Cheap, Slow & Awesome; The Mercedes-Benz W123 240D

Kinja'd!!! "DailyTurismo" (thedailyturismo)
04/17/2014 at 13:34 • Filed to: Daily Turismo

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Equipped with the automatic transmission, a 240D Mercedes is about the slowest car you can drive around without people looking at you funny. Well...maybe people will still look funny at you , but I've logged many miles behind the wheel of both manual and automatic transmission equipped W123s and I can tell you the slushbox is serene but it is dragging boat anchor while 22 year old burro pulls an oxcart up Pikes Peak slow. Find this !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! offered for $2,000 in Pomona, CA via craiglist.

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The 240D is powered by an inline-4 cylinder 2.4 liter version of the OM616 diesel engine, which is good for 64 horsepower and 101 ft-lbs of torque. Great fuel economy (30+ mpg all day long) and will last 500k miles without a fuss...but...remember the whole burro thing...yah...

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The interior of the W123 needs little introduction or description because it is built from MBTex- which is Kevlar-like in its ability to be bulletproof.

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See another oil burning classic? !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!!

Originally posted as !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! on !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! .


DISCUSSION (10)


Kinja'd!!! Mercedes Streeter > DailyTurismo
04/17/2014 at 13:40

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Cheap, slow & awesome? Sounds like the average night on the streets of Chicago's South Side...

Nice write-up!!!!


Kinja'd!!! Chris Clarke > DailyTurismo
04/17/2014 at 13:41

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Ahh. the venerable 240D. One of my all time favorites. Technically the w123 had 72hp . I use to roll in a w115 and it surely had lost a few of its original 65 ponies.

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Kinja'd!!! Big Bubba Ray > Chris Clarke
04/17/2014 at 13:44

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Funny you just wrote this. I'm currently on the hunt for one for my brother!


Kinja'd!!! DailyTurismo > Mercedes Streeter
04/17/2014 at 13:44

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Thanks!


Kinja'd!!! DailyTurismo > Chris Clarke
04/17/2014 at 13:47

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I had a W115 before the W123 way back in the day. 240D — once timed zero to 60mph with 5 people in the car. 26 seconds. Trans was messed up and behaved like a "semi-auto" — to shift up into the next gear I had to lift off the throttle — this was a problem trying to drive up hills, speed bumps, into headwinds...etc. It was the nastiest shade of poo brown and once the steering box came free of the firewall - suddenly keeping it in the lane at highway speeds required a full turn of steering lock.


Kinja'd!!! RamblinRover Luxury-Yacht > DailyTurismo
04/17/2014 at 13:52

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My dad had a baby blue W115 240D. Currently we've got a crimson W-123 240D (stick) and a baby blue W-123 240D (auto) which is currently in rebuild. Both are pre-climate control early models. My sister drives a dark blue W-123 300D with CC as well.

My W124 300D has serious turbo/fueling issues and too many miles, I doubt it would beat your 0-60, given its performance just last Saturday with three people and a motorcycle on a trailer.


Kinja'd!!! Chris Clarke > DailyTurismo
04/17/2014 at 13:53

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There's a large, steep hill on my return commute that I would have to make a run for. Could usually accelerate to about 60 and generally hold about 35-40 at the crest. This did not make for happy traffic behind me, especially since I had some nasty blow-by and spewed a fog of oily, grey smoke onto anyone who came to close. I suppose, though, since I was equipped with the 4 speed manual transmission that I was able to accelerate faster which made the driving slightly more enjoyable.


Kinja'd!!! Agrajag > DailyTurismo
04/17/2014 at 14:15

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Mine currently has that trait. I was going to fix it(vacuum related) but I think it would be constantly downshifting otherwise. I found that if you can get it to 75 it can maintain that speed up about any hill.


Kinja'd!!! DailyTurismo > Agrajag
04/17/2014 at 14:44

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At freeway speeds, we used to play the "wot open throttle - vs - no throttle" game (technically it isn't a throttle - just a lever attached to the rack...anyway) — passengers close their eyes and the driver (with eyes open) either takes his foot off the accelerator pedal or mashes it to the floor — passengers then would guess which had happened. You can imagine the results were mixed at best.


Kinja'd!!! Agrajag > DailyTurismo
04/17/2014 at 20:46

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Haha. I'm going to do that.