How practical would it be to swap a 560SEL or 420SEL motor into a W126 1988 300SE?

1. Would the engine bolt up to the tranny?
2. Can anyone reccomend a good motor supplier?

 

Feuerdrachen, et al.

I have long considered this idea and have determined that there are a couple of ways to make the W126 E30 (300s) faster:

1. a Mossleman twin-turbo system rated at 292hp, cost is about $5.8k if I remember right... one thing is for sure with this option, I would not bolt turbos onto a used motor, especially one that was designed 15 years ago and is 'well' broken-in at this point

2. possibly finding a wreched or tired 560 and pirating the internals, restoring or reconditioning parts as is necessary... I think this is the most feasable way of getting a V8. there are a multitude of specific parts needed, computers, fuel pumps, fuel lines, wiring harnesses, etc. plan of not driving the car for a while, a great while... depending on your mechanical aptitude naturally. If you want crazy power and want to spend crazy dollars, drop in the 6.0 32v hammer motor from AMG.... yikes!

3. there is a 3.6 C36 M104 motor equiped 300TE running around this board... so thats an option as well. maybe Neil can chime in on what it takes to accomplish this option. the 3.6 bolts right in.

4. take your M103 to Renntech and have them build you a M103 3.6. now there are varying states of tune offered, depending on how much "reliable" power you want without stressing the block. now I know some members of the board don't like Renntech, but to my knowledge they are the only US MB tuner that can handle building a motor from the ground up. plus Renntech uses nothing but the best parts available like Kolbenschmidt pistons, better than the mahle units used in our factory cars! this helps to justify the cost which is more than the other options I'm pretty sure, less the 6.0 hammer motor

anyone want to see pics of my car??

Jon
Westlake Vlg, CA
1990 300SEL 252kmi
16x8 500E rims and 225/55-16 sport 9000's
euro bumpers
euro headlights
euro headlamp cleaning system
headlight level control
rear fog

 

sure! post some pics up!

 

just did!

i think i got this posting thing figured out! enjoy the pics!

 

How tough would it be to put a 3.0 L diesel into a 126? I know fuel tanks and lines would of course be changed out but what about motor mounts and trannies? ( would a 300D tranny fit into a 126?)

 

The 3.0L Diesel should fit in a W126, after all, they had 3.0L Diesel engines in them from 1981 to 1987, as 300SDs until 1985 and 300SDLs until 1987. 1986-87 were 6-cylinder engines. I think the W126 diesel shared the automatic transmissions with the W123 300Ds from 1981 to 1985. The motor mounts are a little different I think. Is this engine you want to transplant from a pre 82 W123? pre 82 300Ds had no turbo in them. A 300SD with no turbo would be pretty slow.
-Joe

 

I think you understood exactly where I was coming from. I have a 420 SEL now and have recently seen a basket case engine in a pretty nice body and chassis. I have also seen a low mileage ( Less than 100,000 miles) 123 turbo diesel in a mess of a body, hence the swap.

So with a little "engine" uity you think the 123 engine and tranny would slip into the 420 SEL without too much dificulty?

 

It's been done before. Someone over in Europe did a conversion like the one you want to do on a 86-91 W126, turned their SE or SEL into a 300SD or SDL. I cannot find the website I saw it on. If anyone else knows what website I'm talking about, please post it.
-Joe

 

I have watched/been a small part of the following benz engine swaps, all done by my cousin-in-law, master Benz customizer!-
190E with 380SEL Euro motor, very fast (was mine)
2 190E's with 3.2L motors from E320's, even faster
240D (W123) with 380SEL Euro motor
240D with 560SEL Euro motor
380SL with 500SEL motor
380SEL with 500SEL Euro motor
500SEC with 3.0L turbodiesel (from 126)
500SEL with 280E motor
500SEC with 560SEL Euro motor, now with 6.0 AMG motor (mine)
and finally, a 250C with Corvette LS-1 motor

The man's a genious when it comes to Mercedes. We're in Phoenix and he'll do just about any conversion for the right price if anyone's interested.

 

That 500SEC conversion to a 3.0L diesel sounds nice. I would not mind having something that rare. But it would be pretty hard to find a 300SDC badge to put on the back.
-Joe

 

i guess that would be a rare badge. If I ever go through with it I'll see what the local artists can patch together and post it to the site.

( I would really hate to do more than have a temp badge like this - takes away too much -- too phoney for me.)

 

Maybe you should consider the M119 engine. You have to love it!

 

Just curious... what don't they like about RENNTech?

 

one word...

evosport

 

Evosport what? Are they more affordable? Better engineers? Help me out, my mind reading isn't working well...
Is this a consensus or just your opinion?

 

www.geocities.com/w126s

 

pifcat2,

This forum is pretty much owned by evosport and their followers so the obvious bias is overwhelming. They find every opportunity they can to bash Renntech. i.e. that Renntech parts are basically over-priced MKB parts, etc. In reality however, that simply isn't the case.

I personally feel that Renntech is the premier US MB tuner and when you are at the top of the heap, everyone wants to cut you down. This only my judgement after having met with Renntech people and the owners of evosport.