W123 Unleaded or Leaded?

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grahamf505

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Mar 24, 2004
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Can anyone tell me which W123 engines takeunleaded and which must run on leaded/4 star (or unleaded with an additive i.e. castrol valve master).

I beliee the 200 is OK with unleaded
The 230 must have leaded/4 star otherwise valve guides wear (according to honest john - see below
Not sure about the 280



Honest John'sw view:What's Good
Succeeded the square-cut W114/115. 15' 6" by 5' 10" and weighing from 1,340kg. The last beautifully-built working-class Mercedes. Solid as a rock. I've seen them with 350,000 miles still looking almost like new. The seats don't sag. 136bhp 230E the most popular. 72bhp 240D slow, but goes on for ever. 5-cylinder 88bhp 300D slightly faster, with similar longevity, less likely to have been a taxi. 185bhp 280E fastest. Handsome, useful estates. Useful online forum www.mbclub.co.uk
What's Bad
Old cars now. They do rust and diffs do go. Don't take well to unleaded. Must have 3,000-mile oil changes and a new timing chain every 60,000 miles or 5 years whichever comes first. 1984-85 230Es tried to go unleaded and suffered premature valve guide wear. Slow changing manuals best avoided. Don't buy without a sunroof. Avoid the 250 six-cylinder engine because its badly engineered. An all new engine for a 280E is £6,000.
What to Watch Out For
Most of the good ones were bought up by 'private hire' and minicab operations who will have serviced them pragmatically but run up a mega mileage and don't let them go until they're knackered. If the big bumpers are damaged it means a heavy impact which may have deformed the structure. Find out when the Simplex timing chain of 4-cylinder engines was last changed. Listen for rattles and look for oil smoke signifying valve guide wear. Listen for noisy, clonky rear axle. Bounce the rear suspension to make sure shocks still absorb. Estate car rear shocks are very expensive. Look for oil leaks underneath.
 
Any with an alloy head aparently. I have converted mine from leaded using an inline converter. Anything after about 83 was unleaded i think.

Jay
 

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