1985 Mercedes Benz 300Td diesel for sale by owner - Santa Monica, CA - craigslist (2024)

*Please take the time to read the ad, there's a lot of work done on not only the description, but the car itself *

I found this wagon on a property in the woods in Oregon, with over 200 classic cars, mostly Mercedes, and the gentleman who amassed them, passed away. I helped find most of them new homes, however; I then spent the next couple years working on this one in order to bring it on the Death Valley Tour this past month.

This wagon has had nearly every square inch of it gone through, and most of it within the last year.
It was still in its original paint when I brought it home, thus guaranteeing that there were no repairs and no previous alterations. The paint was in good, original condition, it just would not polish up due to the clear-coat loss. I had it re-painted in its original custom, "Black Pearl" color ( code 199G ), which looks like a dark anthracite but with a hint of blue metallic, most notable in the direct sun.

It was recently driven down from Oregon to LA, then, just last month, participated in the celebrated, invitational Blue Nelson W123 Wagon Death Valley tour.

Much work has been completed on the car and it runs and drives very well with, yes, cold A/C. No, I did not just charge it and say its done, the A/C compressor has been replaced with a new one, new dryer, replaced aux fan, climate control, Klima relay, etc. and charged up on its original R12 freon, so it blows very cold. ( Thank you Josh and Geoff in the W123 L.A. community for this )

Yikes, lots of recent work:

- Before paint, the windows, door handles, all trim, bumpers, etc. were removed. Then a lovely, repaint in original Black Pearl, two stage base coat/clear coat was performed., Now is has been recently polished. The shop painted it with high build clear so the car could be cut and buffed for a more brilliant, and smooth finish, there is plenty of material to do so. Right now it's in its "paint gun finish" which looks like a nice, factory paint job.

- all carpet was removed, deep cleaned, re-dyed and then all re-installed

- replaced both rear left and right C pillars, although not 100% perfect, the original ones were much worse than these. The rear D pillars I think should be replaced.

- replaced the sunroof headliner, as the original one had a tear in it, and also replaced the often broken T handle and surrounding chrome escutcheon plate beneath

- replaced brakes, sensors and rotors

- valve adjustment, then smartly glass-beaded and sealed the original OM617 valve cover

- recent oil / filter change

- desirable, 2.88 rear differential, recently serviced. This one year only gearing, allows for higher freeway speeds with less engine stress

- sls ( hydraulic self leveling system ) has been repaired and works well. ( Accumulators, proportional valve, head pump, reservoir, lines, etc) This is an expensive endeavor. This wagon has not had the SLS suspension bypass, to avoid the huge expense, it was rebuilt properly

- removed transmission- serviced and resealed, front pump seal, replaced the b2 piston, then re-installed

- removed and cleaned the fuel tank, cleaned the tank filter, changed the hoses, painted it and re-installed, not a glamours job

- no, I didn't bypass the EGR valve, even though its no longer necessary for smog

- removed all 4 door panels, serviced and greased all of the window regulators, deep cleaned the door panels before re-installing them. Also check to see that the windows all work properly and door locks.

- replaced rear left window lift motor

- replaced all 4 door check straps, now they stay open properly

- replaced both rear wagon-only door seals

- replaced both front door panel pockets with restored ones

- removed and restored all 4 wind laces. These are often missing the fabric, not on this car.

- Both front seats were replaced as the original ones were leather and not in good enough condition to keep, the rear seats are original leather, as delivered new

- replaced the under rear seat liner, and cleaned thoroughly before doing so

- Removed and professionally polished the rear seat locating brackets

- Professionally machine polished hub caps and match painted with the factory MBZ masking tool

- all 5 date matched rims were sandblasted and painted satin black

- restored complete gauge cluster

- repaired cruise control

- 5 new ironman white wall tires

- replaced both left and right headlight doors

- replaced both headlights and now has hard-to-find, deep yellow, correct, Bosch fog lights

- New windshield and German front windshield seal

- replaced both left and right tail lights ( these are Jett Scott's excellent reproductions )

- replaced both rear hatch shocks with German Stabilus shocks, so now the hatch stays up properly

- center / shift console wood has been professionally refinished

- replaced hazard switch, and window switches

- fully sorted and detailed engine bay with a new, diesel-rated, group 49 battery, with newly restored battery tray. Yes you can, and should, take this to your local cars and coffee and open the hood to display the engine area, its quite tidy

- new hood pad, yes with the good one.

- replaced the grille with an entirely new one and chrome grille surround

Comes with an original, not reproduction, pair of hard to find, roof rack cross bars. ( the ones in the photo do not have the post 1982 style, black roller buffers, but I now have a set of those that go with the car ). It does not come with the silver roof rack boxes, those were put on for the Death Valley Tour. The wagon also comes with correct, original tool kit and service/ owners manual, spare, working keys, and the always missing, wagon-only, Mercedes first aid kit. The spare tire area is immaculate and a flat tire can be changed without anyone trying to catch you riding dirty.

All of these repairs have been documented with receipts and photos, perhaps too many.

Car is located in Santa Monica, with a clear Oregon title, and current registration, with its original Rasmussen Portland Mercedes license frame too. Smog exempt. You will only need: the title, and a VIN verification at either the DMV or AAA when you register the car, that's it, no smog - so don't let lazy DMV personnel demand a smog certificate, its not required.

If you are an introvert and you dont want compliments, this might not be the car for you. It makes many people smile and thus want to give you thumbs up and chat at the gas station.This wagon is ready to drive anywhere, and I hope you do so.

I'm done typing now.