The body of the car with the mismatched black door card looks neatly preserved. I would doubt though whether the instrument cluster is original (that could mean the car has more than 123k miles) because these should have the voltage gauge (top left corner) and the boost gauge (top right corner) from factory, especially a GLE edition.
If they serviced this exact car at that dealership then it is Very* nice for you... but I would definitely look into that in the immediate future... especially saying it because of the timing belt/waterpump/idler combo (interference engine).
I even wonder whether they still have the proper tools to work on these engines (?????!!)
but they may have an employee who really does know about these, who knows?
About the infamous rumors on this engine.
whoever tells you these were/are crap engines, perhaps never had one of these cars, or never knew how to properly maintain&repair one, or Both of those combined!
These engines run relatively perfectly (and one of the smoothest running, smoothest sounding 6cyl diesels of that era) once they have the right owner who takes care of them the right way AND uses proper fluids AND correct (factory*) tools every time they go near the d24t engine.
The car.
Because it is a sedan and not a wagon, and not manual but automatic, I personally think it is way overpriced. And not to downplay the `leather` color here bc those were beautiful back then when new but it is still a tan interior and clearly showing signs of age. Sidenote: tan auto sedans are wonderful bricks too! And the ZF is a great and comfy tranny. Also reliable.
All in all, it is a very very nice and really rare car.
PS
This car runs poorly,`eats injection pumps`and throws issues at the owners who think
-diesels do not need much maintenance and who falsely believe diesels run forever
-they fill their cars with unknown quality fuel and don`t keep basic rules of strictly&religiously keeping the fuel system uncontaminated (whenever opening a hard line, the pump, the tank, the injector, and yes the filter too, etc)
-those who constantly misadjust the engine and tinker them all the time to achieve unrealistic performance (those without knowing much about *this exact* engine)
-those who used wrong parts and/or cheap&low quality parts
-who never owned and never read nor followed the specific owners manual on how to keep this exact engine healthy
-those who race them cold impatiently
-and again, to emphasize it, those who think this car will run forever just because it is a diesel (=WRONG!)
I think it is a very nice engine and it keeps up with modern traffic and so much fun to drive that you dont actually mind you are driving a car under 150hp.
And, it is nearly 40 y old
Parts and maintenance is relatively cheap/affordable and relatively easy to do. Maintenance IS much much much easier and cheaper than an engine rebuild that resulted due to mistakes listed above.
PS #2
In Europe these are still running and most of them often run happily with minor repairs and have clocked 300000-700000 kilometers in them, yes, that is 200-500k miles without engine rebuild. Again, IF IF treated and maintained well. Obviously not on factory TB and injectors..
These cars do need periodic maintenance... so be prepared to do some preventative work on the car, the fuel system, the belts, maybe injectors and some other wear items obviously. Maybe they did do all new steering components and brakes and the entire suspension is fresh like a Sunday cookie but IDK.
The block should be `intact`(if) at 123k, I`m hoping it is, that could make this survivor a real gem for another 150-200k without major engine work other than maintenance and fresh belt every 60k and injectors about every 75k or so. There is always something to do. This could be a perfect pandemic project!
PS#3
They start hard the most when they are neglected and abused for years then repeatedly misunderstood and misadjusted by those who also let them wear away internally on regular engine oil. Also when wrong parts are used and also when there is air in the fuel system which is btw easy to happen time to time, but an easy job to trace to correct.
Injection pump correct timing is a key factor (!!) and takes skill to set properly. (!!) That is where/why most owners gave up on these and sent them to junkyards or parked them in gardens for tens of years to follow. Then the cars often ended up in the right hands again and roared happily and still on the road. That`s for the motivation.
Im happy if it ends up in NYS.
Fingers crossed!