Picked up a 2015 507 last year; my first AMG, and truly a joy to drive. I grew up driving manuals but switched to a Tundra 11 years ago. Being a truck, I haven't been disappointed with it being an auto. It's just a different driving experience. But the 507....man, I feel a void. I feel a lack of control without a third pedal. The factory shift points are low in all auto modes unless you're on the throttle and even in manual mode, the paddles are clumsy in turns and at slow speed. Which brings me to the recent OTS video I watched on YouTube with a 6-speed manual swap CLK63 BS.

I reached out to the company for info and a quote; they're less than two hours away and stated project time is about two months. As part of my decision making process, I'd like to better understand what functionality would be affected by a manual swap. Naturally, the driving modes go away. But how would a swap affect traction control and ABS? What sort of ECU remap would be required to run fault free?

If I did go for it, I'd probably wait until after the summer driving season. Just kicking it over right now, so I'd appreciate your thoughts.

 

I would think those are all questions Kwiek could answer better than anyone on here. The swap has been a consideration of mine as well ever since it crossed my radar, but I'm further away from them and personally dont mind the MCT so have not taken any steps to pursue it. I and I'm sure many others on here would be interested in following your journey if you decide to go through with the swap and share what you learn. Besides the effort I wonder if the cost makes sense to do it on a regular C63 like mine vs something with more value like a 507 or BS.

 

what's the cost of the swap?

parts alone shouldn't be much, but since the shop that did the one for CLK63BS has been hush hush about it (MB716.671 manual trans from a base C?), i can already guess that the cost will be somewhere in the range of a market price of a PFL 204 C63.. but that's for the CLK63BS, so maybe it'll be cheaper for the swap on a 204 C63.

yet, if it's going to cost in the teens of 5 figure, options of just getting a whole other manual vehicle should be weigh in for consideration, too; especially when the stress of everything you've asked would be out of the window.

 

I've done a T6060 conversion onto a M156 for a custom build (not C63).
https://mbworld.org/forums/c63-amg-w...hind-m156.html

 

I reached out to Kwiek to ask about functional/electronic changes and required programming. I'll let you guys know what they say. As stated, if I decided to go through with it, I'd pay a deposit now to get parts rolling in and wait until after summer to deliver the car and have the project started.

Concerns about the model of car are legitimate. I don't particularly think a manual swap would be added value. It would appeal to a certain audience because of its novelty, but I don't think it would cause a swapped car to sell for any greater margin than factory MCT cars. Along those lines, I don't really see the 507 taking off in value like other "true" limited edition cars. I hope I'm wrong, though. At the end of the day, it's more about driver experience and satisfaction. Does it make financial sense, probably not, but neither do any hobbies.

Thanks for the feedback and I'll keep you guys posted.

 

The major problem converting to manual is the crankshaft only has thrust bearing shells x2 mounted in the block and no bearing shells in the crankshaft cam.
If you work that out then you will understand you have 50% crankshaft bearing shell contact to counter the thrust generated when you apply the foot on the thrust pedal.

Then the thrust will eventually wears the crank shell and the question will be how many years will crank shaft thrust last?

 

cost is about 15k. a manual swapped CLK/C BS may go up in value similar to a BMW E46 M3 manual swap down the line, who knows but probably

there is a red manual swapped C63 fs on fb market place too if anyone is interested

 

A guy on YouTube has done one on his facelift using a w212 diesel gearbox. Ask him on there.

 

My concern is fixing things when they come up AFTER the swap is done..

 

I share the same concern. Troubleshooting after a swap must be a different animal.

 

definitely not the first but man, i bet that was a lot of work... even the commenter mentioned there is a manual swapped C63 in NYC, its actually fs rn

 

This gives you all the information you need for logistics.
https://mbworld.org/forums/clk-class...sion-swap.html

While I love what Kwiek is doing, $15k is a grip of cash.
I did this swap on my w210 e55 about 5 years ago. I was probably the 5-6 person (first on US east coast) to do it with e55. Don't regret it one bit on that car.
To be honest, i had about $3.5k-4k into the swap. Mainly because I bought a lot of new parts (not used) to ensure everything was fresh and I wouldn't have to do it in a couple years due to used parts. Also ending up having to do rear main seal at the time. I also paid a shop to do the trans swap as I didn't have a lift and didn't really feel like doing it on my back. I did all the rest of the swap myself.
So you're really looking at probably $5-6k if you source all the parts.
Mercedes Swap Shop did the ecu encoding for the manual. Everything works including ESP/ABS as it should. There are quite a few others now that can do ecu encoding as this has become more popular.

For the M156, you'll need the Kangaroos Team clutch and flywheel to handle the power.
Pedals - check euro Ebay for any 204 c-class pedals. You likley find parts cheaper.
Driveshaft - Not sure what is being used for the long front half of the driveshaft.. Prolly just manual C if you can find. ...worst case scenario you can have your existing one lengthened.
Gear shifter - just use the regular C-class manuall shifter. Again euro ebay.
Clutch switch for cruise control is easy enough to find and wire.
Reverse switch easy to wire.
Clutch cable from gearbox to clutch master on pedal is SUPER hard to find stateside. Maybe easier Euro but haven't checked. Might consider a custom braided one as that might be cheaper.

I've contemplated swapping my c63 as well, but I oddly don't mind 7sp on my P30.
Everything is totally reversible so I wouldn't worry about "value going down".

 

Troubleshooting is in my mind easier. You don't have the TCU/limpmode and any of that stuff to contend with.

 

manual swap black series is insignificant as far as value. Cool factor is there but that also depends on reliability and how the manual feels. If you've ever driven a manual mercedes it's a huge down grade. Im not sure how the gear boxes they are using feel but factory C / SLK 230/250/300/350 etc feel awful. It would be much cheaper, easier and more sought after to converter it to the MCT transmission. Also super easy to revert back. No idea why that wouldn't be the popular choice. Doing the software/firmware upgrade even with the torque converter transmission is night and day. Adds rev matching and drives like a C63 which vastly better than how lazy it is from the factory.

 

@Big Worm any update?

 

i wonder if an CAE shifter would work in one of these but yea, the manual benz's are not great and is more of an after thought in the lower end models

 

Hope so. I run a CAE shifter in my gt3 and love it

 

Yes you can use a BMW body mount shifter.