After purchasing the car, I had a decision to make. It would eventually end up in Park City, but my family was in LA and I've found a great MB shop in Burbank. Plus getting interior work done would be easier in LA and believe it or not, less costly than Utah. So LA it is, should I drive it or pay to transport it.
Other than the tires being old, it seems to be in good shape,lets drive from Portland to LA. It was not too late so I started out driving south out of Portland toward LA. The plan was to stop and spend the night.
The car was VERY LOUD. The seller had loaded me with with all the interior trim and extra seats but there were no matts on the floor, knobby tires and a diesel. LOUD! When I stopped for the night, I put in some of the heavy floor padding in the passenger and driver floors and that seemed to help.
The car was SLOW! While I could push it to 70 MPH the RMP went well over 4000 so the fastest I felt comfortable going was 65. It was raining anyway, so 65 worked for me!
Other than that, the Recaro seats were comfortable, the car drove straight and the suspension was tight but comfortable. One strange thing though, once the car warmed up, it was HOT inside. Even with the temp control all the way down, it would blow hot air. There was also a lot of heat coming through the firewall.
If you have ever driven the Oregon coast you will know there are mountains to climb. The OM617 would kick down and while I could pass the 18-wheelers, everything else flew past me. The temp gauge would also creep up.
Once I was sure everything was running OK, I put in some in ear isolation headphones, put on a California playlist, cracked the windows and completed the drive.
Just outside LA I was able to fill up with my first tank of biodiesel. The 300GD basically ran the same. NICE!
Conclusions from my first road trip:
Other than the tires being old, it seems to be in good shape,lets drive from Portland to LA. It was not too late so I started out driving south out of Portland toward LA. The plan was to stop and spend the night.
The car was VERY LOUD. The seller had loaded me with with all the interior trim and extra seats but there were no matts on the floor, knobby tires and a diesel. LOUD! When I stopped for the night, I put in some of the heavy floor padding in the passenger and driver floors and that seemed to help.
The car was SLOW! While I could push it to 70 MPH the RMP went well over 4000 so the fastest I felt comfortable going was 65. It was raining anyway, so 65 worked for me!
Other than that, the Recaro seats were comfortable, the car drove straight and the suspension was tight but comfortable. One strange thing though, once the car warmed up, it was HOT inside. Even with the temp control all the way down, it would blow hot air. There was also a lot of heat coming through the firewall.
If you have ever driven the Oregon coast you will know there are mountains to climb. The OM617 would kick down and while I could pass the 18-wheelers, everything else flew past me. The temp gauge would also creep up.
Once I was sure everything was running OK, I put in some in ear isolation headphones, put on a California playlist, cracked the windows and completed the drive.
Just outside LA I was able to fill up with my first tank of biodiesel. The 300GD basically ran the same. NICE!
Conclusions from my first road trip:
- When redoing the interior, attention to sound and heat isolation will be a priority.
- In LA - the rest of the floor mats are going in until I get the inside redone.
- Long road trips are not going to be a frequent occurrence with this car.
- Gotta get a new stereo!
- What is with the heat?
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