Are W124 diesels (1987) reliable like the w116s?

[Ilike300sd]

Looking at one of these (1987) for fun just wondering if these are a PITA or if they are bulletproof like the w116 diesels.  I see alot of the mid 80's gas MB that need engines which makes me think these years are less reliable (just an impression).  How does the W124 diesel stack up to the W116 diesels?  Thanks!

[TJ 450]

I can tell you that the W124 is an excellent chassis, but I have no knowledge regarding the engines. Chances are it would be good though.

Tim

[Casey]

Having heard a bit more about this from you, I'll emphasize my opinion:  if you can get it for the asking price - buy it.  If you don't want it, I'll take it for that price.  It looks like rather an incredible deal.

Yes, they are quite reliable.  The engine is maybe not quite as rugged as the OM617, but it's still *rather good*.  The highest mileage vehicle in the world was a W124 300D (granted that had a lot of work done along the way).

I've considered putting an '87 300D turbo engine into a W116.  It's 145 or 147hp depending what source you look at, and about the same fuel economy.  '87 was the highest performance diesel Mercedes made for quite a few years since.  I was pretty happy with my '86 euro 300D (same car without the turbo, only about 111hp), except that it was horribly abused and had something like over a half million obvious miles on it (broken odometer, but a LOT of wear and tear).

It's also a safer car, with more impact considerations taken into it's design than the W116.  And was the last of the hand-built E-class chassis'.

"With some Mercedes-Benz 300D/300SD diesels already exceeding 500,000 miles, [the OM617] is considered to be one of the most reliable engines ever produced (Along with the equally famous sister engine OM616)."

"The 603 engine has a capacity of 2996cc and was an engineering marvel in pre-chamber design and a technological leap forward from the "tractor motor" 5 cylinder OM617. Versions 603.96x and 603.97x are turbocharged. Only turbocharged models of the 603 series were available to the U.S. market. The camshafts and injection pump are driven by duplex chain from the crankshaft. A separate single row chain drives the oil pump. The camshaft operated the valves via hydraulic bucket tappets; valve clearance adjustment is automatic."

"The emissions controls imposed in the US market led to the creation of a diesel particulate filter, otherwise known as a trap oxidizer. As these were mounted at the cylinder head (modern traps are mounted further away), heat from these trap oxidizers caused failure of the aluminum cylinder heads on the first generation of 603-engined vehicles; debris from the traps could also damage the turbocharger. This first version was sold in the US from 1986 to 1987. Daimler-Benz removed these traps for free, and if the turbocharger has been determined to be damaged it was also be replaced. Even without the heat from the trap oxidizers, the original #14 mold cylinder heads were weak and if overheated could crack as with any overheated engine. In general, the later model #18 or #22 mold cylinder heads are considered to be the definitive cure for cracked heads."