FLYNAVY

Sorry but this whole convo has been repeated and re-repeated on basically every MB board for as long as I can remember. Yes, you can have a manual MB V8, but it will require serious $$$$ as well as either a Tremec, Getrag, or ZF gearbox. There was a guy on mercedesshop (now peachparts) trying to do the swap onto an m119 w/ an e39 M5 box IIRC.....he started in the '06 timeframe, and has not finished to my knowledge. It can be done, it has been thought about, Renntech has even done it one a few limited production cars (ie one-offs). Is it a reasonable mod for an $8-10k car? I guess that is a personal decision. I would guesstimate the final cost to be near the value of a decent C43 these days

eundaddy

meh it might not be that much if you do the work all on your own. there has bound to be a good trans out of a wrecked car that can be salvaged and trans mounts that can be fabricated.

FLYNAVY

Possibly not, but aside from the mechanical challenges involved, I'd think the electronic ones could be even more time consuming and potentially costly

eundaddy

agreed, but considering that somebody doing this swap will more than likely track the car, i dont think getting 100% of the things to work perfectly will be an issue.

Saaboteur

Re: stuff to break in a manual transmission - n my old Saab, the known weak point is the transmission. While prodigious power can be had from the 2.0L turbo, that power capability quickly outstripped the holding power of the transmission. The trans was originally designed in 1969 to handle less than 100hp, whereas many guys would get near on 300hp out of a tuned motor.

Gears would strip, the pinion bearing (the diff was integrated into the transmission case) would also fail, the inner driver cups would sometimes explode, the cases could crack right open too. Gearboxes have lots of moving parts inside, plenty to go wrong there. Guys would upgrade clutches to hold more power, but then there was just no more give - the abuse would go into the rest of the transmission and that was it.

In my view, if this was such an easy swap, there would be tons of C43s with manual gearboxes running around.

FLYNAVY

Fair enough. Still it would be pretty incredible in a street car as well!

AMS Performance

Its a cable driven tranny, its not the best and its notchy. Newer 6-speeds cannot be used b/c they actually have electronics integrated into them (yes even the manuals have ECUs, what for I have no clue, only benz knows).

Looking into this many times for both 202s & 208s...its alot more difficult that it sounds. You can get a period-correct manual but its not going to shift that well and its not the best design, but it should mate up properly to the bell housing. May not be a bad idea to run a custom ltw flywheel & clutch setup.

it can be done... but at a certain point the costs make it almost unviable (unless you are bill gates and can **** away money effortlessly).

At a certain point you just got to be honest with yourself and realize it may be time to sell your car and upgrade to a newer AMG for not much extra cash (these days they are so cheap you can get amazing newer AMGs for a tiny fraction of what they used to cost).

siideways

I've read this somewhere before, but isn't the C280's engine a V6, whereas the C36's is an I6? Sorry for the noob question.

$tallion

PART NUMBERS

LawRens

Early w202s were I6, the c36 uses the 2.8 I6, except is on steroids. The latter half of the w202s were introduced with the 2.8 V6.

eundaddy

http://www.jaylenosgarage.com/at-the...rs/tramontana/

I was watching this clip on Jay Leno's Garage website and it reminded me of this discussion we've had.

betrezra

If I really wanted a 6speed in my CLK55, I'd perform an LS7/Tremec swap, and LS7 computer inst cluster, etc...... it has been done to death in fox mustangs, civics, yota's, and mazda's..... you end up with a beast with no traction.

Darth Speed

I picked up a C43 with a bad transmission. Instead of wasting money rebuilding the Auto I decided to convert it to Standard. What I have found out is the M112 V6 has the same bellhousing pattern as the M113. So I should be able to use a 6-Speed trans from the SLK320 or Chrylser Crossfire. I will just have to research about the flywheel and clutch. Finding the pedals was no problem from Germany, I was able to order 2 sets from a friend with the Clutch Master, The extra set is so I can convert my C230 later. Anyone else researched this? I know I will have problems with the ASR.

503C43 ////AMG

I am pretty sure there is a 6 speed manual that was used in the 2000 estate model. It was equipped with a G56 6-speed manual transmission. You might want to check that out...

eundaddy

darth, you end up pulling this off ill love u.

Darth Speed

hahah LOL!

I have been in touch with a Piggy Back ECU specialist in Aussieland. I need to get them a wiring harness diagram. does anyone have it as a pdf? and what years will that cover? They say that they can work around the ASR with thier piggy back and also I can change to larger injectors for more HP.

Sirpent

Hi

And apologies for barging in like this, but it has been an interesting read and to some extent helpful to my plight.

I am currently fitting a M112 C32 3.2L AMG motor as a retrofit into my 1975 260Z, yes you read right, but its not a simple retrofit for a number of reasons, some of which may apply to the idea of fitting a C43 with a manual box as discussed in this thread, so thought I would share.

Just to give you some background regarding what I have been through, here is a quick synopsis, first in the past 48 hours I have learnt that the entire electronics system and hardware from a C32 sedan CANNOT be retro fitted into my car, that the bad news however dumping the auto trans, ECU and TCM and fitting a manual trans will allow me to move forward, what i have to do however is run something like a MoTeC M600 aftermarket management system instead.

The reason for this is simple, the C32's ECU and TCM actually use telemetry from an array of other inputs such as the ABS etc, if one of these telemetry streams is inactive the ECU and TCM read it as being a fault and the entire electronics go into limp mode.

If I was to use a manual stick shift like a Getrag with the MoTeC management system basically what I will be dealing with is a lump of metal with pistons injectors etc etc etc that the MoTeC can be set up for.

I'm not sure of how the C43's were originally set up, but considering that they may require telemetry from a TCM you may find that the problem you will face is that the C43's ECU will read the non existence of a TCM as a critical fault and therefore go limp mode on you.

I may be wrong but somehow I suspect that as the forerunners to the C32's there would be the same degree of complexity in the electronics.

In My case I have a car that never came out with advanced safety featres so I have to dump all the Benz gear and go manual which is now kind of a big plus.

Once again, sorry for crashing the party.

Cheers

John

charliekuney

Sorry for bringing up a dead thread, but I did some research on the 6-speed W202, and here is what I have come up with in case anyone is every interested in finding one or doing the swap. I believe the 2000 W202 estate came with an optional 6-speed manual on the C240 (2.6L 18V M112 V6) models. The 2.6L M112 V6 was carried over to the W203 sedan in 2000 where they received the newer 6-speed manual transmission. So, since the engines were carried over but the older estate was carried over for an extra year, Mercedes-Benz thought they might as well give it the updated transmission, too.

markusr15

benzslo

Have you guys ever driven a 6 speed MB? They are garbage. I wouldn't want one anyway, that's not what the car is about. If you want to bang gears, get a mustang or a Honda. There is a reason amg doesn't use manual trans.

benzslo

MB manual trans cars don't have a control module for the trans.

markusr15

That is not true at all I have had 2 manual Mercedes that shift better than most other cars I have driven. Honda or Ford? Get real the Ford SVT Shelby 500 felt like a box of mush.

LawRens

Yea, it's a shame they don't know how to make a good MT. But that's what BMW is for.

Super B

How do you feel about the 5 speed dogleg? Is that tranny any good to drive?

markusr15

I liked it.