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300SD as a first car

Started by Toxicfrogfb, 18 May 2017, 09:46 AM

Toxicfrogfb

Hello w116 forum! My name is Cameron, I'm a 17 year old Mercedes nut, and my folks surprised me with a beautiful '79 300SD on Sunday. The car runs beautifully, with only minor exterior and interior wear and tear (sunbaked roof and trunk, carpets need shampooing, etc.).

I had a couple of questions about where to find parts, as the car could use a new speedometer cable, brake pads, and bulbs for the dashboard. I live in Las Vegas if that helps.

Other than that, I just wanted to introduce myself, and ask for just general advise you guys wished you had when you first got your w116's

Thanks!

daantjie

Welcome!  Autohausaz is a good online source for parts. Also for hard to find parts the Classic Centre in Irvine California is  great.
Daniel
1977 450 SEL 6.9 - Astralsilber

rumb

non wear items that are getting hard to find ask for here, or look on fleabay, but beware of extreme pricing by some vendors.

any part you want  you need to know the part number. We all use EPC, $75/yr from MB, but there are some dealer sites that have it for free. to get started you can ask here for some part numbers as needed.

Factory service manual are expensive but worth it.

Please post more pictures!
'68 250S
'77 6.9 Euro
'91 300SE,
'98 SL500
'14 CLS550,
'16 AMG GTS
'21 E450 Cabrio

UTn_boy

Hi Cameron.  Again, welcome.  As Daantjie stated, Autohaus is a good source, but lately their supplies are dwindling.  There are many many parts that are also still available through Mercedes, too.  Though, you'll either have to take the part number into the dealership with you, or you can call the Classic center if you don't want to fuss with finding a part number.  Dealerships should be able to find part numbers for you, but the parts personnel of today are uninformed, and will tell you you can't order anything because the car is too old.  It's a lie.  They just don't know the older ones well enough to find what you're after.  If you need a part number for anything just ask one of us on here. 

For starters, the part number for your speedometer cable is 116-542-01-07, and is available from Autohauz.  Here is the link: http://www.autohausaz.com/search/product.aspx?searchtype=partnumber&partnumber=1165420107&searchbutton.x=0&searchbutton.y=0

The bulbs for the instrumentation there are two different types of.  You'll need (6) of 072601-012240, and you'll need (2) of 072601-012230.  Those, too, can be found on Autohaus.  Just type the part number into the search box up at the top of the page. 

Brakes......I'm sure I'll be blasted with all kinds of theories and negative commentary.....but stick with Mercedes brand brake pads.  They're very affordable, and they work much better than aftermarket.  Speaking of aftermarket, if you absolutely have to buy an aftermarket part, do not buy anything branded URO.  You'll end up replacing the parts a few months later.  Anyway, the part numbers for your brake pads could be two different sets of numbers.  We'd need to know your VIN to determine which brake pads you need. 

You may also want to consider subscribing to Mercedes EPC.  It's $75 per year, but you can find each and every part and part number on it for your car.  It's very powerful ally for you.  It also lists various fluids, pastes, greases, coolants, etc., and even parts numbers for specialty tools.  :) Also, if you have a part number for something that you're looking for, Ebay is often your best friend, too.  :)
1966 250se coupe`,black/dark green leather
1970 600 midnight blue/parchment leather
1971 300sel 6.3,papyrus white/dark red leather
1975 450se, pine green metallic/green leather
1973 300sel 4.5,silver blue metallic/blue leather
1979 450sel 516 red/bamboo

Squiggle Dog

#4
Welcome! My daily driver has been a 1980 300SD for the past 7 years. These are some of the most reliable cars ever built and the drivetrain is simple. However, due to age, you will find a lot of the parts are worn out and you'll have to make sure to stay on top of repairs. But then you'll reach a point where you can drive it seemingly for years without having to replace anything.

My first choice for parts is calling The Mercedes-Benz Classic Center. If you are a Mercedes-Benz Club of America member (cost is about $55 a year), you get a 15% discount on every order. You know when you buy from them that you are getting genuine Mercedes parts. In order to find the part number I need, I made a free (sorry, forgot they now charge $75 per year) account with their Electronic Parts Catalog (EPC): https://epc.startekinfo.com/epc/subscribe.jsp . You can entire your VIN number and browse part numbers. To get an estimate on pricing, I'll type in the part number on a Mercedes authorized dealer site like this and will see what the MSRP is: https://www.genuinemercedesparts.com/ . I have to admit that recently, I've been starting to buy more from genuinemercedesparts.com because they give a better discount than I can get at the Mercedes-Benz Classic Center with my 15% MBCA discount.

If genuine Mercedes parts are too expensive or not available, then I will try to find the next best quality alternative. I try as much as possible to buy German or at least from somewhere in Europe. I avoid Chinese as much as possible because often those parts are inferior quality, don't fit correctly, and the rubber dry rots quickly. A lot of the companies that make the parts for Mercedes (the company, not just the car) also sell parts on their own. They are often about the same quality as the ones they make for Mercedes, but usually they are required to grind off the star logo and sometimes have to use a different rubber compound. Remember, there are vast differences of quality between parts brands.

For aftermarket, I tend to stick with http://www.autohausaz.com (they are local to me and I can pick up the parts in person) and https://www.fcpeuro.com/ . Some of us try to support the sponsor at http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/ . If you go to your local McParts store, they tend to cringe and make snarky comments about it being a Mercedes and how parts are going to be expensive or unavailable. Watch out for McParts store rebuilt brake calipers--even though they are cheap and it's convenient to exchange them, oftentimes they are rebuilt with mixed-up incorrect parts. It's best to rebuild the calipers yourself with a high-quality rebuild kit.

The W116 is a great car, one of the best of its era, but they don't currently have a lot of collector value. The 300SD tends to sell for the highest price because of the reliability and fuel efficiency (450SEL 6.9s sell for a decent amount too, but it takes the right buyer and your pockets need to be deep), but like most W116s, they often end up in the scrap yard or sold cheaply because the automatic climate control is very complicated and expensive to repair, so very rarely will someone consider it cost-effective to repair--so you end up with a car with no heat or air conditioning. The power windows also tend to fail and the root cause is usually bent aluminum window guide bars--people spend a fortune replacing the motors and regulators, but the guide bars are bent and so it tweaks the regulator and locks it up. Being stuck in a car with no climate control and windows that don't roll down is not fun.

I ended up finding a Euro-spec W116 (they often came with manual options that weren't available in the USA) and installed window cranks and rigged up a heater valve for the time being. I removed a much simpler manual climate control system from a Euro-spec car and am going to replace it with the complicated one my car was built with.

These cars CAN be expensive to own, but they don't HAVE to be. In my experience, I've spent less on quality parts than the average Ford or Toyota owner. The key is shopping around, looking around in wrecking yards, and doing as much of the labor yourself as possible. If you're good with tools and creative, these are fantastic cars even for someone on a very tight budget.

I've driven my 300SD as my only car for about 7 years. For the last year I was using it to commute an hour each way to work (in Phoenix heat with no air conditioning). I've driven it from Oregon to Washington, to Utah, back to Washington, and then from Arizona to Washington and back to Arizona with the car fully loaded inside and out (including things strapped on the roof rack and trunk) and it's only left me stranded once--and that was when it wouldn't start because a previous owner installed a new negative battery cable bolt and didn't tighten the nut. Keep in mind this is plenty of preventative maintenance (replacing parts when they give a warning that they are near the end of their life). I'm currently at 343,000 miles.
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1967 W110 Universal Wagon, Euro, Turbo Diesel, Tail Fins, 4 Speed Manual Column Shift, A/C
1980 W116 300SD Turbo Diesel, DB479 Walnut Brown, Sunroof, Heated Seats, 350,000+

Peter

Hi Cameron and welcome - the diesel 116 and 124 series are the most reliable cars and it looks like you have found a beauty. Learn all you can here on the forum, keep up the maintenance and the minor repairs and this Merc will serve you faithfully. Check out Pelican parts as I found them very professional to deal with. Most of all enjoy the car and the tonnes of cool credibility it brings especially to a 17 year old fella.  ;D