Hello everyone,

First of all, allow me to introduce myself. My name is Pedro, I'm 21 and I'm from Portugal. I've been driving an old hand-me-down Corsa for the past year or so, and I'm finally in a position where I can buy my first Mercedes.

That leads me onto my question: I've seen an add posted for a 1990 300TD (turbodiesel - not the wagon) W124 with a malfunctioning 4Matic system. Essentially, the owner says it's only RWD at the moment - but I'm still not sure *why*.
Now, I've been trying to educate myself on the 4Matic system, and as far as I understood, the first gen (up to 1991 I think?) 4Matics weren't exactly very reliable. Fixing the entire system is financially out of the question for now, so what I'd like to ask is whether it'd be feasable to simply remove the driveshaft that links the transfer case to the front axle and use it as a RWD only vehicle? I understand that in Mode 0 the car is 100% RWD anyway, but I have no idea if doing this will put any extra stress on the drivetrain, or if it would do any damage to the transfer case or something...

Of course, the malfunction can also be caused by a faulty sensor, and, as far as I was able to understand, there is a test lever I can pull somewhere that engages 4WD mode. This would be helpful to diagnose whether it's just a sensor causing the issues or not, but I'm assuming worst case scenario here.
However, if it is just the sensors' fault, is it possible to lock the car in Mode 0 permanentely, or is this something that is done automatically?

I understand I'm sounding a bit ingorant by asking whether buying a broken Mercedes is a good idea or not... but to be honest I have absolutley no need for 4WD since I drive almost always in city traffic, and the weather is sunny pretty much all the time. Plus, I wouldn't really mind the slightly lower fuel consumption... Besides, this is a pretty rare car over here, and I'd love to fix it up eventually.

Any input highly appreciated.

Best Regards