1987 Mercedes Benz 300D Arctic White 4dr Burgundy Interior 301k miles Runs Great

Description

1987 Mercedes Benz 300D 603 Turbo Diesel 124 Chassis For Sale

Inline Turbo Charged 6 Cylinder, Automatic, 4 Door Sedan, Arctic White, Burgundy Interior 302,xxx Miles

Car is located in south central Pennsylvania, almost equidistant from Baltimore, DC, Philly & Pittsburgh. Easiest airport is probably BWI, about 2.5 hours. Amtrak goes through Martinsburg 1.5 hours to the south & Huntingdon 1 hour to the north.

I’m switching to a 4x4 truck & no longer need this car. I bought this car in ‘97 or ‘98. It spent its first decade ferrying a St. Paul executive. It’s been a terrific daily driver for the better part of 20 years.

It did a stint in grad school (‘08-’09) with one of my kids. After grad school it had become cosmetically challenged due to lack of attention, rust started. It still drives true & steady & runs well, reliably making an 800 mile round trip every month or two. Fuel economy is 30+ mpg. It needs or will need front brake pads & rotors soon. The brake vacuum booster has most likely failed. It will stop quickly, requires extra pedal pressure. I’ll go into more detail in a bit.

Including this one, I’ve owned 3 ‘87 300D, 1 ‘87 300TD, 3 ‘83 300D, 1 ‘83 300TD, 1 ‘82 240D 4 speed. I consider myself a knowledgeable, experienced hobbyist on the above list. When I got this car I joined a Benz diesel list & went through the recommended maintenance & updates.

Soon after I got the car I made sure the catalytic converter had been replaced, it had. I replaced all the fuses, vacuum pump, manifold gaskets, fuel return hoses, glow plugs, serpentine belt, idler pulley, spring, hood sound pad, a bunch of vacuum hose fittings, repacked wheel bearings, replaced front brakes & rotors, replaced brake fluid, drained & cleaned the cooling system, used Benz diesel anti-freeze & replaced cooling system hoses & overflow tank & cap, disassembled, cleaned & lubed the sun roof. The alternator was rebuilt. All good.

All filters were changed, torque converter drained, all lubricants replaced with Mobil 1 synthetics. This car has been on Mobil 1 synthetic lubricants for about 225,000 miles with regular filter & fluid changes, including the transmission.

Following the engine, transmission & brakes, I started at the front bumper & worked to the rear, replacing torsion bar with sport version, ball joints, tie rods, idler arm, drag link, front struts, spring cushions, strut dampers, motor & transmission mounts, drive shaft connectors, carrier bearing & bushing, differential mounts, all rear suspension arms/rods, every rubber bushing, grommet & exhaust system donuts, rear shocks, steel brake & fuel lines, flexible brake hoses, rubber fuel lines. Dealership did 4 wheel alignment. Rides & drives very nicely!

During grad school the radiator was replaced. Tires were replaced with a set of Michelins about 40k miles back, about 40% remaining. Glow plugs & fuel return hoses were replaced 4 years ago. Steel transmission line up over the radiator was replaced a couple years ago. Around that time a couple injector lines wore into each other, replaced them out of a spare set I had, the rest along with some filters & dozens of other parts come with the car. Last fall I replaced the strut top bushings.

Starting at the front bumper. One of the headlight lenses has a rock ding, headlights, parking lights, right & left, fog lights & hazard flashers all work. Battery (‘06 or ‘07) is pretty old now, still starts first try in the winter. At 10F I glow it twice, 30-35 seconds each & it starts, runs rough for 10-15 seconds & then smooths out. It would start first try at -10F with 2-3 hours of block heater. At 45F & above it starts with a 10-15 second glow. Did a diesel purge treatment a couple years ago, it could use new or rebuilt injectors, one sounded like it was passing a kidney stone for a while & then smoothed back out.

There’s rust ahead of & behind the front wheels. The cooling system works, temps will climb going up a steep grade or in stop & go traffic. It comes back down quickly once over the grade. I thought about wiring up the electric fan to kick on but didn’t. In stop & go I’ll flip the defrosters on to pull the temp down. I was told the aluminum head won’t tolerate over-heating & I’ve never pushed it. The big, single wiper blade was replaced this Spring. Windshield has never been replaced & shows some pitting, sandblasting, no cracks or bullseyes.

Driver & Passenger power windows & switches work. Driver’s window is slow in cold weather. Power seats work. No idea anymore on the seat heaters. Dashlights work, dim as always. Cruise never worked, I didn’t care. Power steering works quietly, nice feel to it. After market Sony my grad student installed works, power antenna does not. SRS (airbag) & ABS (anti-lock brake system) lights stay on as they pretty much have since day 1. In cold weather the temperature sensor fan behind the glove compartment howls for a couple minutes & then quiets down.

The climate control system (term used loosely) works for heat. No A/C ‘cuz I didn’t care. Blower & speed control were replaced way back when the silly speed control took out the motor. The vacuum controlled dash dampers are a no go. You get good defrost or heat or outside air blowing out of the vents near the front windows. No feet heat.

The sunroof still tilts up, I’ve chosen not to tempt fate & retract it. It’s been a long time since I cleaned & lubed it. The drivers seat has been sat on for 300k miles & eh, it’s okay. I’ve had a sheepskin cover for a long time, it works.

The rear seat windows don’t work, they used to & the switches are good I think, so it’s probably a broken wire. The rear window defroster works, yayyy!

After grad school I didn’t do the tlc & detailing I once did. Worse, the car was made to be a tool box & materials carrier to the detriment of the interior. No horrible, embarrassing rips, but lots of scuffs & dings. The dash now has a couple 1” long cracks forming from 30 years of sun exposure. The rear window deck is sun bleached.

The jack points are really rusted. There is a jack under the spare that I never thought was a good idea to use even when the jack points weren’t rusty. Don’t think the spare has ever been used.

Nice roomy trunk. Many years ago I had a welding shop add a 1500lb 1 1/4” receiver hitch mount so I could pull light trailers. There’s a high school parking lot dinger passenger rear under the taillight. The rear vertical of the trunk is rusty under the license plate.

This car has been to the Grand Canyon, the Black Hills, to Canada & into Maine & down to the Florida Keys. It’s 30 years of age & has 300k miles on it. It’s sold as is with the best information I can provide. It has been the least expensive, best driving car I’ve ever owned. My kids named it “Eleanor” after the car from “Gone in 60 seconds”.

I was told Mercedes didn’t import very many of this model, maybe 5,000 or so. Many people see it & are surprised at its age, it still looks modern enough. Sorry I didn’t try harder to keep it looking nice, I do think it has good miles left, safely & with reasonable reliability.

If you decide to buy it please pay for it promptly. I’m flexible to meetup for a fly in, drive home. Most of my fleet went to other states & we worked that out. If you want to call with questions, use (860) 245-1268, leave a message & I’ll call you back.

I’ve got a 100+ photo album collection on google photos that I can send a link to.