Absolutely beautiful 1981 Mercedes Benz 300SD Turbo Deisel w126

1981 Mercedes-Benz S-Class Description

I believe I'm the third owner. The owner previous to me passed away last year at the age of 91. He was a design engineer at Mattel who had patents on everything from push toys with operable mouths (think Masters of the Universe Land Shark) to different vehicle racing game apparatus'.

Otto was a German who always drove German vehicles and diesels. I bought 2 of the 3 cars his family had for sale. This Mercedes and an '81 VW Caddy. The third vehicle was a 300SDL but wasn't nearly as nice as this one. I bought this Mercedes along with the Caddy because I had an '82 300SD in the same Silver Blue Metallic while in college. The car looked identical to this and brought back good memories so I made a deal on both vehicles.

The previous owner bought this car from a family friend who was as far as I can tell the original owner. He was driving his 300SDL and told the lady that if she was ever going to sell it let him know because he wanted it. His wife wasn't happy when the lady eventually called him up and offered him the car. He promised his wife that he'd sell the 300sdl if he could get the SD. Well long story short, He got the SD and the SDL got moved outside to make space for this car.

I don't have any background on the lady who owned the car prior besides registration and license type paperwork.

Now on to this car.....

You will be hard pressed to find a cleaner and nicer example of an early w126 than this 300 turbo diesel. While not perfect, this Mercedes has been lovingly maintained by it's past 2 owners over the last 36 years and by myself since I've owned it. It has lived it's entire life near Temecula California.As a result this car is rust free in the true sense of the word.
256k miles seems like a lot but this tank has excellent compression, great mid and top end power, and almost no blow-by (The cap doesn't even move when doing the dancing cap test). Since I bought the car, I've been going through the car and fixing the minor issues that have come up. From the time I've owned it I've done the following work:
1. New radiator
2. New fan clutch
3. Coolant flush and replaced with the proper Permofrost blue coolant
4. Replaced 3mm Vacuum lines
5. Replaced rear window regulators
6. Replaced engine heat pad
7. Oil change with Rotella T and Wix filter
Now, as I said this Mercedes isn't perfect but it runs great and needs nothing to be a daily driver.

The only modifications to the vehicle are pinstripes down the sides and around the corners. Everything else is 100% stock to my knowledge

-Driver’s seat only tilts up and down currently but not forward and reverse. I believe the problem is the switch but will investigate.

-there is a small crack in the windshield that has been isolated but is still about the size of a nickel

-there are 4 door dings on the driver’s side (3 near the rear door handle and 1 near the drivers) and 1 ding on the passenger side.

-The sunroof opens and closes but is slow when it's cold out or the car has been in the garage. This typically indicates that there is grease in the motor cable and when heated by the sun it allows the cable to move more freely.

-The cruise control currently isn't working. I haven't had a chance to troubleshoot this yet.

-there is a crack on the drivers side left bolster. Because the MBTex is gray it's not extremely noticeable but it is there.

-please note the small chip in the plastic of the grill

-The sunvisors are cracked on the top side. This is only visible when they are pulled down.

-The plastic trim on the doors has melted from the desert heat.

-The rear window leaks due to seal shrinkage but only when under high water pressure.

-While the paint is extremely nice for being original, it is 36 years old and has some nicks. Please do not expect a concourse car but rather an extremely nice survivor.

Also, please don't hesitate to ask any questions. If there are any areas you would like to see that are not photographed please let me know and I will gladly send them. I have over 200 detailed photos of the car and would gladly share them.

Thanks

Jos

Just a couple keywords :) w126 W140 300td 300d 560SL 560SEL 450sl 450 190 AMG w201 w123 w124 deisel diesel