Used Car of the Day: 1986 Mercedes-Benz 300E

by Tim Healey

Published: October 23rd, 2023

used car of the day 1986 mercedes benz 300e

Today's UCOTD is a project car. This 1986 Mercedes-Benz 300E has a "good engine and transmission", according to the seller, but it's not clear what that means.

Furthermore, it doesn't look cosmetically good in the one photo of the exterior.

Generally, we like to run listings that are more detailed, and this one is pretty sparse. But it's Monday and we're easing back into the workweek -- and really, I picked this car because I know these Mercs always get attention among those who love weird cars from the '80s.

The only other pieces of info we have here are that the car has 145,000 miles and it's for sale by the original owner. Oh, and the price is a bargain at $799.

So click here to take a closer look. Perhaps you can get this ride into nicer shape.

[Images: Seller]

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Tim Healey

Tim Healey grew up around the auto-parts business and has always had a love for cars — his parents joke his first word was “‘Vette”. Despite this, he wanted to pursue a career in sports writing but he ended up falling semi-accidentally into the automotive-journalism industry, first at Consumer Guide Automotive and later at Web2Carz.com. He also worked as an industry analyst at Mintel Group and freelanced for About.com, CarFax, Vehix.com, High Gear Media, Torque News, FutureCar.com, Cars.com, among others, and of course Vertical Scope sites such as AutoGuide.com, Off-Road.com, and HybridCars.com. He’s an urbanite and as such, doesn’t need a daily driver, but if he had one, it would be compact, sporty, and have a manual transmission.

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3 of 49 comments

ChristianWimmer on Oct 23, 2023

Had the same engine in my 1985 Mercedes 300SE W126. Smooth, powerful and surprisingly fuel efficient (if you drove normally you could get 9-10 L / 100 km) and of course powerful. If anything can be saved from this car it’s the engine and maybe the transmission - provided the owner didn’t mess with either.

1 Reply
- Jeff on Oct 25, 2023
  
  145,000 miles is low mileage for one of these I bet that if it is not running it could be made to run and likely with not much effort. Wouldn't put a lot of money into restoring it but if it were driveable it might make a decent commuter vehicle or as a backup vehicle.
  
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Stephen on Dec 14, 2023

In 2009 I moved to Australia from Canada and feared making an amature mistake on the "wrong side" of the road, so I purchased a 1987 300E. RHD turned out to be a false fear and our family bought a new SUV but I kept the Benz as it ran and drove so well. I even took it wild boar hunting where it crossed streams. I sold it to my mechanic when I moved back, he dropped us at the airport with it. At 263k km, it was great. I have had a couple other newer Benz, but miss the 300E the most.

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