Disclaimer: While this may be a "review" of my old Mercedes, the fact of the matter is I love this car and so even the negatives will be spun hard into positives. Just enjoy it :P
It all starts when you walk outside. That simple key in hand, that $5 eBay keyring with the three-pointed star dangling from your fingers. You see it in the distance, it's unmistakable. That old Benz. The W123 300D has all the boxy styling of the 80's but the details reveal a little more... the way the rear wheel arches swoop out in the back shows that Mercedes hasn't dropped the classic styling cues of the 60's and 70's. Not entirely. The car has a lot of chrome, but it's a tasteful application. All the right accents coming through with the chrome highlighting the car. The "Light Ivory" paint is a wonderfully understated shade of off white, a very light tan. The factory 14" wheels are not going to distract you from the car, but are visually interesting enough to be worth a look. This Benz shows its age. There is rust, a few spots here and there. The wheel arches show the Michigan winters the car has endured. But it's an endearing quality, it adds to the character of the car. The yellow foglights and big sealed beam headlights remind you of a simpler time, when cars had very discrete parts and the word assembly wasn't as commonly used in the parts catalog. A time when a car owner could be found in his garage on weekends, doing the maintenance the car required and ensuring his vehicle would last.
You unlock the door. Behind the scenes a vacuum system activates, unlocking the rest. You watch as the lock stalks rise up out of the doors, each one at its own independent speed. You reach for the simple, understated door handle and with a solid action the latch opens. The door swings open freely, feeling both solid and light somehow. And thus you are greeted by the interior. The Palomino leather, a wonderful light brown color, is still soft and in wonderful condition. The back seat shows a little bit of sunbleaching on the very top, hard to see unless you look at it from outside. The armrest has cracked and the black dash has a single crack in it, but is otherwise in perfect shape. The dash is adorned with wood, coated in enough stain and lacquer it's measurable. The shift knob, a number 13 pool ball, sits proudly atop its chrome stalk.
You sit down. The seats, with their old springs, feel almost as if they rise up to meet you as you get in. The leather seats feel like a throne, a place of importance and power. The steering wheel is large, and through it you can get a very clear view of the gauges in the instrument cluster. Simple white on black dials. The leftmost contains 3 gauges: water temperature in Celsius, fuel level, and oil pressure in bar. the center gauge keeps its task simple, speedometer and odometer. The right gauge houses a tachometer and an analog clock. A simple assortment of gauges with enough information to make sure you can catch any issues. The orange needles have started to turn yellow, another wrinkle in this old car's metaphorical face. As you reach around the steering wheel you feel the turn signal and wiper stalk, a simple black square cross sectioned affair. And then you notice the cruise control stalk. A funny little protrusion, it's small and sits at a most intriguing angle being vertically very far above the turn signal and wipers but coming also from the steering column. The steering wheel itself is simple: the horn button is the entire center and the only thing to draw your eye is the large three pointed star which sits dead center. Looking just over the steering wheel you begin to get a sense of the appeal of this car. You look out over the long hood and sitting there at the end is a little chrome three pointed star. You think to yourself "Ah, yes... A classic Mercedes, hood ornament and all". It seems like such a little thing and yet if it wasn't there the occasion that is driving an old Benz like this one would be diminished.
You insert the key. Turning it two "clicks", you begin to get the car ready to start. The buzzer sounds and seat belt minder illuminates, the usual battery charge warning indicator lights as well. The glow plug indicator glows its bright yellow as you reach for the seat belt and solidly click it home. The car's simplicity is made no more apparent than now. No nav system starting up, no LCD screen flickering to life. Just a few bulbs glowing as you sit in this rolling piece of history. Once the glow plug light goes out, you're welcome to start the old diesel anytime. My suggestion would be sooner rather than later though as when the light goes out so do the glow plugs. As you hold the key all the way to the right you notice the chrome trim ring around the lock cylinder, a nice touch. You listen as the engine groans to life, as if you've awoken your grandfather far too early on a Sunday morning. After a few full revolutions you hear the engine "catch" and wake up. It's the first time you've started the car today, so you'll need to give it a little fuel to keep it going and warm it up a bit. You hear the turbo, and can feel the five cylinder inline diesel rumbling away in the engine bay. It shakes the whole car, the engine mount shocks having been worn out some time long ago. When your constant, light foot pressure causes the engine to rev up and the turbo to spool you're fully ready to go.
You move the shifter to drive. The pool ball fits comfortably in your hand; it's smooth, cool, polished surface inviting some shenanigans later. It takes more throttle than you'd expect to move this rolling example of German engineering, but once you're going it moves along easily enough. The acceleration isn't very quick, the 2.88:1 rear end making the hole shot tough for this car. The low speed ride quality is alright but it's a little stiff (not truck stiff mind you). Picture your just awoken grandfather shuffling around the house in his slippers and you'll get the idea. The brakes are effective, but the pedal has an inherent softness to it. But that's part of the charm of this car. everything is a little squishy, everything is a little slow. There's a delay between input and reaction. But the car does respond and tries in earnest to give you what you asked for. The kickdown switch (yes it IS a switch) gets you some more get up and go... until you hit redline. The shift quality is variable, sometimes it's harsh and other times it's buttery smooth. The vacuum operated transmission works well enough and the fact that it's still running this long after its build date is impressive. For some fun, you put the shifter in "L" and have practice launching from red lights. You won't go fast enough to gather any police attention but you can have a blast and feel the turbo kick in. The car does well enough as a daily commuter but when you hit the highway this car really shows you what it was made for.
You hit the on ramp. To make sure you're at highway speeds in time you put the throttle down and let the diesel work its torquey magic. At highway speeds and above the car is a perfect cruiser. The suspension soaks up bumps with little disturbance. The car accelerates well because the car has no overdrive. Even given that limitation the diesel Benz will take you over 27 miles on one gallon of diesel and that's not affected by how long of a trip you packed for. The steering has a wonderful "old movie" feel to it, to go perfectly straight you end up moving the wheel a back and forth a bit. The recirculating ball steering box has a lot of slop in it by modern standards, but it doesn't ask much of you with the power assist. You and 3,500 pounds of Teutonic steel go floating down the highway, ready to go wherever your heart desires. The seats will keep you comfortable for as long as you need to drive and the 20 gallon tank means you can go far before you need to pull off and refuel. With the upgraded 120 Amp alternator in this car, you can power everything you need and then some. The aftermarket radio and subwoofers make the most of the original speakers that have been playing music since 1985. As you ride off into the sunset you turn the headlights on for the first time. The output leaves something to be desired but there's definitely enough light to drive with. Turning the fogs on helps quite a bit. Should you find yourself alone on the road at night the brights will light up everything in front of you, surprising given the light from the low beams. As the car whisks you along the highway, turning time into miles traveled with an efficiency and constancy only the Germans can dream up, you start to play with the car some more. You notice the window switches are all in the center console, which is a nicer feature than you may think at first. You find the switch that turns on the rear dome light, clearly useful for those lucky enough to have both a Mercedes and a Chauffeur. You learn to love the night lighting on the dash... two bulbs that send wide yellowish beams of light down the front of the dials causing the needles to cast dramatic little shadows. You notice that the drivers side rear view mirror is manually adjustable while the passenger side is powered. The little touches that give this car its German quirkiness. You look at the odometer. 197,000 miles seems like a lot, but you know this diesel will easily turn 500,000 before it needs major work. Another reason to thank the Mercedes engineers. There's an absence you notice as well... Nowhere are the words "Mercedes-Benz" visible... Only the three pointed star is used. A classy promotion for Mercedes without tossing their name on everything. If you have more than 2 people in the car someone will discover the rear armrest, A delightful sign of the kind of clientele this car was made for.
You park this pint sized limousine. You realize just how much fun it was even if it wasn't fast. You realize that Mercedes built this car for the driver as much as it did for the passengers. You open the very spacious trunk to retrieve your luggage and realize how much space is left should you have needed more. You appreciate the car for it's few amenities: automatic climate control, working air conditioning, and a dead steady cruise control. You leave the car being pleased you brought it with you. You lock the car and watch as it closes itself up, locking everything including the trunk and fuel door. You look forward to the journey back as much as you enjoyed the journey here. You look back and love that you can drive a car that classic, that good looking and still enjoy it immensely. You look forward to the years to come with it.
