bike rack, tailgunner seats, beautiful shape, went fast at 1500 by me.

[RunningTooHot]

Congratulations!
I'm really glad to see that you were able to grab it before anyone else did. I'd be hard pressed to think of a better home for it!

(Am I now in some twisted way construed to be it's godfather? )

[97 SL320]

Originally Posted by ROLLGUY

The car does have a salvage title,

Just for accuracy, a salvage title is what one gets when a car is deemed damaged beyond economical retail repair by an insurance company.

A reconstructed title is what one gets once the car has been repaired and inspected.

The public tends to run away from " R " title cars depressing market value. However, they can be a good value to someone that knows the cars, what to look for and is going to run the car until it is junk.

Regardless, you might be able to determine when the car was crashed and repaired by looking at issue dates. The DMV might be able to offer a history as well.