1983 Mercedes-Benz 200-Series

Sedan

diesel

Manual

WDBAB23A4DB374070

Salvage

Diesel

Very nice, low mile ( 112K ) , 1983 Mercedes 240D sun roof, stick shift, with working A/C, history and Mercedes manuals back to brand new from Pasadena ( area ) Californina, with mostly original paint and is in excellent driving condition. This car averaged 40 mpg on a recent trip- its a great, reliable classic car to enjoy. Please understand that the majority of this car is 32 years old and although has been kept in remarkable condition with extensive maintenance, there are still plenty of flaws which I will try to point out below. I am listing this car for a friend so if you have any questions I will get him to answer them then I will post the answers here. EXTERIOR The car overall is in very nice condition. The paint is mostly original having had a fender, the hood and the section next to the tail light repainted while the rest of the car is in its original paint from 1982. The car is in 904 paint code,-dark blue. I color sanded and buffed it, and it looks very good. There are a few flaws and before reading on, this would be a good time to mention that the worst part of the entire car, including mechanically, are the few dings and couple dents on the body. So if you can live with these deficiencies, then this would be the Mercedes Diesel for you. I also had a painless dent tech come and look at the car to possibly fix the dents and he quoted me $400 to remove them. He was not sure he could completely fix the dent in the trunk. I am mentioning this here since it looks hard to see in the photographs. All the doors line up and close properly with good original Mercedes door seals. This car had the optional Mercedes Dealer pin striping which is still visible. The rear trunk lid got backed into as well as the area next to the right tail light, this part I had repaired but did not want to repaint the trunk lid since so much of the car was still original paint. All the rubber and glass is original Mercedes including the windshield- it is the factory installed one from 1982 and is not cracked or delaminated. The front windshield rubber seal has a few cracks in it, but it does not leak. All the exterior trim is in very good shape with no broken or loose pieces and even the lower rocker moulding pieces, which are always dented or covered in road grime, are in top condition. There is NO RUST on this car- no, not any under the battery, none under either the left or the right trunk liners, none under the rockers( which are still in factory grey Mercedes paint, not repainted) , none under the bottom lip of the doors which hold the rubber door seals, none in the front hood hinge pockets, and none in the areas behind the front wheel wells. These are all the common areas to rust out in the W123 Mercedes. The chrome bumpers are original to the car and are not scratched or dented and the rubber corners are in very good condition as well. The rims are all the correct hub cap style W123 and the hubcaps themselves are in great shape with no dents or curb rash. They look to be a shade lighter in color than the car color though. I just put on brand new TravelStar 205 75 14 inch white wall radials and had the rims balanced too, so it drives with no shaking- even at freeway speeds. The windows were just tinted for the upcoming excessive summer heat and are quite dark, but a nice professional thorough job was done and this helps to keep the interior @10 degrees cooler. The grille and hood star are both the originals from 1982 as well as the plastic headlight doors. I think that to make the car look a bit nicer, both headlight doors should be replaced; but I do like the fact that they are the original Bosch ones delivered with the car in 1982, this helps with its overall originality, so I left them in. Even the front bumper impact strip is not scuffed or scarred which is easy to do if your get backed into. This is also a sign of a low mile car, the more you drive, the more likely things will break or get damaged. INTERIOR The interior is in its original Palomino color. The seats are in good shape while both seats are still very firm and not ripped or sagging. I think the drivers side seat bottom was switched for a passenger side since the reclining wheel is on the right side instead of the left. The back seat is in excellent condition with no fading or ripping on the top, which is common since its exposed to direct sun damage below the back window. The carpets are all original and are also in excellent condition. The 240D has brand new correct Mercedes palomino floor mats with no wear or dirt on them at all. The rear deck carpet is also in very nice condition with the original Mercedes first aid kit still present and complete. All seat belts pull out and retract nicely and do not get stuck and are very clean with no filth or staining. The steering wheel is nice and tight and not deteriorated like higher mile cars typically would be. The dash is original to the car and has a few cracks. They do make a very tidy, fitted plastic dash cover which looks great when installed but I did not want to hide any flaws, however, I would recommend installing one of these to keep the dash from cracking further if you are going to leave it outside. The gauges are all accurate since I had them calibrated including the clock. Another finer point to note: higher mile w123 Diesels have their instrument clusters become harder to see the gauges at night. The low mile cars still have clear plastic and light ports in the cluster thus making them fairly bright at night, as in this car. The wood pieces on the dash are all in good shape and the shifter surround has some chips in it. Its specific to a stick shift 240D and is the original one from this car. Unusual option: this car was ordered with manual roll up windows but has an electric sunroof. I serviced and greased the window regulators which all work very nicely and serviced the sunroof too, which works in both cold and warm weather. The reason I say this is that these sunroofs are notorious for going slowly or not at all if the weather is too cold, making the grease not viscous enough to allow the sunroof to open, unless, it has been re-greased and adjusted to open properly, as on this 240D. Although the door panel pockets are not cracked or broken which is amazing in itself, they do have some light discoloration at the top from the sun. The ignition is not sloppy and locks as it should with one key,;in fact, the whole car operates on one key as it did originally. The ignition vacuum shut off valve works well and the car turns off as it should. The very expensive-to-repair vacuum door lock system was all fixed as well, so the central locking doors work well and hold vacuum, another rarity with these cars. The seat back nets are still intact which are almost always broken. The headliner is original and has a couple rips in it. There is one painfully long rip in the rear part of the headliner nearly 10 inches long. The vents and the dash controls are work well and the glove box closes properly, another often annoying part of these cars which is often broken. There is a brand new Sony CD AM/FM stereo with aux iPhone input. The speakers were replace too including the ones in the rear shelf. The original Mercedes speaker grilles are in the trunk. TRUNK The trunk is in immaculate condition. The spare rim is clean and the tire is in good shape. All the metal is in perfect condition and also VERY clean. You can remove the spare without getting dirty at all. The trunk liners are like new and the carpet is also in great shape. The car comes with the original Mercedes jack and lug wrench too. The often warped fiberboard spare cover is in great, practically new condition. It also has the original hold down bracket so the spare won't bounce around. MECHANICAL This 240D runs fantastically. Thousands was recently spent on getting it roadworthy for their 16 year old daughter who never drove it. -valves adjusted -timing chain rails replaced -valve cover gasket replaced -injection pump adjusted to give more power -primary fuel filter replaced -secondary fuel filter replaced -injection return lines replaced -vacuum pump main line replaced -brake fluid flush - brake shoes and rotors are good -radiator flushed -block back flushed -belts replaced -power steering pump flushed and re-filled -air filter replaced -air cleaner rubber suspension feet replaced -oil change with oil filter -new heavy duty Diesel rated battery - new clutch -new clutch slave cylinder -replaced both engine mounts -replaced transmission mount -all vacuum central door locks work with replaced door lock actuators -window regulators were serviced and adjusted -all 4 outer window scraper rubber moldings replaced -4 new white wall radial tires -tires with rims balanced -Diesel Purge for injection system -glow plugs replaced -glow plug relay replaced -new German alternator -new German voltage regular -starter replaced -new heavy duty sound hood pad -replaced auxillary A/C fan - full A/C service in E134 DETAILS I have the original owners manual, maintenance booklet and the original Warranty Registration Card which shows the original owner from San Marino, Ca taking delivery of the car on December 30, 1982, from Jim Bess Mercedes in Canoga Park, Ca. The car has remained within 20 miles of the original dealership since day one. It also has the original Data Card which shows all the codes and options the car was delivered with in order to match to it today. The car runs and drives very well for a 240D. These cars are not going to win any speed records so please understand that they are slow by comparison to modern cars but they are faster than the 240D automatics by far and the stick shift gets great mileage and a more simple transmission. This would be a great economical classic Diesel Mercedes ... with low miles and working A/C and a working sunroof. I would not hesitate to drive this car anywhere. The car is located in the town of San Fernando, 30 minutes north of Los Angeles, California. I encourage you to inspect and drive the car before bidding. A deposit of $750 by Paypal is required within 24 hours of the close of the auction. The car must be paid for within 5 days of the close of the auction. I can keep it parked for 10 days from the close of the auction, after that it will cost $20 per day to move it into storage. I can also assist in loading it on to a car carrier to ship it. Please ask any and all questions before the end of the auction.