Congratulations you have WON!

After a long search, I found a G-Wagon SWB on ebay, contacted the seller with some questions and found out the car had a OM617a Turbo in the car - COOL. I decided that the car was worth about $15,000 to me and won the auction for a bit over my budget at $17,000. My feeling the seller would not get top dollar for the car because it was so far from being original. that does not matter to me because I'm not looking to restore, collect or show the car. I just want a winter driver and the OM617a turbo would be well suited for local driving with better gas milage and better altitude performance than the 280GE M110 and as a bonus, I could run biodiesel. The 70 MPH top speed of the OM617 is not a problem for me because I'm not planning on doing much highway driving. 

I've purchased cars on ebay before with mixed results and have come up with simple a plan based on trial and error to minimize the risk after winning an auction.

1. Go see the car in person 

2. Ask for records

3. Check the car out - NO RUST

4. Be prepared to WALK

I purchased a one way ticket on Delta from SLC to Portland, took the train to the sellers home arriving before him and started checking out the car. I could always use SkyMiles to purchase a ticket back to SLC if the car was a mess. One thing was against me, it was raining that makes checking out a paint job almost impossible but as a bonus, it would make it easy to find interior leaks.

The body looked to be in very good shape, surprising because early G-Wagons are prone to rust. The passenger floor board had been replaced, the metal used was thick as the original but the workmanship was solid. The owner painted the entire floor of the car with some sort of textured truck bedliner. The exterior paint job looked to be very nice, trim and most interior had been removed for the paint job. Using a magnet I could tell there was no bondo body repairs. Of all the body parts, the hood was probably the one part I could see repair work and it was welded and sanded where the MB badge should be. The original color had been Gold, the new color was a MB Onix that covered the previous camo paint job - NICE! There were no dents. 

I was very careful checking the body because I've been burned before. Body work on old cars can be VERY EXPENSIVE. I've since developed a first name relationship with my local body shop when restoring my 280SL, and hence my new mantra: no tolerance for rust. 

OM618 Turbo

Checking under the car, I could tell there were leaks on the front and rear boots to the transfer case. There was absolutely no signs of rust under the car and under any of the wheel wells. The leaking boots were confirmed by maintenance records. The engine carpment was clean and the OM617 Turbo looked to be in good shape. The owner said it had 135,000 miles when installed and it was from a 300 California Diesel. Some seeping of coolant but no oil leaks could be seen. the engine was stone cold and had not been cleaned in some time. All good signs when purchasing a car because you want to test a cold start and see if there is a history of any leaks.

The car had a rebuilt automatic 4-speed transmission that was designed for the G. While all MB automatic transmissions from the 80's are very similar, the G trannys vent from the top to keep water from entering the transmission while traveling through deep water. It is also good is a concern because the OM617 equipped 300GD usually shopped with a 4 or 5 speed manual and the automatic for the 280GE had different gear ratios than the auto equipped with the 300GD.

The wiring under the hood looked like it was done by an amature. From this I could guess more electrical problems would be found over time. There was actually a relay just hanging out on the passenger side of the car that had not been mounted. What was that for? Turns out it was the starter relay! 

As expected the interior was a MESS because the owner told me over the phone that the interior needed to be redone. He was 100% correct. Old Recaro racing seats had been installed and they were dirty and had foam issues. The dash was in pretty good shape but the center console for the factory air had been removed leaving a gap between the floor console and the dash. The center console was cracked with holes and glue marks. The headliner, doors and the entire interior basically needed to be replaced or recovered. One of the door pockets was cracked. All the floor mats and door sills had been removed exposing the floor. I could see water leaking into the interior in the front that probably caused the floor rusting out and some leaking near the rear windows. 

Spare Recaro Seats

The owner left the keys, so I turned on the ignition, the glow plug heater light, charging light and oil light all illuminated and the glow plug heater light turned off. I started the car and it cranked up and ran a little rough but after a minute or two than idled smoothly. All the lights worked, the combination switch (wiper, turn signal, high beam and washer) worked but was very loose. The aftermarket radio worked but the installation job was very poor and from what little I could hear over the loud engine, sounded like CRAP. The heater blower worked at all speeds. The glove compartment would not stay shut. 

I was impressed that the glow plug light and the tachometer were replaced to support the OM617a engine when the modification was done from the W110. I also liked the upgrades to the air filter. It appeared the exhaust was not upgraded to the larger size to support the turbo OM617, a reducer was placed before the old 280 M110 exhaust. My guess is the original 280 exhaust would prove to be too restrictive for the turbo to do it's thing. Note: OM617a Turbo should have a 3" pipe with one muffler. 

The owner had installed a dual battery solution to support the large Winch with a dash mounted disconnect switch and relay. Once again the wiring was a mess. One battery was from this year 2014 and the other three years old. Both were the yellow deep cycle Optima batteries - a good choice for the winch but otherwise not necessary for a car with so few accessories.  

The large off road tires had plenty of tread life but were over 10 years old. When purchasing old cars that are not driven much, make sure to check the date stamp, there is actually a code on the tire that will tell you how old they are. Ever found an old rubber band and when stretched it just breaks? The same thing happens to old tires. If the are over 10 years old REPLACE THEM, including the spare. 

The owner did have the original front seats, the rear bench seats, the floor mats, door sills, a very large winch, and excellent records from the previous owner and since he purchased the car. The original seats need to be reupholstered but otherwise in good shape. I'm guessing the chassis and body had about 150,000 miles on them probably about the same for the engine. 

A quick drive showed the car started in second gear (typical 4-speed auto transmissions) but kicked down quickly. Acceleration was pitiful (0-60 in 30 seconds) but when the car got to 2000 RPM the turbo kicked in and zoom! Pretty cool! The speedometer looked to be inaccurate and the odometer was not working at all. All things I could fix. 

My summary was the body, chassis and engine were in very good shape. The interior needed to be redone but I knew that going in. I would have to clean up the wiring and tweak some of the instrumentation. Here was my thinking:

• I could redo the interior myself, and have the seats reupholstered. Total cost about $3000.
• The wiring would need attention but once again, I could do that myself for less than $500 in parts.
• The front axle outer gaskets needed work on the front and back $1000.
• Some lights and trim were missing, probably less than $500.
• New Stereo $500 (I'm a magic man here)
• I could sell the winch and one set of front seats to offset some costs.
• New Tires 

I decided to go through with the purchase and drive it to LA where my daughter and wife were spending the summer to have my rock star MB mechanic give it the once over and start work on the interior. Besides, there is no place like SoCal to restore a car!