Well-maintained 1987 Mercedes-Benz 300TD Turbo Diesel wagon W124 RWD

(Note: delisted and re-listed simply because it was in the wrong category.)

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Selling our beloved Mercedes family wagon “blue angel”, which has served our family since 2010, when we purchased it from a mechanic in LA. Reason for selling is we now need a 4WD/AWD. This car is in perfect mechanical and electrical condition, being driven 80+ miles everyday to commute and does 24 MPG. Aesthetically, it still has its shine despite 30 years of service. Signs of its age are showing here and there though. Photos give a honest look at how this car looks in real life.

1987 is the last year Mercedes imported a diesel wagon to the USA. Several 1000s were imported, and probably just a few 100s on the road in the same condition. The chassis W124 is known to be one of the most reliable. This car is mostly mechanical with an ECU that is only used to control idle speed. Fuel injection is 100% mechanical like the old 300TDs, but the engine has 6-cylinder developing 143hp at 4600RPM.

We would love to see our car go to someone who will enjoy it as much as our family did.

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More details below.

Exterior:

• Dunkelblau (midnight blue) original paint

Interior:

• Grey MB-Tex (Vinyl, imitation leather). A few small cracks on driver seat, but nothing that can’t be fixed without major reupholstery.
• Seats 7 (rear-facing folding seat in the cargo area)

Mileage: 276,000 miles (more than the distance from the earth to the moon).

VIN:

WDBEB93D8HF044578

Mechanical:

• OM603.960 6-cylinder diesel engine 3L with #17 cylinder head.
• Most 1987 300TD come with a #14 head (6030161401), which is prone to cracking. This car started to exhibit the symptoms of a cracked head in 2015, and the head was removed and replaced with a later version of the head. This will easily last for another 100K before any engine work is needed.
• No oil leak.
• Mostly ran on petro-diesel, Biofuel B99 for a while from Dog Patch Biofuels http://dogpatchbiofuels.com and now almost only running Propel Fuels HPR diesel https://propelfuels.com/our_fuels which is an ASTM D975 compliant diesel for use in all diesel vehicles. Never used anything else.
• More info on this engine:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercedes-Benz_OM603
• 722.317 Automatic Transmission 4-speed. Transmission was replaced with a rebuilt one in 2014.
• The car was exclusively serviced since purchase by the same Mercedes diesel specialist in San Francisco: Sal's Autohaus.

We babied this car, adding all these customizations to it:

• remote locking. A remote locking solution by United Auto Security http://unitedautosecurity.net/ was installed under the rear seat where the central locking vacuum pump is located.
• Wheels are from a 1998 Mercedes-Benz CLK 320 Coupe.
• center glove box zebrano
• rear cargo cover and net. These were not available as an option in 300TD, only in 300TE, but the mountings existed in the rear seats and headliner/ceiling.
• VDO Gauges (EGT and Boost Pressure). Both are installed using existing ports in the engine bay used for diagnostics. No drilling were required. VDO Gauges Cockpit style were used to match the style of the existing instruments. I noticed that boost seems to be higher when using petro-diesel instead of diesel HPR.
• Original Becker Grand Prix radio with aux jack. The original Becker radio was sourced, and the aux jack was retrofitted professionally by Becker.
• Gauges, 12V plug and radio aux jack were fitted in a custom piece of Zebrano wood instead of the ashtray.
• Fischer cup holders were installed on both driver and passenger sides. http://www.ultimatecupholders.com/fischercupholder.html
• Upgraded fuel lines to Viton so it can be used with B99.
• Upgraded and balanced injectors. Upgraded with Monark Diesel Fuel Injector Nozzles sold by https://mercedessource.com

Everything works, almost, which is very rare.

• A/C works and retrofitted to r134
• External temperature LCD works
• All gauges in instrument cluster work
• tempomat (cruise control) works
• ABS works
• Antenna works
• Sunroof works
• Trunk self-locking works
• SLS (self-leveling suspension) works
• No SMOG required in CA since pre-1998
• All electric windows work, rear child lock switch works
• All electric seat adjustments work, except passenger headrest; driver seat position memory works
• All exterior/interior lights work

A few signs of age and use.

• Small bumps and small surface rust on rear right end (see photo)
• Surface rust in the lower part of the rear right/left quarter panels (see photo)
• paint chips in multiple locations, primarily on hood near headlights (see photo)