1979 Mercedes-Benz W123 240D 2.4 diesel from North America
Summary:
The best car I've ever owned!
Faults:
At 240,000 miles the vacuum system began to leak causing the automatic door locks to not work, the cruise control to fail, and eventually the engine to not shut-off. It became necessary to shut the engine off under the hood.
The fuel lines clogged after allowing it to run completely out of fuel.
A/C failed after approximately 220,000 miles.
Leaked oil excessively after about 200,000 miles.
The front seats eventually began to lose their straw-like stuffing into the rear floorboard.
General Comments:
What a car!
This car is a tank! You can't kill it even when you try.
This car is absolutely remarkable, and remarkably slow. It's 0-60 MPH time is over 19 seconds. So it's definitely not the modern AMG hotrod Mercedes of today. It does however have a great running gear and will run at 90+ MPH all day long, even with it's 60 something horsepower. The interior of this car is luxurious and comfortable, trimmed in wood and chrome. It has an old fashioned sense of luxury and charm that can no longer be found in todays high-end cars.
This car does something to your soul. It becomes like a member of your family. I sold this car at 275,000 miles and the last time I saw it (2 years later) it was running liike new. This was the best car I've ever owned. If you find one with low mileage, jump at the opportunity to own one of these machines.
Would you buy another car from this manufacturer? Yes
Review Date: 23rd February, 2005
13th Oct 2009, 13:00
Sounds good! I just bought a 1978 240D automatic with only 89,000 miles, it was a little old lady's car. Also I think the 0-60 time is more like 23-25 seconds, with the 240. I am not sure how yours went 90mph? The owners manual says top speed 83mph.
19th Apr 2011, 21:27
I have a 79 240d and plan on keeping her. A quart per eighty miles... Burning it. Lotsa oil smoke on deceleration, in gear. 60 plus and she burns more. If I keep her on the side roads, she'll burn less. Runs amazingly good and fires right up in the coldest temps that are here so far, and that's in the low 30s, which isn't that cold, granted.
I would sure like to find a 300d engine and do a swap...
Drives like a couch, and will darned near turn any turn at top speed!
Bug splats on the rear wind screen.
Don't know if I could drive her daily if I lived in San Francisco, you know??
This car is designed to be worked on, and it shows. You must maintain these cars! Someone let mine get low on oil too many times and that shot the rings and scorched a couple of the cam lobes... Noticed that when I did a valve job..
Looking forward to 100,000 more miles of oil burning cruising!
8th Apr 2006, 23:54
Good review. I'm sorry that yours was an automatic. That must have been painfully slow. Ours was a manual, and it was slow enough. Great car though, tremendously reliable and it was fun to own, ride in, and drive.