While branded as a 300, the engine displacement in today’s Nice Price or No Dice Mercedes is, in fact, a meatier 3.5 liters. That’s the rare turbo diesel, making this one of the more interesting W140s to be found. Let’s decide if we find its price tag to be to our liking.
While the Morgan Motor Company still uses copious amounts of ash lumber as the framework for the bodies of its cars, that’s all hidden under those body panels. These days, if you want the warmth of visible woodgrain on the outside of your car, you’ll need to pop down to the home center and buy a sheet of plywood to strap to the roof. No car on the market offers factory wood paneling anymore.
The 1985 Chrysler LeBaron that we saw yesterday not only had wood cladding (of the genus, Fakeous Treeous) but was also a convertible, a combo that the company made famous in the 1940s and ’50s. That, along with chrome wheels and white wall tires, tarted the car in undeniable ’80s bling, but couldn’t muster much enthusiasm for the seller’s $23,980 asking price. When the dust settled, that had gone down in a massive 94% ‘No Dice’ loss.
Big Benz
Around the time yesterday’s Chrysler was making oldies radio fans feel fancy, Daimler-Benz was hard at work developing the next generation of its flagship S-Class line of models. Introduced for the 1991 model year, the W140 series brought excess in every way to Mercedes’ top model. The cars were bigger and heavier than their W126 predecessors, and they offered tour de force technology like nothing that had come before. Model for model, they were also substantially more expensive than the outgoing cars.
What resulted was a line of sedans that were criticized by the motoring press for their excesses, and which lost sales to cheaper to buy and less expensive to maintain Japanese competition.
That really makes cars like this 1992 Mercedes-Benz 300 SD one of the last of the truly great over-engineering exercises in Daimler’s history. These cars aren’t just big (over 16 feet long even in the shortest version), but they feature things like heavy double-paned door glass and electric motors to move the seats, mirrors, and trunk lid. Mercedes was worried enough about the sedan’s size that the engineers added small chrome posts at the corners of the rear fenders, which would pop up when the transmission was put into reverse. Suffice to say, the W140 was a lot.
Diesel doings
This one is notable for having the OM 603 3.5-liter turbo diesel under its hood. In this model year, it made 148 horsepower and 229 pound-feet of torque. Earlier Mercedes’ diesel engines have earned enormous respect and reverence for their durability and longevity. The six-cylinder OM 603? Not so much. Early versions of this motor suffered from engineering issues with their aluminum heads, which could lead to catastrophic engine failure. Those issues were pretty much put to bed by the time this car was built, and if the engine has lasted the 185,651 miles this car has done, it’s probably not going to explode anytime soon. Behind that is a four-speed Mercedes automatic with the company’s iconic console shifter.
According to the selling dealer, the car runs great and is “ready for a cross country trip or to drive anywhere you want.” It also comes with a new battery and what looks to be a solid set of Michelins wrapping the factory eight-hole Alamaks.
Bumps and scrapes
Now, that is a lot of miles under this Mercedes’ belt, and it appears to have suffered some close calls across those miles. Per the pictures, the front bumper has some chips and scrapes and is missing its tow hook cover. Along the passenger side, there’s a sizable scrape that spans both doors and has gouged the plastic cladding in front of the rear wheel arch. Finally, the plastic lens that spans the rear end and houses the reversing lights appears to have suffered some water intrusion and shows signs of brown ick inside. On the plus side, the seller notes that the car is completely free of rust as it has spent much of its life in sunny California.
There’s more to like in the cabin where the leather upholstery on the front seats shows little to no wear, and the back bench appears to have never been used at all. The extensive woodgrain—yes, real wood—on the dash and door panels also appears to be in excellent shape for the car’s age and mileage. The only glaring issue here appears to be the aftermarket stereo head unit that sticks out like a sore thumb.
On sale now!
As the W140 line is now reaching a level of maturity where it can rightfully claim the title of classic car, the market for nice editions is relatively hot. Clean, low-mileage examples are typically going for five figures fairly regularly. This one is neither as clean (well, unmarred) as we might like, but it does come with the rare big diesel six and is new enough for that motor not to present significant problems. The seller says they have dropped the price from $12,995 to $5,995, which is a significant reduction, indicating that such a mention is just for show. No one would pay thirteen large for this car, no matter what. That $5,995 asking price is a different matter, however.
What’s your take on this big Benz and that asking price? Is that a deal for a car that’s tired but far from out of it? Or is this just a potential money pit that’s not worth that initial outlay?
You decide!
Boston, Massachusetts, Craigslist, or go here if the ad disappears.
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