cpbeasley

Long story short, purchased this perfect condition

2005 C230k 3.47 rear differential w/ 21,000 miles on it

to swap with my rear end outta my '06 c350. Just found out that in 06 they changed the housing so it won't fit.

This will fit some 01-05 C or CLK. If you're looking to upgrade to a lower gear ratio, repair, or exchange your high mileage rear end, here ya go.
I bought it from a Benz-BMW grave yard.

EDIT: Also can be purchased for the ring gear and pinion to use for rebuilding your current pumpking if your application cannot allow for a swap. non-amg cars only as they have a larger ring gear/pinion.

$300 shipped


EDIT: cant guarantee itll fit SLK. Swap into a w203 other than a c230k may require swapping some of your current hardware over to this pumpkin.

Swap into an automatic tranny car will require TCU programming if going to lower ratio. Manual cars have nothing to worry about.

buffyclk500

any pics

JUAN CASAUS

What about a 2002 C32?

rcompart

As of right now, no dice on the diff swap with an auto as the hard coding of the diff ratios in the EGS has proven to be problematic. I'm working with Marcin at Speedriven on this but neither of us have had luck making it work 100% yet.


The only cars your diff will fit are the CLK240, C230 Kompressor, C240 and C240 4Matic. It will NOT fit the SLK. Let me rephrase that, it will fit the SLK200 but that car never made it stateside.

JUAN CASAUS

Damn! I would love to see the difference in acceleration with this gear ratio.

buffyclk500

MKB did it but would like more info

http://www.mkb-power.de/content/en/p...&prod_gruppe=3

rcompart

I ran a 3.27 in my SRT6 and it made a marked improvement in off the line acceleration.



I tried getting ahold of them when I was messing around with different rear gears with my SRT6 two years ago and I received more of a response from a brick wall than I did from them.

BTW, the diffs in those pictures are from a W211/W219, not a W203. Perhaps they just used generic pictures.

cpbeasley

RC-

Thank you for the headsup! If I could change the title I would!

I've tried using EPC to figure out a commonality behind this differential, and wasn't having much luck. The parts foreman at my local MB dealer couldn't help much either.

So, those cars you listed are the only direct swaps for this diff? Can it be swapped into any other with limited modification without rebuilding the pumpkin? Like changing the prop flange or any of the external seals?

Let me ask you this, do you know what differential(s) could swap over to mine c350?
The part# for my diff goes something like 203 350.... (shares these first 6 with the c240... so until I read your post, thought maybe a c240 would swap over to mine) and I have the 110mm prop flange, unlike the 100mm of the 05 c230k diff I purchased.

W203E35

Bump

Damn too bad this didn't go through man.

cpbeasley

FITS 06-07 c230 6 Spd cars! EPC Confirmed! go from 3.27 to 3.46 !
Now includes 2 quarts MB diff fluid @ $375 shipped

e1000

This is key.

Within each gear, there would be a slight difference, but each gear would also end earlier. The result would be zero difference given a reasonable speed range.

Maybe. Too lazy to lookup the SRT6 gears but keep in mind that the rear tire overall diameter is MUCH larger on the crossfire compared to the C-class. This means that the resultant gearing is also much much taller. Even with this situation, remember that each gear is now shorter which means you must upshift. Each upshift in turn reduces the torque delivered to the wheels.

This is a poorly planned mod that didn't turn out. Caveat emptor, this diff can cause more problems than anything. Can't imagine why anyone would want to do this in a sufficiently geared car such as the C-class.

rcompart

e1000, being someone that takes their car to the strip, I would think you'd be well acquainted with the benefits of a reduced final drive ratio. These cars tend to shift right before the traps so why not actually make that gear count vs waste the .1 on the shift for practically nothing.

cpbeasley

Thank you rcompart,
e1000 - you point out why not to put this in an auto, when I advertise it for a manual.
you relay your opinion in the worthfulness. others have apparently, myself included, enjoy what a lower gear ratio has done for their particular application. Just because you don't believe that the C class can enjoy any benefit from a lower gear ratio doesn't mean that someone else might think differently. please let any potential buyer come to this conclusion themselves, you continue to antagonize me and this has officially gone too far.

cpbeasley

Again, now known to be a direct swap for 06 and 07 c230 sport with 6 spd. direct swap. enjoy a noticeable, seat of the pants, mild increase in gear-multiplied torque. as rcompart pointed out, great option for someone looking to get everything out of their performance on a 1/4 mile level. the m272 v6 is known for lacking a little bit of low end torque, this is at least a partial solution to that problem. be the first kid on mbworld to swap gear ratios in a m272 car, stop the cookie cutter mods!

e1000

Right. Good point. However, unless grossly mis-geared, it's a common misconception that shorter gears will improve acceleration. This is not one of those cases. Actually, looking at the numbers, both cars will be somewhere in the middle of 3rd when the quarter mile finishes, so your net ET will be about the same.

e1000

Sorry I had to read that sentence twice before I figured out you had made something up.

I never said shorter gears were a bad thing, just think they're useless on a C-class. You keep saying I'm the one with no real facts, but others have even stated with video proof that most likely, shorter gears will do nothing for the overall performance of this car.

Again, CAVEAT EMPTOR. There's nothing wrong with a rear-end swap, but just want to make sure the next buyer is fully aware of what the result will be, and what potential issues they might have.

Unless I've broken the TOS, I'm free to post wherever I like at MBW, officially.

rcompart

In the middle of third gear? Are you running bone stock? I don't think I made a pass where I didn't hit 4th. With the 3.07, I'd hit 4th about 110mph trapping around 116mph and with the 3.27, I'd hit 4th around 105mph and trap right around 120mph so it definitely made a difference for me. But then again, it was an SRT6 so must have been those special Chrysler body panels that did it for me.

e1000

No, that was for a 2.5L C230 6-speed. You're right I meant middle of 4th gear.

In your case, you're seeing the benefit because with the 3.07, you are just getting started with 4th gear before you finish the quarter mile. You're trapping higher with the 3.27 because you build momentum in 4th with that FD. What were your ET's with each set of gears and nothing else changed? With modern gear boxes, swapping for shorter gears means that the car will be quicker during certain speed ranges and slower in others. It's a give and take. The overall performance of the car will change very little if any. Not sure if you saw this video posted, FF to the 40s mark.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e32gozeyXLo

cpbeasley

Good thing the purpose with them for my car, and my intention for the buyer is a modification for a daily driver who can pick and choose the right time, place, and gear to maximize the difference these gears will make; a good thing Im not selling them for the purpose of helping a 2.5L c230 into an NHRA event.

rcompart

I shaved off half a second with my best time pre 3.27 being 12.531@115.89 and post being 12.016@120.14. I wish I could have seen what a 3.46 would have yeilded as that would have theoretically put me right before the 4-5 shift which would be somewhere around 135mph.

I'll have a C with 3.46 gears I'll be playing with this spring so it will be interesting to see what I can get out of that.

cpbeasley

I don't have any old timeslips left over from any of the three gear swaps I've done in the past, but namely my 02 Camaro SS with my 3.23 to 4.10 swap had very similar results to what you've posted RComp. e1000 has his calculations but the real world has always been kind and successful following this sort of modification for me.

I've *tentatively* sold the differential and I will be working closely with the buyer to make sure we get accurate results.

RC- do you know of any 210mm ring gear/pinion sets with ratio other than the 2.83 (my c350 and many others) and 3.06 (c32, c55) available thru MB? Expense will keep me from doing this immediately, but will be on the hunt for the 3.06 gearset and quaife lsd in the meantime.

cpbeasley

SOLD