(Ed. Note: Please welcome Youseftak’s first submission to our pages with a fine vehicle right up our alley. Oh, and don’t miss the video at the end! Majority of photographs taken by Rose Worden)
I fell in love with the Mercedes Type W123 at some point in the last few years. I’m not sure how exactly, but sites like Curbside Classic and others surely contributed to this development through their extolling of the virtues of vintage cars from the 1980s and 1990s.
By now it has become a cliche; the W123 is the embodiment of Mercedes Benz at its best, before the slump of the mid-1990s, built to a standard not to a price-point, the Panzer-like toughness, the bank-vault build quality, the million-mile lifecycles, and, of course, the thunk of the doors closing.
But beyond the hyperbole, there is something undeniable about the type of car that the W123 is. A type of car that does not really exist anymore.
As American streets become ever more laden with crossovers that do not do anything much better than the hatchbacks, wagons, and sedans they vanquished, or conspicuous SUVs and full size trucks, the car enthusiast is left to look toward the past for cars that suit their sensibilities.
For this particular enthusiast, the W123 is such a car. It is designed to do one thing well, and that is to be a car in the most narrow sense. A means of transporting people and things comfortably, stylishly, and efficiently. It does not aspire to anything more. Its handling is capable, rather than sporty, because unlike most cars today it has no sporting pretensions. Its motor, in diesel form, is adequate and economical. It will get the heavy sedan up to cruising speed… slowly. But it will do so for decades if properly cared for, while returning excellent fuel economy.
This is why W123s run the gamut from the beaten down taxi-spec 240D collecting fares in the streets of Rabat or Cairo, to the $30,000 pristine wagons that list on various internet auction sites.
After years of living in New York without a car, I found myself with a new job in DC and some disposable income to burn. I decided to pick up a W123 as my first real project car. The hours and hours spent poring over craigslist ads pondering hypotheticals became a more serious search. When I found the particular car I ended up buying, I wasn’t really in a position to pull the trigger but I couldn’t afford to miss this one… or so I convinced myself.
This, after all, was my ideal specification W123; it was a 240D 4-speed, with the venerable 0M617 turbo diesel swapped in from a 300D or 300SD. It also had no sunroof, crank windows, non-vacuum “manual” climate control, and it was an interesting color combination: Orient Red over Palomino MB-Tex. And it was being sold for cheap.
Really, I couldn’t afford not to buy this neglected vintage German car.
The car was advertised as being in decent shape but it had clearly been off the road for a while and exhibited a problem with reverse gear engagement. To be more specific, it did not engage reverse at all. I did some research into potential causes for this before heading over to inspect the car. Most sources pointed to linkage problems as the most likely culprit on the manual transmission cars. The manual transmissions in these things supposedly never die, unlike the automatics which require periodic rebuilds and are controlled by finicky vacuum-operated systems that fall out of adjustment.
On the day of the inspection, I arrived at the warehouse in Virginia outside of which the car had been sitting in a grass parking lot, seemingly since the Clinton Administration. The seller was offloading two ‘80s Mercedes Benz diesels, both in what I would consider project car shape. In addition to the 240D, there was a black on gray W126 350SDL that also had a 0M617 swapped in.
The seller was a bit of an aficionado, but was getting out of the diesel Mercedes game for good and I was happy to take one of his cars off his hands. He claimed that the 240D was his grandmother’s daily driver and I got a kick out of thinking about an elderly lady driving around a stick 240D with a turbo swap smoking Virginia Slims (I found a few old packs underneath the driver’s seat when I cleaned the interior).
The car started up fine and ran strongly, albeit with some thick black plumes of smoke, to be expected on a neglected diesel. The engine passed the blow-by test and the transmission shifted through the four forward gears fine and the clutch felt good, though I was only able to test it out in the parking complex.
More importantly, it only had a minor spot of rust on the passenger side front fender, common enough on these W123 cars, and I have seen much worse on more expensive cars being advertised in the area. The paint was badly oxidized and the color-matched hub caps were long gone, giving the car a much more run-down appearance than I thought it deserved, which might be why the seller was willing to part ways for such a small sum.
Or maybe I’m just a sucker.
The 240D was my ideal specification and, with the swap to the OM617 already done, I was gambling with house money. Of course, this is the flawed thinking of a vintage car enthusiast, and I recognized that. These projects never work out the way we initially intend, but that’s half the fun.
I had the car towed to my garage and commenced my project. The first step was diagnosing the reverse gear. I hoped the problem was not internal, but rather to do with the linkages being missing or out of adjustment. I got under the car and found all three sets of linkages intact, much to my disappointment. I adjusted the linkages, no dice, still no reverse. I tried tightening the final part of the linkage that connects directly to the transmission as a last ditch effort after throwing some new gear oil in there. I then had to admit defeat and bring it to a mechanic to diagnose it.
After some googling I found a shop in DC called, funnily enough, Mercedes Classic, which seemed like a reasonable starting point. I called them up and explained my situation, and was surprised to find that the head mechanic was familiar with older diesels. The 240D’s maiden voyage would be across town to the shop. The plan to learn and do everything myself was not off to a great start.
After a drama free though nerve racking 20 minute trip across town I arrived at the shop and was greeted by a friendly mechanic with all manner of vintage Benzes in his shop, from run of the mill first-generation MLs, to more recent E-classes, and even a W140 S500. I shudder to think how much that one costs to keep on the road!
When I got the call the next day, it was bad news. The head mechanic suspected the problem with the transmission was internal and the most cost effective way forward was to source a replacement. I located a transmission from a similar 240D on eBay, for the princely sum of $200 shipped, and I was off to the races.
Over the past year with the car I’ve been through it inside and out. I’ve learned a lot about diagnosing and wrenching on cars and have had the chance to do everything from polishing out the badly faded paint to adjusting the valves, rebuilding and balancing fuel injectors, performing diesel purges, doing a full brake service, replacing the alternator, and many other projects. The car as it sits now is something I can certainly be proud of and is a true joy to drive when I need to get out of town. Everywhere I go I run into people that have Mercedes diesel stories, and I’m also happy to hear them as I continue to make my own.
These are among my favourite Mercs, and indeed among my favourites from any manufacturer – understated and classic stying with a drivetrain that will literally run forever with proper maintenance. I’m always glad to see one of these cars go to someone who knows what they have and cares for it accordingly…and here in Ontario that would include storing it for the winter. I had a CLA 250 for a week this summer as a rental, and while I enjoyed driving it, I just don’t consider it to be in the same league as this old classic. I expect you’ll still be driving it when many newer, lesser Mercs have fallen by the wayside.
One very much like this turned up for sale by a long time owner around the corner from me. Perhaps it’s a good thing I didn’t know it was for sale or I would have had a real wrestling match with myself. I keep telling myself that it was probably an automatic.
Your Benz is what I wanted to buy when I got out of law school, with one exception – I wanted the gasoline 6 instead of the diesel – but M-B had gotten out of that business here in the US at the time. I have since decided that I would rather have the diesel, so you have found my dream Benz – with one deviation. I would love one with a hand-crank steel sunroof. What a great car you have found!!!
Your transmission thing seems to prove the rule I learned with my Miata – when there is a manual unit that almost never goes bad in a given car, used ones are dirt cheap so that rebuilds make no financial sense.
You can still locate the 1977-1981 280E or 280CE in the US or source latest one (1982-1985) from Germany. Shipping by sea shouldn’t be too expensive if you are so inclined to own the petrol-engined W123 in the US. They qualify for the 25-year exemption so you need not to do the modifications to meet the US regulations.
As much as I prefer a manual, doesn’t the turbo lose boost between shifts on a manual as opposed to being continually on boost when accelerating with an automatic? I’ve had four different diesels, two W123’s, a W115 and a W126. Three with the OM617, and when everything is in proper adjustment the automatic delivers the goods.
Boost and high rpms are irrelevant with diesels, want to go faster change up use the torque turbos boost from low rpm on up the torque curve is what you drive.
“The car as it sits now is something I can certainly be proud of and is a true joy to drive when I need to get out of town.” I can wholeheartedly agree. And $200 for a new transmission isn’t terrible especially when compared to working on ANYTHING with a new Mercedes-Benz. I guess Ford wasn’t the only automaker to suffer on overall build quality in the ’90s (starting with the ’96 Taurus). On the subject of non-existent vehicles (production-wise anyway), here are 2 examples of such that still maintain a credible fan-base despite their discontinued status: the Chevrolet Astro (my ’05 on the left) & VW Microbus (on the right). The Astro has its own dedicated website (astrosafari.com) for both current and former Astro/Safari owners to share their experiences with their vans & how to fix common problems you may face during ownership, and plenty of people still have a soft spot for the long-archaic Microbus (or Transporter or Kombi depending on where you live) despite its questionable handling characteristics; for its time it really WAS (& in a way still is) a symbol of peace & freedom. This particular one is owned by Coot’s Bar & Grill located in Edisto Beach, SC and it without a doubt still runs as it has a fairly recent license plate on the back of it. The front end would put it as a ’68-’72 model, as the turn signals were moved above the headlights in ’73. The extra height on its roof suggests it was camper-type conversion at one time. I never thought I would get a 2nd chance to take pictures of these old Volkswagens (the 1st one was 2 years ago when I still had my ’96 Aerostar). This picture is very recent as I took it just yesterday (I’m currently on my vacation). The palm tree in the background is a nice touch to an already great picture.
Rear view: the tag still looks current. And it’s hard to tell for sure, but I think it also has dual exhaust! More palm trees for added scenery.
Not a ’72, due to the small taillights. Stock single tailpipe muffler is harder to find and more expensive than the dual tailpipe Type 1 style.
Good catch! So it would therefore be a ’68-’71. The one I found 2 years ago had the ’72 rear end & the ’73 front. This must have been a 2-year facelift transition like with the Ford Explorer in ’98 (rear) & ’99 (front).
Advertisement in the rear window–are they making a parody of Chick-fil-A? 🙂
Nice write-up. I’m not so much a fan of the car as your DIY approach to ownership. In the end all old cars end being in one of three categories. The technicians car (you as DIY guy), the sitter car (survivor or abandoned), the spoiled car (guys dropping 30K just to start work at Mercedes Classic and to which money is just “numbers on a page”).
Back to DIY. I used an old Bosch pressure tester to check spray pattern and clean a set of MFI Porsche injectors last week. These are very similar to your diesel MB injectors. How did you balance them? I was thinking of doing it on the car….
I have a 1984 300 D turbo charged 0617 straight 5 cylinder engine. I am the 3rd owner. I purchased it from the 2nd owner in August 2003 after he had owned it for a year. At the time of purchase it had 126,223 miles on the speedometer. It currently has 573,624 miles and still going strong. It is an automatic with a power sunroof. I changed oil and filter every 3-4000 miles and perform regular maintenance on other items as required. The engine is in excellent shape. My transmission is shifting fine especially since I have fine tuned it by adjusting the Bowden cable. I have several projects that I need to have done (cruise control, power steering pump, etc.) but nothing that is crucial. I really admire this particular model Mercedes and receive many compliments from the public. The color is tan or buckskin exterior with a palomino interior. I can provide photos later.
Kudos to you for re- commissioning that car. I’ve always been curious about Benz diesels but never made the plunge. The car that really appeals to me is the 300 series station wagons. Enjoy your car!
Welcome to CC! The corner shot of your trunk reveals something I haven’t seen in 25 years or more. The bare foot logo appears to be the hand painted mark of a gentleman named Jeff who pin striped this car new. Odd that it’s no longer visible. He was well know here in NJ for his work on high end German autos. Perhaps someone has more info?
The W123, along with the S-Class W126 and the W123’s successor, the E-class W124 are the best cars MB ever produced – period.
Step into a W126 and you’re in a modern car. There’s nothing you’ll feel shortage of, and the design is so fresh, even after all these years. But it’s the W124 that really excelled in everything. It was the best of the trio.
Of course, one needs to add the already known W123 styling touches, which are also functional; The rear slated lights, which are meant to reduce mud spray on the light-clusters, and the side (slight) pinch that’s under the trim-line, not only meant to reduce door marks from other vehicles but also reduce dirt on the door handles – look how it’s placed right under them.
The only thing that bothers me about this W123 is (not it’s fault, of course) the ghastly 5mph bumpers. those are guarantied to destroy any car’s looks.
My kind of car. Stick shift, no sunroof, manual windows and manual climate control makes for far less headaches over the long haul. This is not a good project car in that it doesn’t require much and much can be done by the owner with average skills and willing to learn.
Contrast that with yesterday when a couple of us were talking about a project car bought by someone known. In grade 1 condition this is a very sought after and rare muscle car into the six figures. Only it requires a large expenditure of money to get it to that #1 condition before auction. Problem is not having that money and not having any skills in doing some work themselves.
An attractive car with a great-looking interior in a very period correct color. I think you chose well and it should easily outlast your need for it, given that you went into it with the whole idea of fixing whatever it needed, hence any further troubles will be attended to. That paint cleaned up pretty well too!
I drive PSA diesels but learned how to fix them by buying a very run down Toyota diesel wagon, a 90 Corona 2.0 auto wagon, it was very cheap and had the usual Toyota neglect issues leaking injector pump leaking crank seal, Toyota licensed rheir injector pumps from Bosch and simply reverse engineered it, why not everyone uses Bosch injector pumps so they did too fitting new seal to the pump body was quoted at 350 if I took it out so after removing it I fitted the $55 seal kit myself reinstalled it with a new cambelt and crank seal and it ran as well as it probably had in years plenty of smoke as usual but no oil raining out underneath,
Since that effort the injector pump has been out of my Xsara three times and a bely change done once in seven years glow plugs changed several times and in all honesty the really nothing to go wrong with them with the change to lo or no sulphur diesel pump seal dry out and leak but that and glow plugs are just wear items and are easily replaced, Lucas injector pumps have the usual terrible reputation Lucas equipment comes with by my Xsara had a Lucas pump and other than the French made anti theft fuel shut off device failing its never given any trouble nor has the Lucas electrical system in my now 60 year old Hillman I keep as a pet, my other diesel I now have as a daily gives no problems but it is of the common rail variety and beyond me fixing it anyway, so a cambelt every 160,000kms at the recommended intervals and regular oil changes should heep it going.
Thank you for a great article on one of my favorite cars…(see avatar photo…) You did well with that car, trans woes and all. That garage mentioned has a solid word of mouth type review in my small MB circle of friends even 5 hours south of DC in SW VA where I live. There are days I consider a manual in my 300SD but I previously owned a manual 240D and daily a manual beater Cobalt sedan and remember why my 300 is my weekend fun car for mountain drives…love that auto after a brutal work week as a mechanic.
Good luck with your car…and yes that color combo is fabulous!
Not much demand for premium luxury cars like this today, but when a Mitsubishi Mirage can beat it to 60 mph easy, it’s just not that premium, regardless how nice the doors clunk shut.
Nice Mercedes! It’s a very gratifying feeling to learn how to do (most of) your own wrenching. Hope you can continue to enjoy it for a long time to come.
The world is a better place with that Mercedes still in it. Very nice!
crank windows? why crank windows, especially on a 4 door?
Well, at least there’s one less thing to break from electrical failure as the car gets older. And that graffiti in one of those shots is a common sight on random train cars in my neck of the woods. I also see a roof rack on top of the Mercedes in that picture. It’s absent in the others.
Been driving my W123 diesel coupe (1978) since 1986. It is a non-turbo 5 cylinder with a manual 4-speed transmission. I love the car and will keep driving it as long as I can.
Let’s face it, since the Mercedes model range has immensely grown and has become rather incomprehensive, the glory of the three pointed star has been fading. Lease deals and trying to compete on each market even with Volkswagen’s Golf, and each and every niche model available on the market, Mercedes -or what makes the magic of the brand most of us here believe is slowly going out of the window-
They have become a rather vulgar brand with taxi drivers driving ” AMG” models.
Let me put it differently: there is no reason at all to choose for a Mercedes today, except for possibly a favorable finance deal, all magic that makes a Mercedes a Mercedes probably lives at Toyota or PSA VAG or Renault?
A Mercedes Benz with crank windows and a stick shift. Imagine that! Of course I am one who has always associated Mercedes with luxury, so this is pretty foreign to me.
Sir, you have found yourself a diamond in the ruff! She’s beautiful and sturdy. I’m currently driving my 3rd diesel an 83 300D turbo . I’ve owned a 240D with a manual tyranny , she was a great car. All together I’ve had 5 , Mercedes , I have a thing for the 68 & 70 280SE ‘s . I believe that Mercedes is the only car worth driving if one purchases a 84 or earlier model . They are extremely easy for the owner to repair . I replaced the timing chain in my 68 280SE all by myself , it was a breeze. So , keep on loving your Benz and treating her well and she’ll be around a long time.