This 1983 Mercedes-Benz 300TD Wagon was acquired by the current owner in November of 2023 and currently shows 109k miles from new. It was sold new by Baslow Hentschel Motors of Fort Pierce, Florida and remained with the original owner for 15 years when it was purchased by the second owner who then had it until 2023 during which time they had passed and sold it through the estate. Finished in Light Ivory (154) over Palomino MB-Tex (154), power is provided by a 3.0-liter inline-five turbodiesel engine paired with a four-speed automatic transmission driving the rear wheels. Factory features include a manual sliding sunroof, power windows, automatic climate control, vacuum powered central locking, cruise control and a Becker Europa radio. Factory literature and hang tags for the climate control and cruise control are included along with documented service history from the original owner. A mechanical refresh was performed by the selling party in preparation for the sale. Recent maintenance includes an A/C refresh, SLS rebuild, suspension/steering overhaul, and much more. This 1983 300TDT is now offered for sale with the original roof racks, original paperwork, 2 ignition keys, a clean Carfax report and a clean West Virginia title in the seller’s name.
The exterior is finished in Light Ivory (154) with chrome body trim, chrome bumpers and chrome roof rails. Exterior equipment includes a manual sliding steel sunroof, front and rear fog lamps, heat insulating glass and a heated rear window. The seller reports that the passenger doors were repainted below the beltline and there is a small ding on the front passenger door. The wagon sports its original glass and there is no rust on the body or chassis. Factory cosmoline can be seen behind the tail lights and the paint is original other than the aforementioned spots. New wiper blades have been installed for the sale.
The factory 14” Bundt alloy wheels are fitted with a set of Michelin Defender tires which measure 195/70 and show 2019 date codes with about 1,000 miles added on the rubber since. No signs of corrosion or damage are visible on the wheels or lugs. Included are factory center caps and a 2019 Michelin Defender mounted on the spare. Recent maintenance performed in the past four years for the braking/steering/suspension include:
The cabin is upholstered in Palomino MB-Tex (154) with matching carpets while Zebrano wood trim lines the center console and dashboard. The seller notes that the dashboard shows no signs of cracking. Interior appointments consist of automatic climate control, cruise control, central locking, power windows and a Becker Europa head unit. The cruise control is said to be currently working. Seats had been removed, rails cleaned and greased, carpets cleaned, new driver seat bottom installed, cargo area carpets dyed, new interior bulbs including the climate control backlighting, and front dome light capacitor. The climate control system has been refreshed as follows:
Other interior items addressed to include:
A four-spoke steering wheel fronts analog instrumentation consisting of an 120-mph speedometer, a 6k-rpm tachometer, a clock and gauges for fuel level, coolant temperature and oil pressure. The six-digit odometer currently shows 109k miles from new.
This S123 is powered by a 3.0-liter OM617A inline-five turbodiesel engine which is factory rated for 123 horsepower and 184 lb-ft of torque. Power is sent to the rear wheels through a four-speed automatic transmission. Maintenance in November 2023 include:
The Carfax report shows registration starting in 1995 in Florida and change of ownership in 1998. Carfax shows an accident in 2020 lining up with the repainted lower passenger doors. This 1983 300TD Wagon is now offered for sale by the current seller with manufacturer's literature, a comprehensive mechanical refresh, no rust, and a clean West Virginia title in their name.
The seller has included the following videos:
It brings joy to our hearts when we see a properly saved, serviced, and surviving S123 in the classic color combination of Light Ivory of Palomino. 1983 was amidst the final iteration of the Series III W123 chassis where Mercedes-Benz had finally dialed these cars in with brute engineering and cut the fat of weaker systems found of earlier W123s (can anyone say ACC II climate control systems?) The current owner lovingly went through this S123 and brought it back to its former glory, servicing it like a Mercedes-Benz technician from the ‘80s would following the strict guidelines of the factory. All the problem issues that occur on the S123 chassis have been fixed. Climate control works and is converted to R134a. The vacuum pods that control the directional air flaps in the dash have been cracked open and diaphragms replaced (there’s only two guys in the U.S. that make these now). The SLS suspension has been overhauled. Paint is mostly original and nice. Last, and not least, no rust! The S123 with the venerable OM617A engine is a generational car that people bought new which then outlasted the buyer. The W123 platform is infinitely rebuildable and is an engineering tour-de-force that was produced by the Bremen factory. There isn’t a modern car that exists today built to the standard these were – nothing at all.
Open Transit:
Enclosed Transit:
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39 Comments
@W123S123 As anyone reading the comments in the listing will surely know by now. I really like facts. You can most likely guess what I don't like. Namely: anecdotal accounts, and untrue statements. Unfortunately this last comment has both. I'll keep it to the facts: 1. The sky isn't falling. 2. I have slot 147, (around 3pm) Thursday, in the Mecum Indianapolis Fall Auction on October 3, 2024. (less than 2 months).
@83TDT. Just some additional info on the “real market Mecum Indy”: 1). It’s not for another 9 months (May 2025) 2). Consignment ENTRY FEES run from $350 - $1000 plus a 6% SELLER’S commission (no reserve) or 10% SELLER commission (reserve). Consignment entry fees are nonrefundable. 3). BUYERS FEES are 10% (in person) and 12% (telephone and internet). I believe this is a whole lot more expensive then 4.5% MBMARKET PLACE or 5% BaT buyers fees. Also, I do not believe that MBMARKET or BaT charges sellers an ENTRY FEE near that much to consign. A buyer should always consider the fee on Mecum is DOUBLE that of MBMARKET or BaT. The market is seriously down right now. Im not saying all cars are but a large majority. A 1989 560SL with 15,000 miles on BaT in August 2022 was bid up to $82,000 (did not meet reserve). Today (2 years to the month) that same car with the same miles was bid up to $50.000. Also, one yesterday put up on a no reserve auction by a dealer sold and went low enough the dealer was not going to sell it to the buyer. BaT intervened and got the deal put through as I guess the dealer did not want to be banned for life from that site. Times they are ah changing!!
Next stop, the real market Mecum Indy.
Definitely a nice car and a seller you WANT to buy a car from. @thembmarket Congrats on showing your prowess in the market FWIW.
The market has spoken twice on this beautiful wagon. Bid to $23K on BaT and $23.5K here. Worth every penny, but clearly not worth as much as this very honest and talented seller wants for it.
$23,500 bid placed by @FredUZell
$23,000 bid placed by @BGflyer
$22,500 bid placed by @FredUZell
GREAT looking wagen and absolutely bullet-proof. Mine had 245k mi when I sold it.... This one's got another 200k mi to go!! Great presentation by a very transparent owner! Next owner will be VERY happy with his purchase!
$22,250 bid placed by @TimotHEY
$22,000 bid placed by @FredUZell
$21,750 bid placed by @BGflyer
$21,500 bid placed by @TimotHEY
$21,250 bid placed by @CaliFresh
$21,000 bid placed by @TimotHEY
This looks like a nice S123 that was restored in the same vein as my cars with similar amounts of love and passion. Really nice work here, good luck. The S123 is probably the most durable car on the planet and its components are infinitely rebuildable. Not to mention they have an insane amount of character and driving feedback. That OM617A in a long roof is a buy it for life kind of car.
$20,750 bid placed by @Schoenau
$20,500 bid placed by @TimotHEY
$20,000 bid placed by @BGflyer
@Dutch2002 There is no doubt in my mind the actual mileage is what appears on the odometer. (a tick less than 109,500) There are quite a few details, and it can be confusing. I will recap: From the Purchase invoice that it was purchased new on 12/15/82. (Why that's not on the car fax, I don't know). Next are the various service records that are very consistent with mild use for 15 years until it was sold to the daughter (as per the executrix) in 1998 (as per car fax). These owners did not register it for use on the road for 15 years (2009, as per the car fax). So, it's quite unlikely many miles were put on it during that time. After that, there isn't much documentation: In 2010 we have an Ecklers receipt for some parts (the door lock diaphragm was indeed installed). Then in 2020 new tires, at 108,500. Previous from that we have a tire Kingdom receipt for new tires as “7027” mi. But thankfully a receipt one month later shows the milage to be 73,138 when the front end was checked. So, from there to the next tires in 2020, at 108,591 would be 35,453 mi. which makes sense. Finally, there is the condition the I purchased the car in. (See my comments below.) So, to sum up this car as been in the ownership of one family, it’s not been through dealers. I’m a retired Chemical Engineer that as Tyler Hoover would say, “Has a car problem.” That is to say I like to work on cars, especially ones that has such an incredible history, and condition of this one. As to why the car would have sat for 15 years, I can tell you that the estate also contained at least 6 other vehicles. One was a diesel pusher motor home from the late 90’s early 2000’s, with 33k mi., anther was a 1999 Cadillac with 2,500 mi. Yes 2,500. A low mileage dart from the 70’s, etc. So, it made perfect sense to me that this car was as you might say, unplanned?
@Dutch2002 This one looks like that's accurate and accounted for. FWIW, this one appears to be one of the nicest S123's currently on the market. We don't know the seller but goin by their comments alone, you can see the passion.
any idea of actual mileage? thank you
$19,000 bid placed by @BILLMSMITH
$18,000 bid placed by @BGflyer
$17,250 bid placed by @MB2727
$17,000 bid placed by @BILLMSMITH
$16,000 bid placed by @BGflyer
Additional photos have been added to the gallery.
I just noticed the picture of me holding the broken off part of the hood hinge maintenance position latch. That was laying in the place where the left (driver side) hood hinge goes when the hood is closed. Looks like someone forced the hood shut and broke it off. It's used to latch the hood in the maintenance position. The other side is used to get it into the maintenance position, and that works. This side (driver, left) is for locking it there. So long as there is not wind, like being inside, I've had no issues with the hood staying up in the maintenance position.
How do I rate the performance of the engine? I've not had one of these before, but, It feels like it has good power, and it sounds good doing it. The cruise control will easily maintain highway speeds on hills. There is a 0-60 and cruise control video. You can get an idea of the 0-60 time from the time elapsed in the video.. Also, there is the oil fill cap blow by video (you can see the cap rotating, due to the vibration, but it doesn't lift).
Is this car ready to run long distances? I would take this car across county tomorrow. I can literally not think of another thing that I would do before that. In fact, I would expect that it would not be a very eventful trip. Click and Clack of Car Talk have been asked that very question at least 3 times that I can recall. Either it was a mother / daughter, Father / Son, Husband / wife, whatever, They always gave the same answer: "Do nothing, let it break, it will be an adventure of a life time." That's why I say it's not likely to be a very adventurous trip.
Next question: Picture of completed D pillar repair? No, I do not. Sorry, but I can tell you a small patch was welded in, seam sealed, and painted. The is a picture before the welding. (It's has text in it the called it the "C" pillar).
I've been asked a few good questions. I will share the answers here: Given the gap in the history, how do I know the mileage is accurate? I spoke with the executrix of the estate. I was told that this was the owners mothers car. That's how they came to own it. I also know that they had at least 6 other vehicles, some had very low mileage (one was a 1999 Cadillac with 2,500 mi.). So the fact they did not register it for a license plate for many years made sense. Then there was the car it's self.: My Initial inspection: Initial check of fluids showed all fluids present and accounted for. The car started, shutoff, ran, stopped ok. By ran ok, I mean it would suffer fuel starvation on full or near full throttle (due to bad check valves in the lift pump), the SLS was not functioning, (low in the back, and very bouncy), the steering had a bit of play at near highway speeds, the A/C didn’t work, the seats didn’t want to adjust, the clock, and the tach didn’t work, and it had a significant exhaust leak. I tell you this so you can see how it was clear that this car had not been used much since the 2nd owner acquired it. As for the interior, it was a bit dirty, but no indication that it had been smoked in, also, no unusual smells, and no signs of mouse/rodent damage.
Regarding the wood. I've sent in 3 pictures to be added. One shows the wood in the console fairly accurately. The other 2 are of the ash tray, and the lighter. I took many many pictures under different lighting. I could make the wood look better, or worse. I wanted something accurate. It turns out that was hard for me to do. What I would say about it is, that the wood presents well, not perfect, but quite nice. None of the wood is delaminating, it all lays flat, and there is a consistent gloss, and depth of the clear coat., and the color and grains vary by an amount you would expect for wood. In the pictures you can nit pit some details, but they really don't show up in normal use. What is noticeable is on the main piece around the shifter, and the switches, the clear is starting to crack. I think I captured the essence of what is going on there. Again, It is possible to take pictures that make this look a lot worse, and ones' that don't show it at all. So I went with one that shows it about how you might notice it in real life.
@W123S123 I mounted them in the exact locations that they were in prior to me acquiring the car.. I did not want to make any new holes,, which I didn’t. I did need to trim the corner off the passenger side holder. It does not need to be open to operate the door handle. It is close. But doesn’t interfere. They are in different locations. I think this is due to glove box, head light switch etc.
Just curious as to the passenger side cup holder. I noticed it is in quite a different area the one on the drivers door (passenger side cup holder is right against door handle). Do you have to open the cup holder on the passenger side door to allow clearance for the door handle to open? Looks like part of the corner of the cup holder had to be removed to mount it. Just kind of odd?
@Daniel75 The bottom 2 are, (around the shifter, and the ash tray). The upper 2 were restored from the bare aluminum base plate. Zambino veneer was glued to furniture grade plywood , which was previously glued to the original base plates. Then stained, and polyurethaned.. I meant get more pictures of that area.,. Unfortunately I Won’t be able to do that until later on Sunday. (tomorrow). I will say the ash tray, nor the cigarette lighter show any signs of being used for smoking, or for much of anything, for that matter. That is to say that they’re in excellent condition.
Is the Zebrano trim original?
@cebogs00 Ii don’t know about that. I think they all get like that eventually.
all in all a very nice example, i think
thank you for the explanation 83TDT. there is a slight bump on the right side of the dashboard. do you think it is re-formable?
@cebogs00 You are correct. The 2 keys that came with the car are not MB brand. I ordered keys, and paid for them, at my local MB dealer, based on the VIN. 2 weeks later they called and said,, MB Classic stopped doing that:-(. They refunded my money. I purchased a lock cylinder with a VIN based key for the rear hatch. So I have a key for the hatch from MB, but it doesn’t match the VIN! On the bright side, I have been inside the hatch, and all the mechanisms are in perfect order, well lubricated, and absolutely no rust or corrosion to be seen!
Dear 83TDT, excellent presentation, thank you. Can you please give some information about the keys? So far I can evaluate, the keys seem not to be original. The original keys are lost?
Additional photos have been added to the gallery.
I wanted to say something about the radio and tape deck. The tape deck works fine, the tape deck has new belts, and the rollers aha d even cleaned. All the buttons on the radio work, however the reception is a bit weak. You can here how the radio gets loader, , and clearer as the antenna goes up in the video.
I’ve mounted the cup holder in the holes that were there. Need to figure out how to add pictures.
$15,000 bid placed by @BILLMSMITH
Thinking of smells, regarding this car, that’s why I changed out the injectors. It wasn’t until I had the suspension , brakes, and SLS sorted out, that I stared to drive it a bit. I went into the garage one day, and smelled diesel fuel. That was the first time I smelled that, and not been working on bathe fuel system Turns out it’s a common problem. The fuel injectors are make of 2 half’s, (top and bottom), the joint is an interference tapered joint, and they weep after many years. Turns out 3 of them were seeping,. so, I went ahead and replaced all 5., as well as all the rubber fuel lines in the engine compartment. That fixed the odor. You do of course smell diesel exhaust if you back up, or are in a garage. With the motor running , but otherwise, as I said, no smells, not even diesel fuel.
@GregF I agree, some like the history that the patina portrays. Others like everything perfect. I like to focus on the functionality, and making what’s there as nice as possible, within reason.
$10,000 bid placed by @BGflyer
@83TDT Perfection is overrated and no fun to actually drive and use as intended. I've had perfect and I sold it - it wasn't worth the ulcers....
Some, probably most, of you have noticed the holes, and indentations in the front door cards. These were from cup holders. Apparently MB sold these as an accessory. They were, broken, and missing parts. However, I have, received new ones that are exactly like the ones that were there, except there not broken. I didn’t want to say anything until I had them in my hands.. Now I do, and they are of excellent quality. I will post a picture once they are installed.
@GregF Thanks, that was my intention. I have bought a few cars sight unseen, and one was as expected the other had an Oder that was not disclosed. Who does that? So, yes it is as presented, not perfect, but very nice in all respects. No odors in this car!
I've just come to hear to say to @seller: Excellent presentation! This might be one of the very few times I'd feel totally comfortable buying a site unseen online auction car. You've raised the bar for transparency. Well done and best of luck. If I didn't already have a Benz wagon I'd be all over this. Plus it would look so cool parked next to my 1983 Chiffon Weiss 911SC.
$7,750 bid placed by @Dutch2002
Thinking about all of the typical issues that these cars have, it occurred to me, that I hand not taken pictures of the seats when they were out. However, I can tell you that I inspected the springs in the seats, and none were broken, or even repaired. Also, these have the round springs in the corners (which was a running change MB made).
$7,500 bid placed by @Daniel75
I've been asked to elaborate on the damage sustained in 2020. I don't have any first hand information about that, as the owners had passed before I became interested in the car. However, the paint work seems to be older than that, and the report references the right rear corner. To me, the doors would be described as right side. However, when I went to look at the car for the first time, the right rear tail light was broken (see picture). This matches the description better. I'm assuming they reported it, collected the money, and never got around to fixing it. So I purchased a used tail light, and installed it. I also took pictures of the area behind the tail lights that show that area to be as it left the factory. Meaning, there is no sheet metal repair in that area, and the damage was limited to the plastic tail light. Back to the doors: Looks like there was a light scraping along that area. I say that because I've been inside the doors, and there is no signs of the sheet metal damage on the inside. So the damage must have been very minor. However there is a small dent in the passenger front door, which can be seen in the pictures. There are also 2 dents that are under the right rear bumper cover. The paint isn't cracked or even scratched in those 2 dents (see picture). So, was that part of the damage in the report? I just don't know. The only parts of all this that you actually notice, by walking around the car, is the small dent in the passenger front door. The other issues, you need to get down low, and look very closely to see that it's not perfect. Hope that helps. The remainder of the paint, and sheet metal is clearly original, and in great condition.
$5,250 bid placed by @roylee
$5,000 bid placed by @CaliFresh
Feel free to ask questions, comment or send a message. I have a large amount of information to share. I didn't want to overwhelm anyone. I've made an effort to show any of the issues, and show any repairs, and all the maintenance , so there would be no disappointment after the sale. Bottom line, it is a really nice car.
WOW. As an owner of an 83 300TD manual with 120k miles, it's rare to find one as nice or even nicer than mine. Definitely watching this one, good luck to the seller!
$3,000 bid placed by @cebogs00
$2,500 bid placed by @Dutch2002
$2,000 bid placed by @BGflyer