The
Mercedes-BenzMercedes-Benz is a German manufacturer of luxury automobiles, buses, coaches, and trucks. It is currently a division of the parent company, Daimler AG , after previously being owned by Daimler-Benz...
240D was introduced in 1973 in Europe (1974 in North America) as a new diesel-powered variant of the W115 chassis, outranking the 220D as Mercedes' most powerful diesel car. Introduced in 1973 at a price of 19,913.40 Marks, the cost was four times the typical car of the time. It had many available luxuries, such as heated seats, cruise control, leather seats, and a manual or power-operated sunroof.
The
Mercedes-BenzMercedes-Benz is a German manufacturer of luxury automobiles, buses, coaches, and trucks. It is currently a division of the parent company, Daimler AG , after previously being owned by Daimler-Benz...
240D was introduced in 1973 in Europe (1974 in North America) as a new diesel-powered variant of the W115 chassis, outranking the 220D as Mercedes' most powerful diesel car. Introduced in 1973 at a price of 19,913.40 Marks, the cost was four times the typical car of the time. It had many available luxuries, such as heated seats, cruise control, leather seats, and a manual or power-operated sunroof. It was at the time the fastest
diesel engineA diesel engine is an internal combustion engine that uses the heat of compression to initiate ignition to burn the fuel, which is injected into the combustion chamber during the final stage of compression...
available, though its
OM616The OM616 engine family was a straight-4 Diesel automobile engine from Mercedes-Benz used in the 1970s and 1980s.-OM616.912:The OM616.912 was a 2.4 L engine with power output of 65 hp . In August 1978 the cylinder head shape changed. Also the precombustion chamber was updated...
4-cylinder, 2.4 liter engine only produced 65
hpHorsepower is the name of several non-SI units of power. It was originally defined to allow the output of steam engines to be measured and compared with the power output of draft horses. The horsepower was widely adopted to measure the output of piston engines, turbines, electric motors and other...
(48 kW). Along with a curb weight of roughly 3050
lbThe pound or pound-mass is a unit of mass used in the imperial, United States customary and other systems of measurement...
, this gave the 240D a relatively poor
power to weight ratioPower-to-weight ratio is a calculation commonly applied to engines and mobile power sources to enable the comparison of one unit or design to another. Power-to-weight ratio is a measurement of actual performance of any engine or power sources...
, and thus acceleration was unimpressive and top speeds rarely exceeded 140 km/h (~90 mph), unless on a downward inclined road.
In 1976, production of the W115 chassis ended and the 240D became part of the
W123 chassisThe Mercedes-Benz W123 cars were produced by the German manufacturer from 1976 to 1985.The W123 models surpassed their predecessor, the W114/W115 "stroke-8" models, as the most successful Mercedes, selling over 2.5 million cars before being replaced by the W124 after 1985...
family along with a more powerful version of the
Mercedes-Benz OM616The OM616 engine family was a straight-4 Diesel automobile engine from Mercedes-Benz used in the 1970s and 1980s.-OM616.912:The OM616.912 was a 2.4 L engine with power output of 65 hp . In August 1978 the cylinder head shape changed. Also the precombustion chamber was updated...
with 72hp, and the new updated 77hp in-line 5
OM617The OM617 engine family was a straight-5 Diesel automobile engine from Mercedes-Benz used in the 1970s and 1980s. With some Mercedes-Benz 300D/300SD diesels already exceeding 500,000 miles, it's considered to be one of the most reliable engines ever produced .-OM617.912:The OM617.912 was a...
, found in the
Mercedes-Benz 300DThe first Mercedes-Benz 300D automobile was introduced in 1975 and started its life by placing the newly developed 3.0 litre five-cylinder naturally aspirated diesel engine 617.910 in a W115 chassis four-cylinder Mercedes-Benz 240D diesel...
. Though the 240D got a bump in power, it also added weight, and so it remained a very reliable, but slow car. The OM616/617 engine received a mild update in 1981. Updates included: new pistons cast with a "star shape" top, revised prechambers for the
indirect injectionIn an internal combustion engine, the term indirect injection refers to a fuel injection where fuel is not directly injected into the combustion chamber...
,and more efficient glow plugs. The 240D was last imported to North America in 1983 by MBUSA while production continued until 1985.
Many 240Ds remain on the road today some 30+ years later, a testament to the quality and durability of the original design and robust mechanical bits and famously overengineered
OM616The OM616 engine family was a straight-4 Diesel automobile engine from Mercedes-Benz used in the 1970s and 1980s.-OM616.912:The OM616.912 was a 2.4 L engine with power output of 65 hp . In August 1978 the cylinder head shape changed. Also the precombustion chamber was updated...
.
Minor changes to the car's exterior design were introduced over the course of production, most notable were the bumper changes and tail lights. US models adopted the new bulky DOT bumpers for the 1973 model year.
Reliability
Both the W115 and the W123 versions of the 240D are still considered some of Mercedes-Benz's most reliable models due to their low-tech, easy-maintenance design, relatively thick metal sheets and sturdy, robust parts. The engine's low power output compared to its volume is another contributing factor in the car's exceptional lifespan.
The 240D is renowned for often traveling several hundred thousand kilometers or more in its life. The record holder, a W115 240D acknowledged by
Daimler-BenzDaimler-Benz AG was a German manufacturer of automobiles, motor vehicles, and engines which was founded in 1926. An Agreement of Mutual Interest—which was valid until year 2000—was signed on May 1 1924 between Karl Benz's Benz & Cie. and Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft, which had been founded by...
and on display in their
Stuttgart museumThe Mercedes-Benz Museum is an automotive museum housed in Stuttgart, Germany. Stuttgart is home to the Mercedes-Benz brand and the international headquarters of Daimler AG. The building, which stands directly outside the main gate of the Daimler factory in Stuttgart-Untertürkheim, was designed by...
, clocked 4.6 million kilometers (2,858,307 miles) between 1976 to 2004, mostly working as a
taxiA taxicab, also taxi or cab, is a type of vehicle for hire, with a driver, for a single passenger, or small group of passengers, typically for a non-shared ride. A taxicab conveys passengers between locations of their choice...
based in
ThessalonikiThessaloniki , Thessalonica, or Salonica is the second-largest city in Greece and the capital of the Greek region of Macedonia. It is honorarily called the Συμπρωτεύουσα Symprotevousa of Greece, as it was once called the συμβασιλεύουσα symvasilevousa of the Byzantine Empire...
. During this time the owner, Gregorios Sachinidis, was able to call upon the original engine and two spare units, deploying them on a rotational basis 11 times in total.
http://www.worldcarfans.com/5040929.001/proverbial-longevity-in-4.6-million-kilometers Mercedes made badges available for their cars to mark each 250,000 kilometers the car had traveled. 240Ds are often seen in
West AfricaWest Africa or Western Africa is the westernmost region of the African continent. Geopolitically, the UN definition of Western Africa includes the following 16 countries distributed over an area of approximately 5 million square km:*Benin...
as taxis and bush taxis covering hundreds of kilometres daily. In some parts of northwestern Africa, notably Mauritania and Morocco, they make up over half the cars on the road.
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