Yesterday’s Autopian Asks question about the world’s toughest cars reminded me that I had seen a couple of old diesel Mercedes-Benzes for sale for cheap earlier in the week, so I went back to see if they were still available. They are, so now you have to choose between them.
Our choices yesterday were a Pontiac Bonneville with some obnoxious visual mods and a Hummer H3 that couldn’t help being obnoxious no matter what you do to it. In a close contest, the Bonneville came out the winner, but many of you said you would probably de-chicken it. A lot of you wanted to yank the red seat covers out of the Hummer, too.
Silly graphics are one thing on a $1,000 car, but on an otherwise nice and low-mileage near-classic like that Bonneville, it’s just tacky. Unless there’s a good story behind it. But at that price, I think – and I can’t believe I’m saying this – I’d rather have the Hummer. I would of course remove all the aftermarket stuff, and find more suitable wheels and tires, but I think it has good bones.
A few years back, I went through a phase where I really, really wanted an old Mercedes diesel. I looked at a few, but I never did pull the trigger. I still think about it from time to time. I like the idea of a car built to a standard, not to a price, and simple diesels might be the most future-proof cars around. They’re getting up there in age, though, and to some degree they’ve been discovered by the classic car community. Now might be the time to act. Let’s check out a couple of them.
1980 Mercedes-Benz 300SD – $2,900
Engine/drivetrain: Turbocharged 3.0-liter diesel OHC inline 5, four-speed automatic, RWD
Location: Gaston, OR
Odometer reading: 134,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives well
Flagship models are supposed to represent the best of what a manufacturer can do, and I don’t think any flagship has ever done it better than the Mercedes S-Class. Even now, when Mercedes-Benz is more interested in putting video games in its cars than in making a car last decades, the S-Class has a presence that few cars can match. An old flagship like this, pushing fifty years old and well past its prime, isn’t going to impress anyone. But it’s still a well-made, durable ride.
The W116-chassis S-Class was available with a few different inline six and V8 engines, but in North America and Japan, you could also get it with a five-cylinder turbodiesel. This engine is famous for its reliability and durability, and has found its way into other vehicles including off-roaders. The seller acknowledges this, and even says that if you only want this car for the engine, they’ll buy the rest back from you after you pull it. But it does run and drive great as it sits, so I think yanking the engine would be a shame. This is a million-mile car if you treat it right.
The interior is in really nice shape, and by the way, this is leather, not M-B Tex. This is an S-Class, not some mere W123. The seller does say that some of the power windows need repair, but they’re willing to help you fix it. There’s no mention of the HVAC controls, which are sometimes a problem with these older Mercedes models. Best to ask questions, and try stuff out.
I don’t know what the hell is going on with the paint job. It looks like it may have had a two-tone paint job as part of a fleet or something, but then why isn’t it the same on both sides? It is kind of unique, I guess, but if you wanted to repaint or wrap it so it’s all one color, no one would blame you.
1984 Mercedes-Benz 190D 2.2 – $3,800
Engine/drivetrain: 2.2-liter diesel OHC inline 4, four-speed automatic, RWD
Location: Portland, OR
Odometer reading: 362,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives well
From the largest Mercedes of its time, we move to the smallest. The W201 chassis was introduced in 1982 in Europe, and two years later in the US. This car replaced the long-running 240D here, and it was a huge step forward in technology and refinement, but still built like a tank.
This car is powered by a 2.2-liter version of the new-for-1984 OM601 four-cylinder diesel, which replaced the old OM616 in the 240D. It’s a little more powerful than the older engine, but not by much; it makes just 72 horsepower and 96 pound-feet of torque. Acceleration is as gradual as you’d expect, but you should try not to be in a hurry anyway. It has a ton of miles on it, but the seller says it still runs and drives great.
The interior is in pretty good shape, but there is some wear and cracking on the driver’s seat. The seller says that the driver’s window doesn’t work, and neither does the left rear door lock. The seller says one of the reasons they’re selling it is that it has “no A/C.” And I think they mean it; it really doesn’t have it. Can you imagine a Mercedes-Benz that didn’t come with air conditioning? It would never happen today.
European luxury cars in the 1980s really embraced the earth-tones. This brown was pretty common on these cars. It is losing some clearcoat, but aside from that, it looks good. There’s no rust on it, and I don’t see much in the way of dings and dents either. It does have one cracked front turn signal lens, which is probably an eBay thing, unless you get lucky and find a W201 in a junkyard.
Yeah, they’re old, and slow, and probably not as safe as modern cars. But I think you’d be hard-pressed to find anything better built than these two for the price. Take care of them, keep them clean to keep the rust at bay, and they might outlast you. Which one would you rather be stuck with for years to come?
The 190 is why MBZ even continues to exist.
Look at the difference between those cars. One is an old crock that makes you glad “they don’t build ’em like they used to,” while the other was such a modernization of the practice that it’s still pretty contemporary.
There’s at least a decade and maybe more than 15 years between the basic development of these cars and it really shows.
The 1960s origin of the W116 make it a bit of a charming, but flawed antique by 1980. All the Euros were in the same boat at that time. The Volvo 240 was based on a car that began development in the very early 1960s with running gear dating well into the 50s. The E21 3-Series was a Neue Klasse revision; again, a 60s throwback.
“Built to a standard” is a smokescreen (haha … diesel… see what I did there?) to obscure the fact that they were desperately trying to engineer their way around an antique platform. And that gets expensive. Yes, a well built car. But outmoded, as well. Fiddly to build, and there were better ways by the ’80s.
The 190 is FULL of innovation. It’s more “built to a price,” I will grant, but its modernity wins out. The state of the art had been pushed. Simple details like the sealed engine bay for better thermal management (and higher engine temps for better efficiency), parts reduction to make assemblies simpler, lighter, and more reliable, a logical electrical architecture, and even simply the advantages of packaging and layout that came from use of CAD tools.
It all paid off in a great car that was cheaper to build, cheaper to buy, no less durable, way more efficient, and of course a lot more profitable.
And I didn’t even mention the pinnacle of ergonomic practices the interior represents.
This car opened up the MB brand for a lot of people, too.
So yeah – keep your olde worlde battleship. 190 is it.
That S-class is barely even warmed up. That’s a car with moon-and-back mileage capability, and for funsies with just a few simple mods you can run them on used fryer grease.
Seriously.
And then switch back to diesel. It’ll take it. No problem. This is a post-apocalyptic car that you can keep running with non-electronic tools and just a little knowhow. It does nothing quickly but it does absolutely everything eventually. This is a car you can take to the bank, through the bank vault, and back out the other side.
S-class today.
Wait, there was something else on the podium? What was it?
A fry-oil conversion isn’t a small modification. And it sucks, tbh. And the oil isn’t cheap and plentiful like it once was.
I could choose option 1 or option 2, but I think I’ll go with option “nein!”
I Like the W116, so I voted for the blue car
The 190 could be interesting as a car to slide around in the snow,but it would have had to be a manual box. I had an S class of the follow up generation to this,and while it wasn’t mind-blowing in any way,it was a really nice car to drive.
This one looks great and will have many more years in it as well.
I think the 190 is the best looking sedan Mercedes ever made. That gets my vote.
Fixable AC is FAAAAAR better than NO AC. Gimme the S Class.
Definitely S-class. The 190 may be newer, but I have spent time in one. It was near-unkillable, but it also moved like a glacier and just wasn’t all that nice inside. If I am going to drive a slow Mercedes, I at least want an S-class interior.
Okay, but hear me out; I’m taking the newer 190D, and dropping something more powerful into it, giving it some angle and taking it drifting. Don’t tell me how expensive this will be, it’s a fantasy. The build will be VIP Driftcar, and you can’t talk me out of it.
How dare you spend your internet fantasy dollars this way!
The cheapest LS from a van or unloved SUV – there was a 4.7 in the Buick Ranier. Remember the Ranier?) would be luke 409 bucks and a big power upgrade. It’d, of course, fit right in.
The Baby Benz is a more attractive design, but the old S-Class is a better specimen (that’s saying something considering its semi-harlequin paint scheme).
On an unrelated note, when are the videos going away for members?
Both are priced a bit high but at least they are rust free Oregon cars. The 300sd is the right one today. Cheaper, classier, and it may have working A/C.
It has to be the two-tone S class today. The turbo means the acceleration will be leisurely rather than glacial. The seller seems to know these cars well, so that helps.
$900 difference goes a pretty long way towards fixing potential A/C problems or getting a wrap. From the photos I was set on the 190D (I love the boxy angles), but it’s gotta be the 300SD today.
Yeah, I was all set to vote 190 until I got to the mileage and non-existent AC and non-functioning windows. No way I’m paying more money for that. That 190 is way way overpriced.
In a past life, I was hitchhiking in New Zealand and got rides, successively, in a Morris Minor, some kind of Mad Max-looking Dodge product, and 300 SD like this one. The lack of NVH in the Mercedes was so striking. I bet it is still a pretty smooth ride today.
The older one may or may not have working AC. The newer one doesn’t AND the window doesn’t go down? I’m walking today. (And I normally pick SOMETHING.)