Mercedes-Benz M113 and M156 Owners Can Now Get a Proper Manual Swap
A shop called Kwiek Customs is quickly making a name for itself by giving modern classic Mercedes-Benz models the manual they deserve.
There’s no denying that enthusiasts continue to gravitate toward some modern-classic Mercedes-Benz models, and for good reasons – many of them are rock solid in terms of construction and reliability, and in some cases, quite affordable in terms of the performance bang for the buck. That includes quite a few AMG models that left the factory packing either the M113 or M156 V8 engines, which are spectacular powerplants that enthusiasts love for their old school nature. Trouble is, many of these Mercedes-Benz V8s were mated to automatic gearboxes, but luckily, there’s one company now righting that particular wrong.
That company is Kwiek Classics, which came to be back in 2022, largely dedicated to V8 swaps early on. Since then, the shop has expanded to offer a variety of services such as suspension upgrades, rear end work, and of course, manual transmission swaps, chiefly centered around the concept of putting the best possible combination of parts in various modern Mercedes-Benz models.
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“Really, the reason I do it is because, as all of these cars age…the cars from the ’60s through the early ’90s had the best body, chassis engineering, quality control, build quality in general,” founder Matt Kwiek explained to Road & Track. “They’re built like tanks, they’re fantastic cars, they last forever. Really, the drawback with them is the drivetrains. Just because the technology at the time, they were trying to use cutting edge stuff that wasn’t that great and wasn’t that reliable. 30, 40, 50 years down the road, not only is it still unreliable, but now, you can’t get parts for it.”
“My whole thing is that I want to make these cars drivable, I want to keep them on the road. You combine the golden age of Mercedes chassis engineering with the golden age of Mercedes engine and drivetrain engineering, put them together in a package, and now you have a car that you can effectively daily drive for the rest of your life with minimal maintenance. And you just don’t have to worry about it.”
Those projects include a W124 wagon that Kwiek is currently tooling around in, which is actually a followup to a previous build packing the AMG-derived 5.4-liter M113 engine and a six-speed manual transmission. However, he switched plans and wound up deciding to go with the more potent 6.2-liter M156 V8, also coupled to a manual gearbox. Thanks to a few upgrades including headers and lifters from a Black Series model, Kwiek estimates that the wagon is laying down around 550 horsepower.
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As for the types of Mercedes-Benz models that Kwiek is tackling, well, there’s really no limitation there – his list includes everything from the more vintage W201 to the W108 and W111, W123 and W124 E-Class, W201 and W202 C-Class, and the W108, W116, and W126 S-Class models, not to mention an SL and a W205 C63 AMG with a manual swap. Kwiek is quite literally doing the Lord’s work here, keeping the manual gearbox alive and well, and stuffing it in some vehicles that are only going to get better with a row-your-own transmission mated to a reliable (and potent) powerplant.
Photos: Kwiek Classics
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