Operating Diesel Engines in extreme cold
 

Not sure if this is the right place to post this. Or if this is a dumb question, but here goes. I have been thinking about buying a reconditioned Defender 110 and would love to put a 300 tdi engine in it. My concern is that I currently live in Boston where it will probably go below 0 (farenheit) tonight, and will probably be moving to Colorado, where 10 below is not uncommon.

I currently own a diesel powered BMW, which has been trouble free in cold weather. However, I know that some of the older diesel engines had significant problems operating in extreme cold and required engine block heaters. Don't want to spend the money to put in a diesel engine if I'm going to create problems for myself in winter.

Also, I've heard that some of the older Defenders can have less than stellar fit and finish and not that great at keeping out the elements. I can deal with a little discomfort (wouldn't be considering a Defender if I expected Mercedes Benz level comfort) but I'm also like having all my extremities and would be unhappy if any of them turned black and fell off after driving around in my newly purchased Defender for a few hours.:D If I crank up the heat (they do come with heat don't they) am I good for cold weather operation?

Not quite as cold, but


Good glow plugs, good battery, good battery/starter cables, fuel treatment and you should be good.
Block heater for those really cold nights.

On older diesels always change the oil before the start of winter. Trust me old oil can prevent pretty much any diesel from starting. Batteries need to be charged so have them charged before the cold hits. Put anti gelling compounds in the gas. They come in a bottle at you local autozone. More importantly make use you are not still using summer diesel. If you have summer diesel not only will it be a bad start but it will actually loose power on hills in extreme cold. Have it happen many a times in a VW diesel. With the summer stuff it won't ruin the engine it just wont go anywhere.
Outside of that, pretty much everything else you would do on a gas vehicle.