The first version of the turbo-charged OM617 engine was the OM617.950, built for the W116 platform, which made the resulting 300SD the world's first passenger car with a turbo-diesel engine.

Go back to 1972 as Mercedes was preparing to launch the W116 as the short wheelbase 450SE and longer wheelbase 450SEL. ... But the diesel five only made 80-horsepower in the E-Class 300D.

The Mercedes-Benz W116 S-Class, sold for the 1973 through 1980 model years, ... Well over 300,000 miles… which isn’t much for a diesel W116 Mercedes-Benz. Murilee Martin. 02 ...

In Mercedes' case, it's that best Bond, Sean Connery once owned a Mercedes W116 300SD, a car he bought new in the U.S. in 1978 and then drove for a decade before handing it off to his brother, Neil.

The diesel S-Class was changed very little until the 1986 model year when the 300SD became the 300SDL, featuring a 3.0-liter inline six-cylinder turbodiesel. This motor made 148 hp at 4600 rpm and ...

This particular diesel engine actually arrived in the car's W116 predecessor back in 1978. As some noted at the time, its output was not all that far from the gasoline 380SEL. And it returned 23 mpg.

The style migrated to the S-class with the W116 model in 1972. For the desired ornamentation, Mercedes kept the double chrome bumpers. At 195.3 inches long (SEL: 199.2), 73.4 inches wide, and 56.1 ...

Benz's expertise with diesel powertrains goes back decades. In fact, some of you might have a grandfather who used to own a late-1970s diesel-powered W116 300SD.

From 1978 through 1987, diesel-fueled S-classes sold far better here than expected, and many W116-and W126-generation diesels are still puttering along the road today.

Mercedes says that 28,634 300SD models were produced out of the 473,035 total W116 platform automobiles. Mercedes-Benz's OM617 engine in the first 300SD models produced 111 horsepower — up from ...