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Garage => Test Drive => Topic started by: Casey on 28 April 2011, 07:31 PM

Title: Getting my first W116 tomorrow!!
Post by: Casey on 28 April 2011, 07:31 PM
I went and checked it out today...  It's not bad at all.  No restoration so will need some work, but isn't bad at all for a 1980 300SD (the exact car I've dreamed about for years) with 175k miles.  It's been garaged most of it's life, and the seller had 4 other 80's S-class diesels in the garage and driveway, so I know he's pretty sincere.  $5,300, which I think is a pretty fair deal!  I had to borrow the majority of the money from a friend to get it, but I get to pick it up TOMORROW!!

So exciting...

Pics here:
https://picasaweb.google.com/Sam.Khoshnoud/300SD?authkey=Gv1sRgCJ3WsvbS-9-Tcg&feat=directlink#

I'll surely be posting more as I start driving it and working on making it like new again...
Title: Re: Getting my first W116 tomorrow!!
Post by: 1980sdga on 28 April 2011, 07:40 PM
Nice car and it sounds like a fair price!  Where are you located?
Title: Re: Getting my first W116 tomorrow!!
Post by: jbrasile on 28 April 2011, 09:34 PM
Congratulations Raptelan!

Nice solid car. Love the color combo and the tobacco interior is the same I have in my 78 450SEL, except mine is velour.

Good luck with the car!

Joe
Title: Re: Getting my first W116 tomorrow!!
Post by: foss on 28 April 2011, 10:55 PM
Congratulations :) on your first w116, hope you have as much enjoyment driving a w116 as i do.

cheers Foss
Title: Re: Getting my first W116 tomorrow!!
Post by: Mforcer on 29 April 2011, 12:08 AM
Another nice looking car :)

I look forward to reading more :)
Title: Re: Getting my first W116 tomorrow!!
Post by: Tony66_au on 29 April 2011, 03:16 AM
What a great colour combo!

I love the interior and the 2 tone effect on the  headlining, that creamy almost "Old English white" exterior really Pops too.

Nice find man.

Tony
Title: Re: Getting my first W116 tomorrow!!
Post by: Casey on 29 April 2011, 05:46 AM
Quote from: foss on 28 April 2011, 10:55 PM
Congratulations :) on your first w116, hope you have as much enjoyment driving a w116 as i do.

Thanks!  :)  I've owned a W114, W123, and most recently, a W124 - all diesel.  Loved every one.  But the W116 has been a dream since my early days with the W114 - to me it's the pinnacle in automotive engineering and a thing of absolute beauty.  I spend over 2 hours on the road every weekday - but this car is going to make that really enjoyable. :D
Title: Re: Getting my first W116 tomorrow!!
Post by: MB_Mike on 29 April 2011, 09:55 AM
Congratulations. Happy to hear of another enthusiastic 116 owner.
Title: Re: Getting my first W116 tomorrow!!
Post by: Squiggle Dog on 29 April 2011, 02:50 PM
Nice to see another 1980 300SD owner! You made a good choice of car. I think I saw a post of yours on Benzworld about wrecking your last Mercedes. This should be a great replacement for it.
Title: Re: Getting my first W116 tomorrow!!
Post by: 1980sdga on 29 April 2011, 08:54 PM
I sometimes drive 1000 miles a week, mostly about 600-750 miles.  I'm new to MB but the 300SD is a really solid machine.

I'm banking on it being a good car  :o  I have a backup but the wife won't let me drive it forever!

That is a nice car.

Interesting that it's a non EGR. I thought that only the 79's had non EGR's for some reason...
Title: Re: Getting my first W116 tomorrow!!
Post by: Casey on 29 April 2011, 11:49 PM
Quote from: Squiggle Dog on 29 April 2011, 02:50 PM
Nice to see another 1980 300SD owner! You made a good choice of car. I think I saw a post of yours on Benzworld about wrecking your last Mercedes. This should be a great replacement for it.

Yep, that was me.  My last car was a dark blue W124 1986 300D (euro import, similar to the 1987 but without a  turbo).  Wrecked it last week. :(  But you know, all things happen for a reason, and everything's worked out great.  Since my first Mercedes diesel almost 10 years ago, I have owned only Mercedes diesels, and furthermore, have idealized the W116 all along (at first thinking that I'd prefer the larger S-class without thinking about specific bodies, then refining it to the W116 after considering the pros and cons of each chassis along with comparing against the other chassis' I owned (W114, W123, W124).

The 1986 was a pretty decent car, and looked respectable enough from the outside, but honestly I always hated the newer body styling and the entire interior was totally shot.  I bought the car for $1500, had put $3000 more into fixing important stuff in the year since I bought it, and it still had some outstanding mechanical issues as well as needing an entire interior replacement, and a lot of small issues.  It had well over a half million miles, but I'm not sure even how many, because the odometer was broken.  It was a money pit.  I would have kept it for a while longer, and it's sad to see any classic Mercedes come to harm, but my plan was to save up for a W116 while driving it anyways.  So now, I've just borrowed enough money to make the W116 happen now.  Hopefully the old one will make somebody happy, even if it ends up being given up on and reduced to parts to keep others on the road longer.  All's well that ends well!
Title: Re: Getting my first W116 tomorrow!!
Post by: Casey on 29 April 2011, 11:52 PM
Quote from: 1980sdga on 29 April 2011, 08:54 PM
Interesting that it's a non EGR. I thought that only the 79's had non EGR's for some reason...

How do you tell?  I'm assuming it's better for performance to have non-EGR?
Title: Re: Getting my first W116 tomorrow!!
Post by: Casey on 30 April 2011, 12:02 AM
Quote from: 1980sdga on 28 April 2011, 07:40 PM
Nice car and it sounds like a fair price!  Where are you located?
I'm in Maryland.
Title: Re: Getting my first W116 tomorrow!!
Post by: 1980sdga on 30 April 2011, 01:15 AM
(http://i711.photobucket.com/albums/ww112/jhoff/IMG_1920.jpg)
(http://i711.photobucket.com/albums/ww112/jhoff/IMG_1917.jpg)

The first picture is a non EGR like yours and the second has the  EGR.  "Exhaust Gas Recirculation"  It was early emissions control stuff that pumped a little exhaust into the intake manifold.  I believe it was mainly to warm the engine up earlier and keep the intake charge warm. 

You can see the valve and the shiny pipe on the front left of the engine.  I think those vacuum lines on the top of the valve cover control part of it.

Can't be good for performance plus it's something else to screw up!
Title: The drive home...
Post by: Casey on 30 April 2011, 10:09 AM
So today I headed down to Virginia with the fattest wad of cash in my pocket that's ever been there, plopped it down on the table, and in trade received a signed over title for a 1980 300SD.  Might I note, the ORIGINAL title.  Issued in 2/11/1980 when the odometer reading was only 10 miles.  The excitement was unbearable...

After writing down a number for a recommended mechanic to address some immediate issues, I jumped in, and headed out for the 1.5 hour journey home.  Sitting in the car that I knew was now mine, I familiarized myself with the orientation of controls and the aftermarket radio.  No amount of fiddling with the climate control would make anything happen but high heat softly blowing from the vents (vent selection works, but nothing, not even "off", will disable the heater).  Settled for closing the vents, which sufficed just fine.  After stopping to fill up the tank, I remembered that this car has a *working* sunroof (a first for me!), so I opened it up for the cruise.  In neutral, the bad motor mount was apparent, as there was knocking sound, but when shifting into drive while stationary or driving, I couldn't really even tell.  It's a lot smoother ride than my previous cars.

I also filled up the bone dry windshield washer reservoir, and then met my second disappointment - the wipers stuck and wouldn't return to their original position, staying halfway across the windshield.  With repeated efforts, they jerkily made it back down, wiped again, and got stuck in the same place.  But after a few minutes of this, they operated flawlessly!  However, although I can hear a motor when I press the washer button, I have not managed to get any fluid to flow through.  Probably the nozzles are clogged.  I will fiddle around with a needle or something tomorrow.

Hit the road, and although I'd test driven a little bit, the first highway back was a good 15 miles of sharp windy curves and a lot of hills.  The car handled better than any other car I have ever driven, and then some.  But I was in for a real treat once I got to the DC beltway.  Rush hour passed but still significant volumes of traffic, I closed the sunroof, hit the gas and accelerated onto the wide freeway.  Before I knew it I was passing everyone I could without noticing.  Where was the come-and-go vibration at certain speeds?  The annoyingly loud engine noise?  The feel of bumps on the road?  The lack of acceleration power?  It was quiet, smooth as glass, had more acceleration than any other Mercedes diesel I've owned, and was just *fun*.  (In driving my girl's Oldsmobile Alero for the last week, I was seriously missing the "fun" aspect of driving...).

I looked over the console - disappointment 3 struck - the odometer had about 12,000 more miles than the description of the car mentioned, and wasn't going up as I drove.  How long might it have been this way?  I started wondering what other nasty surprises I was going to find, wondering how badly I'd been scammed.  Then I remembered that I was really enjoying the car, and all the nice attributes.  I realized that I was probably being irrational, and moreover, I didn't care.  It was clearly worth every penny I'd paid, even if I didn't know exactly how many miles were on it.  The seller had told me that it had been sitting in storage for 2 years, which explained why the wipers didn't work right away but started working perfectly after some use.  Maybe the odometer got stuck in that time too, and he genuinely didn't know.  He seemed very purposeful in pointing out every flaw he was aware of, so I decided it was utterly silly to think negative thoughts.  Besides, there was 267 miles on the tripometer, and when I pressed the button, it reset to zero without issue (never did count up either though).  The description had said 175,000 miles, but that's clearly an estimate number, and not really THAT far off from the odometer.

The rest of the ride home was mostly just getting familiar with the car's size and specifics.  I didn't have a chance to see what sort of speed it could reach due to traffic, but I sure enjoyed the ride.  I did check the pictures of the car when I got home (linked in the first post), and it looks like the odometer is stuck at 3 miles more than the picture shows.  What to guess from this I don't know.  I sent the seller an inquiry to see if he knew anything about it or maybe how to fix it.

So then, we decided to head to a city about 20 minutes away, to do some thrift store shopping (some special sale running until midnight).  In the darkness, I found that the dome light went out as soon as I closed the door, and I could not get it to come back on.  The farthest-forward position on the switch seems to only illuminate the light when there is a door open, and the middle and rear position don't do anything.  Not sure exactly what is going on with that yet.  But then I started the car, and turned on the lights.  Suddenly, WOW, that's a beautiful instrument panel!  The lighting is just *perfect*!!  I tried the adjustment knob, felt some friction in the turn, and got a whole lot of flickering and intermittent illumination.  So just turned it back and forth over and over, until it started working smoothly and correctly.  I guess it had some corrosion or something from disuse and/or sitting in it.  Just needed a little use.

As we headed down the road at night, the pleasure of driving the car at night really shone through.  The headlights were much better than on the W124, although they randomly changed brightness occasionally as we drove (no ideas here, but I have yet to look at fuses, etc.).  Pushed it up to 85mph, heard a fair bit of wind noise on the driver door, probably because the door seal needs replaced.  Indulged in some 80's cassette tapes at the thrift store, and ended up blasting Clarence Carter for the ride home.  It will need new speakers at some point to handle any amount of bass or volume as they'll start crackling, but they work pretty well at normal listening levels.  With the music up I easily passed everyone else heading down a 4-lane road, and tore through a roundabout at enough speed to hear the tires squeal on the turns, but the handling was incredible.  Headed home with a smile on my face the whole way.
Title: Re: Getting my first W116 tomorrow!!
Post by: Squiggle Dog on 30 April 2011, 10:42 AM
I've yet to drive another car that is as comfortable or handles as well as a W116.  I also feel very safe in them and I love the great fuel mileage I get from the diesel engine. People say diesels are slow, but the 300SD actually feels faster than many V8 cars I've driven!

I got my first 1980 300SD 7 years ago for $400 when I needed cheap transportation, and since then I've been hooked. I got discouraged when all the typical W116 problems surfaced (climate control not working, windows won't go down, etc.) and I sold it, but then I figured out that I could convert the power accessories to manual and learned to fix everything else properly when I got my next 1979 300SD for free.

I feel your pain about the seller not being totally honest and hiding things. I got badly taken on mine. But now it's becoming an awesome car (doing a transmission swap this weekend). I think you paid a lot more than you should have, BUT I think it still WORTH what you paid for it, considering how well-made it is and it's in better condition than most.

Have fun with your car! It's interesting that someone else on this forum is planning on purchasing a W124 after their W116 was damaged.
Title: Re: Getting my first W116 tomorrow!!
Post by: Casey on 30 April 2011, 12:24 PM
Quote from: Squiggle Dog on 30 April 2011, 10:42 AM
Have fun with your car! It's interesting that someone else on this forum is planning on purchasing a W124 after their W116 was damaged.

Thanks.  I'm definitely going to enjoy it!  The W124 gets better mileage, and the incredible amount of wear and tear mine showed attests to it's ability to run forever too.  But it's of course a smaller vehicle, which I personally would gladly sacrifice in trade for higher gas expense, and well, I just personally really dislike the more modern body styles, even if it was a little more aerodynamic.  I would not want to ever own any Mercedes newer than a W124/W126.  On one hand it was nice to have a 1986 W124 because it looked the same as a 1995 W124, but it's just not my style.  The W116 really represents the absolute pinnacle in good style to me.  To each their own.
Title: Re: Getting my first W116 tomorrow!!
Post by: gavin116 on 30 April 2011, 06:39 PM
All the best with the new car.  It looks like it was very well looked after in the past.  I am sure so much more economical to run than a 450.  If only I could drive the 116 all the time, but we have no SD's here in the UK.  I saw you mentioned you wanted an easy way to adapt your cassette player to work with your iPod, well I listen to my iPod in the car using a iPod cassette adapter. It cost less than £2.00, although the postage was almost as dear.  Here's a link:

http://www.play.com/Electronics/Electronics/4-/10502032/Accessory-Agents-Stereo-iPod-MP3-Cassette-Adapter/Product.html?_%24ja=tsid:11518%7Ccat:10502032%7Cprd:10502032
Title: Re: Getting my first W116 tomorrow!!
Post by: Casey on 30 April 2011, 08:26 PM
Quote from: gavin116 on 30 April 2011, 06:39 PM
All the best with the new car.  It looks like it was very well looked after in the past.  I am sure so much more economical to run than a 450.  If only I could drive the 116 all the time, but we have no SD's here in the UK.  I saw you mentioned you wanted an easy way to adapt your cassette player to work with your iPod, well I listen to my iPod in the car using a iPod cassette adapter. It cost less than £2.00, although the postage was almost as dear.  Here's a link:

http://www.play.com/Electronics/Electronics/4-/10502032/Accessory-Agents-Stereo-iPod-MP3-Cassette-Adapter/Product.html?_%24ja=tsid:11518%7Ccat:10502032%7Cprd:10502032

Yeah, this is what I was thinking of using for the time being.  The problem with this approach is twofold, however:

1.  I'd like to not have wires strewn about in the car - one plugged into the ashtray lighter to keep the iPod charged and another going into the cassette deck.  I'd much rather have permanent wiring into the glove box compartment, where I can just plug in a single dock connector wire to the iPod, out of site and charged to boot.

2.  With the cassette adapter, or an aux in port, I have to control the iPod from the iPod itself.  This isn't the most ideal when driving.  I'd much rather be able to use the deck's controls on the console to change songs, etc., which is only possible with a deck that explicitly supports this sort of interfacing.

Newer Mercedes' come with this as an option, and I think it's one that makes a lot of sense.  But then, they don't have cassette tape support. :(
Title: Re: Getting my first W116 tomorrow!!
Post by: Big_Richard on 30 April 2011, 08:29 PM
newer mb's allow the insertion of solid state memory devices so mp3 & wma files can be accessed directly by the "command" system.

who needs a cassette deck  8)
Title: Re: Getting my first W116 tomorrow!!
Post by: 1980sdga on 30 April 2011, 09:16 PM
Relax...  I don't think you got a screaming deal and I don't think you got ripped off.  You got a gently used Benz should (If the legend be true...) give you years of service.

I also think you have the desirable engine.

Sad that power windows were crap back then And the whole ACC thing was a debacle...

Mine has 97,000 miles and rolling.  I think...  I have one that shows 220,000 but the speedometer has been replaced. It's pretty solid but has a lot of negative camber in the rear. The alignment tech says that there is no adjustment so some bushings must be worn.

I Flew about 500 miles and drove mine home!  Is that faith or stupidity??

My AC is working for the moment. Mine was blowing cold near Miami but when I changed it to defrost it decided it liked that setting and stuck.  It was pretty hot in the car because it was still blowing hot air out the defrost ducts. My engine also decided not to turn off about this time. I ended up pulling the AC fuse to stop the blower from running.  I think I turned the AC button off and put it on hi cool (I think) before replacing the fuse. Now the engine will shut off so I believe it's a vacuum leak in the AC system. I haven't touched the AC buttons   other than the AC on/off switch. It controls the compressor and I just close the dash vents manually. The blower runs with the ignition on.

My temp gauge is also out which is my next project.

It is doing some strange things electrically...  I had no glow plug light (and possibly no glow plugs working ) until tonight.  Seems to have fixed itself.  My headlights were coming on with the ignition like daytime running lights but that stopped when the glow plug light  came on.  I'm doing some suspension work as well. Waiting on parts...

And I do enjoy driving it!  The performance seems to be getting better and better the more fuel I run through it.  I pegged the speedo today  ;D  but I don't think it'll be doing that a lot!  It felt pretty solid at those speeds and seems to "want" to cruise at about 70mph.  I'd also like to have a 120mph speedo but I'm about spent out on the car for now.  I did drop a car payment though  ;D so there will be some money for fixing other things.  Insurance dropped as well...
Title: Re: Getting my first W116 tomorrow!!
Post by: Casey on 30 April 2011, 11:02 PM
Quote from: Major Tom 6.9 on 30 April 2011, 08:29 PM
who needs a cassette deck  8)

I dunno, I never used one before.  But it sure is fun driving down the road in a 1980 car swapping cassettes!
Title: Re: Getting my first W116 tomorrow!!
Post by: Casey on 30 April 2011, 11:13 PM
Quote from: 1980sdga on 30 April 2011, 09:16 PM
Relax...  I don't think you got a screaming deal and I don't think you got ripped off.  You got a gently used Benz should (If the legend be true...) give you years of service.

I also think you have the desirable engine.

Oh, I'm relaxed.  8)  I figure that anything less than $8000 on a W116 means a project car, and I'm fine with that.  I got all  the desirable things I really wanted in a W116, and it doesn't matter how much it cost - I don't intend to part with this wonderful vehicle.  I'm happy to have gotten a W116 within budget while also feeling that I paid a fair price to the seller (I'm not entirely selfish ;) ).  I'll have to figure out the exact engine model, but I targeted a 1980 specifically because it had a better engine than the 1979, and it lacks the EGR, which is apparently a good thing too.

Definitely no complaints!
Title: Re: Getting my first W116 tomorrow!!
Post by: 1980sdga on 01 May 2011, 12:48 AM
My headlights were dimming and getting brighter as I was driving just like you described and my voltage regulator went out.

I'd add it to my list as well. It was a pretty easy job on mine.  Cheap too...
Title: Re: Getting my first W116 tomorrow!!
Post by: Casey on 01 May 2011, 10:27 AM
Quote from: 1980sdga on 01 May 2011, 12:48 AM
My headlights were dimming and getting brighter as I was driving just like you described and my voltage regulator went out.

I'd add it to my list as well. It was a pretty easy job on mine.  Cheap too...
Do you have any pictures of where this is and a part number I could order?
Title: Re: Getting my first W116 tomorrow!!
Post by: 1980sdga on 01 May 2011, 10:48 PM
(http://i711.photobucket.com/albums/ww112/jhoff/IMG_1978.jpg)

I knew I saved that part for something  ;D  You'll need an offset screwdriver to remove the 2 phillips screws.  I cut one off because it wouldn't make a revolution because it hit the engine block.

The regulator is on the back of the alternator.  You'll have to remove the U pipe on the breather and the air intake tube.  You don't even have to remove any wires.

I got mine at Advance and it was about $30. They had to order it though...
Title: Re: Getting my first W116 tomorrow!!
Post by: 1980sdga on 01 May 2011, 11:03 PM
(http://i711.photobucket.com/albums/ww112/jhoff/IMG_1911.jpg)

old vs new
Title: Re: Getting my first W116 tomorrow!!
Post by: koan on 02 May 2011, 12:22 AM
Quote from: 1980sdga on 01 May 2011, 10:48 PM
You don't even have to remove any wires.

Good idea to remove one big wire, the battery ground terminal.

Ken
Title: Re: Getting my first W116 tomorrow!!
Post by: 1980sdga on 02 May 2011, 09:50 PM
Quote from: koan on 02 May 2011, 12:22 AM
Quote from: 1980sdga on 01 May 2011, 10:48 PM
You don't even have to remove any wires.

Good idea to remove one big wire, the battery ground terminal.

Ken

Good advise!