dinman

So i currently own a W212 e63 amg but i would like to get something to keep the miles and wear down on the e63. I found a 1985 300d about 2 miles down the road from me. Drove it yesterday. Before i get into it, i know NOTHING about these cars but im willing to learn if it could be a good buy. I can get the car for around/under $1000. Here are two pics i took








So, here are some pros and cons i noticed from driving it.

Pros:

Body is straight
No rust: Louisiana car its whole life
New headlight housings and bulbs
No tears in the seats
Runs smoothly
Starts up first try every time i tried
All lights work
Sunroof works great
Clean engine bay
A notebook is in the glovebox with every bit of maintenance recorded up until 2004ish
No leaks, even with dryrotted weatherstripping
Steering is obviously loose compared to a e63 amg, but feels good with no weird suspension/steering noises
Rides very smoothly
Brakes have good pressure and do not feel worn out
No serious leaks noticed under the hood, a little around the valve cover but that's it
Auto Transmission shifts smoothly, brought the car up to 60 when driving

Now the cons:

Driver front& back windows do not work
Wood in console is cracked along with dash
Car sat up for 5-10 years
Tires are completely shot, one slightly came apart while test driving
Radiator has been patched where the plastic fittings broke up top
A/c blows, but is leaking somewhere.
Gas gauge bounces around, odometer does not work, and the tach does not work. sitting at 281,891 but i believe it has under 300k still
Paint is absolute trash. Overspray galore. It was sprayed the original color i believe but done terribly
Driver door panel is not on correctly. All others are perfect. I suppose someone tried to fix the window.
Weatherstripping is worn out
When cold, it dumps out a decent amount of blue smoke under acceleration. When warmed up, i gave it full throttle and could not get it to smoke anymore.

So a short backstory on the car. It was an ole couples, that bought it new i believe. I think the guy had a stroke in the early 2000's, and the wife rarely drove it. Now she is 92, and can't drive it, so it has sat up for the past 5-10 years, at least from what i can tell. Tires are from 2003, if anything it was rarely driven in the past 10 years. She let it sit up and the guy selling it did some work on her house, in which she paid him with the car. She said it did not run, he put a battery in it and it started right up.

So my question is: Is this a potential decent daily driver (30-50 miles a day maybe) or a total money pit? For $1000 i feel it has potential but i figured i'd ask some people that know more about the car than me. I'm more than willing to work on it myself, i'd have to learn, but i could do it. i do all my maintenance on the e63 myself, i figure if i can do that i can work on a '85 300d. If it is going to have little things that have to be messed with to keep it up to spec, im ok with that. i just dont want it if these cars have common issues that keep it from driving, that are expensive to fix.

Thanks

Plutoe

It's kinda a no brainer, if its a daily driver who gives a shix about all the stuff except tires-----the bad news is that you are still out of pocket for the car tires plates taxes and insurance plus all the fixed expenses on your W212----I'd put the money in my 401k and ley some other sap jump on your deal of a lifetime

OM617.95

Clapped out money pit. Skip or offer $500.