So...let's say I was going to buy an SL of some sort for The Queen of
All Time, Space, and Dimension.
Have any proven to be bulletproof ala what I have come to expect from
the MBs (read "diesels") I've had throughout the years?
Best bang for the buck for a daily driver would probably be a double
timing chain 380. '84 and '85 had the double row chain from the
factory; don't even consider an earlier model that hasn't been
converted. By now all the single chain cars have likely either been
converted or blown up, unless you find a very low mileage example.
Double row chains still need to be replaced every, I think, 100k miles.
Yes, V8's are much harder on chains than I6's, that poor chain
goes through a lot more serious bends on its way around.
They were pretty slow (US versions had 155 hp), which keeps the price
down, but have Type III climate control, reliable CIS fuel injection,
and are full of that old-school Mercedes build- and engineering
quality.
You can of course go a little older and ditch the ACC systems
altogether. I wouldn't go quite so old as to get into the D-Jet
FI system. <PLUG> Our for-sale '76 model has been actually quite
reliable on the whole once its years of neglect were sorted out.
The freak torque converter failure (prior to our ownership) was the
only weird thing, a rare but not-unheard-of metallurgical failure
that didn't do any real harm, just made it dog-slow off the line.
We have driven it a lot, during its time as a daily driver it got
the second-most mileage piled on it next to the SDL. It always
went. It was just down a lot from time to time because I couldn't
keep from trying to enhance it! Anyway here's the link:
http://cathey.dogear.com/JSLsale.html
</PLUG>
Make sure you have any prospects professionally inspected; that
aluminum
V8 is NOT inexpensive to fix. Everything else on or wrong with the car
should come as no surprise to anyone with 123 experience.
Yeah, I agree. As a gasser it's going to wear the valves more than
a diesel, I'm led to expect that top-end work may well be needed if
you drive them enough.
The 107 body, like the 114/115/116, is a rust magnet but fortunately
many more of them were treated well. If you stay on top of it and
keep them out of the salt they hold up just fine.
I love the 107, that's why we have three of them. I love my wife,
that's why I'm trying to sell one!
-- Jim
