Awhile back a customer brought us a badly neglected Mercedes-Benz 300 SDL that he aquired. Having to work the bugs out of this vehicle proved to be a real time consuming process that required a lot of road testing.

I was seriously AMAZED at how good the the 300 SDL is on gas! While I must admit that the noisy and often time stinky nature of older diesel engines is a turn off to many, I myself have grown fond of the many things most people hate about diesels. Thanks in part to a certain 2003 F250 PowerStroke Diesel we made extensive repairs to.

Having been used to the fuel economy of the 560 and 420 V8 W126 sedans I was simpily besides myself with regards to the kind of milage I was seeing. I think from my estimates these vehicles get near 23-26 miles per gallon!! Thats a little more than TWICE what I see in my 560 in the city!

The power on these diesel engines isn't too bad either! Once the small turbo gets spinning it wil propel forward with more than enough power to keep up with traffic. I have driven both the early 300 and the late model 350 SDL W126's and if you have a soft spot for diesels, then a 300 or 350 might be just what you need.