Bill Aston wrote:
I agree with all of the caution flags shown so far. BUT, having had
the opportunity to ride a long distance with a friend who owned such
a car, I must believe that it represents the very best possible
combination of a superb ride with an economical power source. It
would be a wonderful car to own....with a new Mercedes engine.
Bill Aston
Fort Lauderdale
1983 380 SEC
Setting aside reliability issues, all of the "S" class cars gas and
diesel (116, 126 AND 140) were WONDERFUL to ride in and to drive. The
owners of 126 and 140 diesels as a group, had NO significant criticism
of the cars EXCEPT for the engine problem and most said that if Mercedes
would simply FIX the engine, they would be happy! That included people
that had, had to replace the AC evaporator and people that had, had
wiring harness problems.
All things considered, the '86-87 300SDLs remains the best value if a
super highway car is what you need (even with the potential head problem
- fewer than 20% have required replacement heads and the cost is a LOT
less than a replacement engine). The later cars, while offering
improvements have a MUCH higher failure rate and when they DO fail, the
costs to correct the problems are MUCH higher.
A '90s 126 or 140 diesel with a MERCEDES replacement engine could be a
great value.
Marshall
--
Marshall Booth (who doesn't respond to unsigned questions)
"der Dieseling Doktor" [EMAIL PROTECTED]
'87 300TD 182Kmi, '84 190D 2.2 229Kmi, '85 190D 2.0 161Kmi, '87 190D 2.5
turbo 237kmi
