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Good day,
Is fuel distributor from 1986 W124 230E (0 438 101 004) compatible with 1985 W201 US version (0 438 101 002)?
Attached pictures from my car (0 438 101 002) and the one I saw online (0 438 101 004)
Thank you!
original installed part will be used for replacement
190E 2.6L 1989, 190E 2.6L 1988, BMW 535dXdrive 2014, BMW 428i 2015
I do not have a definitive answer for you and the fuel distributors should not be model dependent (as evident from the part number) as long as the engine displacement and #cylinders are the same.
However, they could be model year dependent. Most likely interchangeable but your first picture has an exposed adjustment screw that I have never seen as opposed to the tower opening that is most common and is most likely the way it is in the second picture.
I would want to make sure both use the same EHA port for lambda adjustment as the really early models could be different.
Thanks for the reply! I am not quite technical so apologies if I don't understand the "tower opening" you mentioned but I have attached the top-view pictures of what I have vs what I plan to replace it with - including the EHA valves (assuming it's the black thing connected in the fuel distributor itself). Let me know if it helped you in any way.
Have a nice day sir! my own car - fuel distributor (0 438 101 002) possible replacement option (0 438 101 004)
190E 2.6L 1989, 190E 2.6L 1988, BMW 535dXdrive 2014, BMW 428i 2015
Photo's help a lot, the original photo was deceiving. From the outside they appear to be the same form factor. I suppose the 004 should work.
Not sure why all it's ports look to be sealed shut in a strange way.
I should ask, is this a known good FD? FD swaps are generally not done ***** nilly as they are a bit finicky and need adjustments etc.
Would it not be better to just have yours refurbished instead?
Or are you just trying to get a second FD that works in your car as a spare?
I ask because I have a spare but I have never swapped it in to see if it will work, as mine only has 50K miles in the car and is fine.
Thank you! I'm planning to replace as the mechanic who did the diagnosis for the car told me that it needs replacement. As for refurbishing, I dont think I know any shops that can do refurbish in my area as I live in PH. Maybe in EU/US it is easy to find, but here I think its much cheaper to find new parts from online / donor cars.
The replacement is in good condition as per the owner. Mine has more than 100k+ miles so I figured to just find for replacements. Is this a good strategy that can be applied to other parts as well? Thank you!
You need to be using the parts that were made to fit your car and not parts from a different model that may or may not be compatible. Using the parts that were made to fit your car will save you alot of grief in the long run. There are no cheap parts shortcuts to keeping an MB running properly.
190E 2.6L 1989, 190E 2.6L 1988, BMW 535dXdrive 2014, BMW 428i 2015
1986 is an interesting year, it is the first year the W124 was introduced. So it is a transition year, most likely the part numbers were joined between the 124 an 201 4 cylinder 2.3L engines.
So we can not be confident it will fit but could.
However, I would not throw in a Fuel distributor from another car that has not been properly re-built by an expert. Maybe as a spare for an experiment.
There are springs and rubber seals in there that need replacing after some usage. For my car it was 20 years, 150K miles, regularly used car for 5K-10K miles a year and quality fuel used throughout.
But I see due to your location your options are limited. If there is a Mercedes dealership nearby I would ask them. They will have the historical compatibility list and can tell you if 104 superseded the 102 or if they are truly different.
Sorry we can not be of help from the US. Here we just send these FD's to the experts who rebuilds them.
You need to be using the parts that were made to fit your car and not parts from a different model that may or may not be compatible. Using the parts that were made to fit your car will save you alot of grief in the long run. There are no cheap parts shortcuts to keeping an MB running properly.
Hi! As much as possible I want to source the exact part number but I've been trying to contact multiple shops, they don't have the exact part number but searching online, I found something similar.
My confusion comes from both models using the same engine (M102). I am under the assumption that they just use the same parts. Thanks for advice!
1986 is an interesting year, it is the first year the W124 was introduced. So it is a transition year, most likely the part numbers were joined between the 124 an 201 4 cylinder 2.3L engines.
So we can not be confident it will fit but could.
However, I would not throw in a Fuel distributor from another car that has not been properly re-built by an expert. Maybe as a spare for an experiment.
There are springs and rubber seals in there that need replacing after some usage. For my car it was 20 years, 150K miles, regularly used car for 5K-10K miles a year and quality fuel used throughout.
But I see due to your location your options are limited. If there is a Mercedes dealership nearby I would ask them. They will have the historical compatibility list and can tell you if 104 superseded the 102 or if they are truly different.
Sorry we can not be of help from the US. Here we just send these FD's to the experts who rebuilds them.
Thanks for the advice sir! There's a Benz dealership near me, I hope they can help. Will send updates here!
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