Re: [MBZ] Trip report - first drive, Raleigh to Boston
I'll give ya $500 for it! FWIW, my 86 SDL has always been more sensitive to crosswinds than my 200D ever was, and more so than the 123 240D. The most stable car i ever drove was the 200D. I could literally take my hands off the wheel and it would go straight as an arrow. The SDL has been aligned numerous times by different shops. It is something different in the geometry. At 07:21 PM 11/8/2005, you wrote: I find the ride of my new-to-me '90 300D 2.5 to be much stiffer than the 300SDL. Maybe it has Bilstein performance shocks? It's also much more sensitive to cross winds. Perhaps even a bit jumpy - kind of like my MGA was with a dead neutral alignment. It isn't as directionally stable as the SDL. A function of the shorter wheelbase - nah, it's a lot longer than the MGA was.
Re: [MBZ] Trip report - first drive, Raleigh to Boston
OK Don wrote: Nitpicking here, but is it a '93 300D 2.5, or a 300E 2.5? My favorite reference shows the '90 to '93 as 300D 2.5 and the '95 as an E300 Diesel. I find the ride of my new-to-me '90 300D 2.5 to be much stiffer than the 300SDL. Maybe it has Bilstein performance shocks? It's also much more sensitive to cross winds. Perhaps even a bit jumpy - kind of like my MGA was with a dead neutral alignment. It isn't as directionally stable as the SDL. A function of the shorter wheelbase - nah, it's a lot longer than the MGA was. It's a 124.128 300D 2.5. The 124 is a little more nervous or maybe more accurately more responsive than a 126, BUT if the rear links haven't been replaced with the revised ones, 15 year old links will make it REALLY nervous (the rear tires try to steer the car). That WILL make it very sensitive to wind. When things are right its a delight to drive and feels like you're on rails. As to performance or sports shocks - FORGET it. They were only for lowered cars. You MAY have heavy duty shocks (they were NOT stock for US delivered cars - stock for US delivery was comfort shocks), but heavy duty shocks are not fun if you spend a lot of time on the road (my opinion is they are fine for about 15-30 minutes of driving - after that driving becomes really tiring). The WONDERFUL feel of a brand new Mercedes in the US was with comfort shocks! 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
Re: [MBZ] Trip report - first drive, Raleigh to Boston
Loren Faeth wrote: I'll give ya $500 for it! FWIW, my 86 SDL has always been more sensitive to crosswinds than my 200D ever was, and more so than the 123 240D. The most stable car i ever drove was the 200D. I could literally take my hands off the wheel and it would go straight as an arrow. The SDL has been aligned numerous times by different shops. It is something different in the geometry. Needs new differential and subframe mounts. 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
Re: [MBZ] Trip report - first drive, Raleigh to Boston
On the SDL: Rebuilt the rear subframe/mounts control arms last year. Diff mount looks ok, but I didn't change it. Put new bushings in the idler arm recently. I think that helps but have not driven it enough yet to be sure. Loren 87 TD 86 SDL 87 SDL 81 240D 83 380SL 66 200D 66 200D 2.4 and others At 08:10 PM 11/8/2005, you wrote: Loren Faeth wrote: I'll give ya $500 for it! FWIW, my 86 SDL has always been more sensitive to crosswinds than my 200D ever was, and more so than the 123 240D. The most stable car i ever drove was the 200D. I could literally take my hands off the wheel and it would go straight as an arrow. The SDL has been aligned numerous times by different shops. It is something different in the geometry. Needs new differential and subframe mounts. 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 ___ For new parts see official list sponsor: http://www.buymbparts.com/ For used parts email [EMAIL PROTECTED] To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://striplin.net/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_striplin.net
Re: [MBZ] Trip report - first drive, Raleigh to Boston
Lee, The car has ASR - electronic traction control, which also acts as electronic limited-slip diff by applying the brake to the spinning wheel. Gas cars have ASR, diesels have ASD (which is a mechanical setup and TOTALLY different.) The ASR, with good snow tires, should make the car just peachy in the snow. Toss some weight in the trunk if necessary. The '93 is a nice car, the M104 engine makes adequate power (at least in 3.2L form - HUGE improvement over the anemic M103 powerplants.) The suspension is squishy in stock form. You can correct that with factory Sportline parts. I've got almost the entire Sportline package on my car (with a few tweaks) and believe me, it drives a lot more like a BMW now. At a minimum I'd put the Sportline swaybars on it (or what I call 'Sportline Plus', which is even larger bars.) Wider wheels/tires are surprisingly cheap from W202/203/208/210 donor cars and really help with the wallowy sidewalls (195/65 tires are a joke, IMO - note that MB has nothing remotely close to those specs on current vehicles!) :-) Best regards, Dave M. -- Date: Tue, 8 Nov 2005 16:47:59 -0500 From: Lee Levitt [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [MBZ] Trip report - first drive, Raleigh to Boston So I flew down to Raleigh on Saturday to retrive my new '93 300E td. Next time, please remind me to buy a car from an enthusiast, not a lady who doesn't know how to service a car properly. Service records were spotty, from 3 different shops. /bitch mode The trip was entirely uneventful, aside from a minor issue with the cig lighter. I saw one cop between Raleigh and Boston. It was a beautiful day for a drive, although the route was somewhat boring. I didn't get right on 95...instead, I headed west and picked up 85, which met up with 95 in VA. There was some traffic in the DC area, most of it heading south. I don't remember having driven past the Pentagon before, and the sight of it brought back powerful memories of September 11. My best friend worked on Wall Street and I couldn't reach him for 3 days afterwards... So it's a nice car. It *does* have heated seats and I think it has an antislip differential (ASD). *Something* kicked in and gave me a warning on the dash when I fishtailed on some wet leaves. So I'm pretty sure it does have ASD. It does have an idiot light marked ASD at the bottom of the IC, and a separate warning light in the tach that illuminated that one time. It also has a couple of good sized door dings and a crinkle in the rf fender, all of which *may* be removable by a good dentwizard. Tires are shot, failed inspection today because they're so bad...and to think I cruised 700 miles on them averaging 80...I'll be replacing them next week with a set of 4 Nokian RSi snow tires. Anyone need a set of OE freshly painted 15 stock wheels with bad tires? Good solid car overall. *Really* soft, I was surprised how soft the suspension is. Runs pretty good, seems to have good power. I averaged 34 mpg from Raleigh to Boston, running at about 75-80 the whole way! CD changer is screwed -- it goes silent every so often and then comes back...but it still reads the cd and track on the radio. One of the stop lights is out, and it's not the bulb. The previous owner had one of the taillight consoles replaced a couple of weeks ago...looks like the other one shit the bed. sigh When I got in the car in Raleigh, I plugged in my CB, my V1 and my portable Nav (Garmin Quest 2)...then I found that the cigarette lighter had no power. I drove for a while deaf, dumb and blind, then found that some other things weren't working either. So I pulled over, found the fuse box and found that a fuse was blown. Doh. Replaced it and everything came back. The car is a long legged runner...it really eats up the miles. Comfortable too. I've got a set of euro lamps coming from ebay.de for $150. I'm pretty sure they're Bosch OEM...which will help at night. Stock lighting sucks. My mechanic, who owned an '88 300E for a long while, said that these things *really* suck in the snow...even with good snow tires. I'm putting a set of Nokians on next week...hopefully he's wrong, but we'll see. If it really is that bad, I'll pick up a cheap quattro for winter use. Anyway, I'm enjoying tooling around in this beast...it's quite different from anything I've owned before, except perhaps my old Volvo 122S with 60K miles on it...I think it feels a bit like that... By the way, my last car was an '02 Audi A6 quattro wagon with a sport suspension and 17 wheels, and the car before that was a '95 Audi S6 avant (lowered, Bilsteins, 17 wheels, etc). So I'm not really used to soft suspensions... Lee '93 300E 2.5L td 178K
Re: [MBZ] Trip report - first drive, Raleigh to Boston
OK Don writes: Nitpicking here, but is it a '93 300D 2.5, or a 300E 2.5? My favorite reference shows the '90 to '93 as 300D 2.5 and the '95 as an E300 Diesel. Sorry, I'm confused. My car is a diesel, so it's a '93 300D 2.5, not an E as I was reporting earlier. I thought that the 300E referred to body style... Lee '93 300D 2.5L td 178K
Re: [MBZ] Trip report - first drive, Raleigh to Boston
Dave writes: The car has ASR - electronic traction control, which also acts as electronic limited-slip diff by applying the brake to the spinning wheel. Gas cars have ASR, diesels have ASD (which is a mechanical setup and TOTALLY different.) My car is a diesel, so it's a '93 300D 2.5, not an E as I was reporting earlier. I thought that the 300E referred to body style... The suspension is squishy in stock form. You can correct that with factory Sportline parts. I've got almost the entire Sportline package on my car (with a few tweaks) and believe me, it drives a lot more like a BMW now. At a minimum I'd put the Sportline swaybars on it (or what I call 'Sportline Plus', which is even larger bars.) Wider wheels/tires are surprisingly cheap from W202/203/208/210 donor cars and really help with the wallowy sidewalls (195/65 tires are a joke, IMO - note that MB has nothing remotely close to those specs on current vehicles!) I've got 16 wheels for the spring, will choose some appropriate tires at that time. For now I'm going to run 196/65 15 snow tires on AMG (flat face) wheels. What's a good source for the Sportline bars? I'm *not* going to lower this car or otherwise change springs/shocks. (course I have said that before and did it anyway...) Lee '93 300D 2.5L td 178K
Re: [MBZ] Trip report - first drive, Raleigh to Boston
Hi Lee, AH, I see... that was confusing, which is why Mercedes mercifully fixed their naming convention in 1995. Your car would properly be an E250. But I digress. Having ASD is wonderful - you have limited slip diff, that will 100% lock under hydraulic pressure when the system deems it necessary. The sway bars are a 'dealer' item. Give Rusty a call for current pricing. Specs, part numbers, and old pricing are here: http://www.w124performance.com/docs/mb/W124/124_swaybar_specs.pdf http://www.w124performance.com/docs/mb/W124/124_swaybar_prices.pdf If the front control arm, or rear subframe, bushings ever need replacement you can install the Sportline parts instead. These are much stiffer rubber than the squishy stock stuff. Lowering the car about 1 inch (about equal to factory Sportline specs) is just about perfect, though. Measured from the bottom of fender lip to wheel center, I like about 14.0-14.25 inches front rear (with a full tank of fuel). Stock is usually 15.0, give or take a bit. The Sportline steering box steering wheel are also nice - faster ratio and smaller diameter, respectively. :-) -- Dave M. Boise, ID 1994 E500 - 95kmi (Q-ship) 1987 300D - 260kmi (Sportline) -- Date: Wed, 9 Nov 2005 07:49:30 -0500 From: Lee Levitt [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [MBZ] Trip report - first drive, Raleigh to Boston Dave writes: The car has ASR - electronic traction control, which also acts as electronic limited-slip diff by applying the brake to the spinning wheel. Gas cars have ASR, diesels have ASD (which is a mechanical setup and TOTALLY different.) My car is a diesel, so it's a '93 300D 2.5, not an E as I was reporting earlier. I thought that the 300E referred to body style... The suspension is squishy in stock form. You can correct that with factory Sportline parts. I've got almost the entire Sportline package on my car (with a few tweaks) and believe me, it drives a lot more like a BMW now. At a minimum I'd put the Sportline swaybars on it (or what I call 'Sportline Plus', which is even larger bars.) Wider wheels/tires are surprisingly cheap from W202/203/208/210 donor cars and really help with the wallowy sidewalls (195/65 tires are a joke, IMO - note that MB has nothing remotely close to those specs on current vehicles!) I've got 16 wheels for the spring, will choose some appropriate tires at that time. For now I'm going to run 196/65 15 snow tires on AMG (flat face) wheels. What's a good source for the Sportline bars? I'm *not* going to lower this car or otherwise change springs/shocks. (course I have said that before and did it anyway...) Lee '93 300D 2.5L td 178K
Re: [MBZ] Trip report - first drive, Raleigh to Boston
Sorry do you have a diesel or a gasser here? Either way, 34 mpg is great! Jeff Zedic Toronto 87 300TD 83 300D
Re: [MBZ] Trip report - first drive, Raleigh to Boston
Jeff, '93 300E 2.5L turbodiesel I wonder if I'll get better fuel economy if I don't push it... Lee -Original Message- From: Jeff Zedic [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Tuesday, November 08, 2005 4:58 PM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; Mercedes mailing list Subject: Re: [MBZ] Trip report - first drive, Raleigh to Boston Sorry do you have a diesel or a gasser here? Either way, 34 mpg is great! Jeff Zedic Toronto 87 300TD 83 300D
Re: [MBZ] Trip report - first drive, Raleigh to Boston
Lee Levitt wrote: Jeff, '93 300E 2.5L turbodiesel I wonder if I'll get better fuel economy if I don't push it... I've found very little difference with turbodiesels. They are optimized for higher engine speeds. The normally aspirated models get better mileage when driven in the 40-55 mph range and that drops dramatically as speeds exceed about 65-70 mph. If you're getting 34 mpg on the highway, that's absolutely normal. Best I've ever done with my 190D 2.5t (same engine in a car that weighs at most 5% less) is ~38 mpg, but 33-34 is much more usual. As winter fuel becomes the norm, fuel economy WILL drop (10-15%). 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
