Parker's 1972 W115 Mercedes 220D

[Parker]

Welp, I sold my '92 W350 Cummins and had to replace it with another diesel. I've already have a W123 Mercedes 300D that I love so I thought about getting a wagon, then I saw this pop up on Craigslist...

I've always thought that generation looked great but didn't know much about them, so I started researching and well, here is how it turned out...

The car was in Virginia, 400 something miles away. My wife and I left at 12:30AM and drive through the night to get there at 9AM. We just got back at 7:30PM and I have to go to bed because I have to get up to get ready for work at 9:30PM. I'll post some thoughts on the car later.

 

[Parker]

I took my car to a buddies shop about 100 miles away because he is a Mercedes diesel expert (I have experience with the W123 generation, not the W115) and he has a lift so I could take a good look underneath the car. I was very impressed and happy to see that the car is in as good of shape as it seems, just one tiny bit of rust near the front of the car. Not bad at all for an almost 50 year old car.

On the way back from Virginia the car got a little over 26mpg which isn't bad considering all the mountain roads I had to drive full throttle to get over. On my regular commute, the car is getting almost 33mpg which I am happy with. We did an oil change, replaced the oil and fuel filters and on this generation on Mercedes diesel, the injection pump has to have its oil changed separately from the engine, so we did that as well. It also has an oil bath air filter, so that oil was changed, too. After looking over everything, the only thing the car needs is some shift bushings, everything else was in great shape. I suppose that is to be expected with only 102K miles on the car though.

I am very pleased with this purchase so far. I've had a ton of people come up to me and ask me about it, and while it is slow, it isn't too terribly bad and it rides like a dream.

 

[lbpomg95]

Good lord that is a gorgeous-looking machine. Merc really knew how to make stunning cars.

 

[Parker]

Went for a drive yesterday to cool down and relax after cutting my grass. I thought the scenery looked nice so I pulled over and took some pictures with my phone.

 

[kikie]

Is it a rare car in the States?

 

[Parker]

Is it a rare car in the States?

I've been around Mercedes diesels for going on 10 years now and this is the first W115 I've seen in person. I don't know sales/import numbers, but from my personal experience, they are definitely not a common sight.

 

[kikie]

I've been around Mercedes diesels for going on 10 years now and this is the first W115 I've seen in person. I don't know sales/import numbers, but from my personal experience, they are definitely not a common sight.

My father has one. He bought it new in 1974. It is a 220D.

 

[Parker]

My father has one. He bought it new in 1974. It is a 220D.

View attachment 839144

Awesome, I'd love to see more pictures of it if you have any.

 

[Danoff]

Welp, I sold my '92 W350 Cummins and had to replace it with another diesel. I've already have a W123 Mercedes 300D that I love so I thought about getting a wagon, then I saw this pop up on Craigslist...

View attachment 830408

 

[kikie]

I can take as many photos as you want because we still have the car. The few digital photos that I do have:

These kind of Mercedeses are not worth much. In its current condition, I well fetch around €1.500 - €2000 (if we are lucky). And because this is a very old diesel engine, we are not allowed to drive into certain towns any more (air pollution). A few days ago my father asked me what to do with his Mercedes, keep it or sell it.