bheng

i was just thinking about this.

technically the CLK 320 in the US never came with a manual tranny option. BUT i just realized the C320 did. i was wondering if i could overhaul a manual transmission from the C to the CLK. im pretty sure the w203 shared the same engine.

haha just late night food for thought.

Kevwood

You could get a manual CLK200 in Europe, try to look into that and see if it's the same trans setup as the C class you mentioned - I bet it is.

mikata

Kev is right, CLK200 is offered with manual tranny. Alot of "200" Mercs here are offered with manual transmission. I dont know why people would like to have a manual tranny though
To shift faster with manual is not an excuse on a 200 or 320.

Supafly

CLK + Manual transmission would be awesome......but with no aftermarket support for clutchs....MB can rape you 10x over.

togaclk55

Kevwood

I bet the swap will cost a fortune and the benefits will be nominal unless your tracking the car and looking to shave thousands off you lap times.

The boys at MB do a pretty good job with the gearing on their auto's, I definitely wouldn't swap mine out for a manual, I like auto's on big horsepower/torque builds.

Anyways, if you do look into it, let us know what you find out, always respect those who venture outsize the lines like Wes and his 32 project.

mikata

+1 on what Kev said.

Jamesbbh

The ONLY way I would consider it would be if I already had a blown tranny and was looking at a few $1000's to fix it anyways. I've had a bunch of 5-speed cars as well as auto's and the auto just fits this car for some reason. i think it's the luxury thing, I couldn't imagine driving a really nice Benz and shifting gears for some reason My little brother had one of the little manual C classes and it just seemed out of place for the car. If you're hell bent on it and have plenty of $ however, anything is possible

bheng

true story

haha dont get me wrong, i love the auto for the benz. i was just sitting around and couldnt sleep last night. i was thinking about a manual car and remembered i saw a manual slk way back when. so i thought itd be kind of nice to get manual in the 320.

true. i would have consider it a couple of years ago when the coolant problem on the 03/04 clks. but at the time i didnt know what was wrong and was still under warranty. now that im not, and since i have a refurb transmission on my clk, if it were to kick the can, im sure i will fully use this option and convert it to manual.


EDIT: quick ebay.de search gave me a bunch of c-classe manual trannys but all in for the 200 and under engine size. BUT i do remember a member on this board (psheck) or something along those lines. he was the first of the members to do a c320->c32 engine conversion. funny thing was that he used his old tranny from the 320 and he said it worked out fine. my knowledge base for manual transmission is pretty limited but from my understanding, if the 320 transmission was able to handle the 32s torque/hp, curious as to see if the c180/200 manual tranny would handle a 320 (not like im going to try). but would it make sense that they developed a transmission that can be used for the power of the 320s and below?

haha sorry for the rambling, just thinking while i type.

Kevwood

The gearing for the 200 trans will most definitely be different than the one for the 320/350, that'll also be something to consider if you wanted to do a swap.

bheng

Hmm. Maybe I can get a custom tranny made. But that's big bux. Lololol I think I'll see if I can find someone with a 320manual transmission

betrezra

If you can get the bellhousing and clutch pedal assy for the manual clk.... you can have an adapter plate cut for a Tremec 6 speed, and a custom drive shaft made.

I'd also be concerned about the ECU which talks to the auto for engine inputs.... not sure how you deal with this bit.

I've converted several Auto Mustang 5.0's to 5speed...... those cars are so primative, it's a $1000 job, over the weekend...... and you literally shave 1-2 seconds off 1/4 mile times. People are using the 4banger 5speeds in 5.0 mustangs with Nitrous for years...... (I digress).

Cool project.

Sirpent

Sorry to barge in, but I just purchased a CLK320 and was cruising the threads when I came across this topic.

I'm also doing a C32 conversion with a T56 behind it, you may be interested in my thread.

Cheers

John

https://mbworld.org/forums/c32-amg-c...ml#post4711778

6speedclk

I baught a 6 speed C240 off a car lot in Indy and took out the trans, wiring, peddles, radiator (no trans cooler), clutch/flywheel and put all into my clk500. I changed the front SAM and EIS programing and sent the ECM to Rentech change the trans designation and idle speed control. I did it to make the car funner to drive and prove some of people wrong.
I have had no problems for almost a year now.
Gear reduction between engines takes place in the rear differential not the trans so putting a V6 trans behind V8 was no problem.
Putting the auto back in the C240 wasent much of a problem after working out a slight kink that I caused. I drive that car all the time.
I spent $7200 on the c240 $800 in rentech programing and $300 trans control modual for the c240. All said and dun I spen about $1000 and got to keep a cool little c240 witch I slammed tented the windowns and put the clk AMG wheels on.
I couldn't waight to tell you guys this story. I didn't want to start a horn tooting thred as a noob and this seemed like the right thred. I hope you enjoyed.

6speedclk

Edit!
I spent around $10,000!

advans

might not work as easy as you guys think. The TCU is different.

most mercedes actually uses the same transmission, just the TCU is different. 7 speed c class same tranny as 7 speed SL600. This was told to me by a transmission dude tho.

Sirpent

If you are talking manual conversion, then the ECM will require modding, simple reason no communication from the missing trans TCU which will put the system into limp mode.

However, if you are contemplating this move, then dispense with the Benz ECM and just do as I am, MoTeC M600.

Mr Takemytyme

Have you ever thought of manul 6 speed tran out of a Chrysler cross fire the share the same engine as clk