e500slr

Ok so my e500 which ive kind of been planning to sell since 2011 just blew its gearbox. it whines and it slips and its just TOAST and the screwed up thing is it only has 60k miles on it which for the 5 spd 722.6 shouldnt be alot. Whatever, box is toast and now i have an option to get a used one with warranty but its gonna cost alot.

I'm thinking now this is an opportunity to do some kind of project instead of just throwing in another box. I did some research online and found some m120 motors and thought it would be an interesting project. i found the 5.8 na v12 from the s600 too and they both sound glorious with an exhaust but to be honest i have NO idea on how it would come together, what ecu programming would be involved or how it would bolt on and theres simply not enough info on the net for me to actually decide to undertake something like this on.

Another more straight forward idea was to get an m113k and drop that in which would bolt on immediately at least. checked prices and theyre not cheap and i have no idea if i would need a complete engine with harness or if the e500s ecu can be reprogrammed, if the driveshaft and diff need to be replaced too and what not.

anyways i was just looking for advice on what to do and some opinions from the experts here who do alot of mods and custom work.

basically, what is the cheapest way to drop an m113k in and how cheap could i actually do this.

oh and incase you all forgot im in australia sorry i dropped that one late i know it makes things 1000x harder and alot more expensive but i feel like finally this is an oportunity for me to do a project.

any help is appreciated

BagMan

It would be cheaper to sell the e500 and get an e55. Beside the engine, you would get all benefits of the AMG: big brakes, sportier suspension, body kit, etc. No hassle of engine coding, unforeseen gremlins, labor.

e500slr

Jesus Christ why do people say that. Firstly I'm in OZ and E55s are still in the $50k mark for a good one. Secondly I already have an E55. This E500 will get me $20k at best after spending $3k on a box and as I said I was interested in a project and was looking for advice. Maybe you're right about it being too much but honestly I don't know what I could do this project for so I'm looking first at the method because maybe it is too difficult and not worth but I don't know that yet. Thanks for the reply. For the most part you are right though, logically it doesn't make sense but i'm bored and need a hobby.

By the way it already has the E55 bodykit and the E55 suspension isnt exactly good My E55 in the second setting still feels like a boat. maybe because i came from a coilover'd E46 m3 but yeh this car is no autocross vehicle

need4spd

If you don't mind a project than buy a wrecked E55 (not a flood)and transfer everything over, other than that don't do it, cost of computers ,coding and harnesses will make it to expensive

e500slr

theyre rare here and that event of a flooded or wrecked one is rarer than seeing a living dinosaur. We just dont have a big euro car culture here, i mean people buy Ms and AMGs but just not nearly as much as the us and we have a massive tax on import cars so a new e63 for example is 265k and our dollar is nearly the same value as the us. im pretty sure for 265k you can get an slr in the us lol

berti_00

holy crap 265k lol you can get a nice lamborghini murcielago but i'd rather have the SLR...

BagMan

Relax mate. How am I supposed to know you're down under? In the US, I sold my e500 for $14k and bought an E55 for $20k. Aside from the motor, the difference between the two cars is absurd

Just trying to help

efiftyfizzle

Very good point... just the engine swap alone would have cost more than $6k (the difference in what he paid). Then you've also got brakes, suspension, exhaust, body kit, wheels, few interior differences... it's just not even something reasonable here in the U.S.

e500slr

No problem man I appreciate the input and I see your point but one half of me is looking at this as an opportunity and the other half as a money pit. The thing is though I have no idea what's involved. I'm gonna contact Speeddriven today and see what they have to say after all they did that V12 swap and they know the coding, programming really well now.

It's beyond ridiculous. I know our minimum wage is more than the US but people don't earn 3x as much as the US here. They do earn more but only maybe 20-30% and don't forget it's expensive as hell to live in Australia. The upside I found to that is that when you go overseas you enjoy it so much because everything is so damn cheap

Yh I get it trust me I do but even for a gearbox that has done 40k miles the cost is $3500. I've looked everywhere local and national and that's the cheapest I've found for a warranty'd (6 months) gearbox. I was thinking if I can sell the engine here in OZ for like $2500-3000 (which it can sell for here) I can maybe import an engine from the US along with a box and just swap out the drivetrain for a better one. I know it sounds ambitious and too optimistic but it would be cool for me if it worked. I'll deal the brakes and what not later. For me the drivetrain is my aim now. So let's say I get $2500 from the engine and then add the $3500 I would have to pay for the box, that adds up to 6k. Now I'm not trying to do anything on a budget but you're right I don't want to pay too much if I don't have to. Now at $6k lets add another $2-3k I'm willing to throw in that's around 9k and when I look at it like that it would be pretty cool if I could do it within a 9k budget. Again though I'm still researching and will be contacting speeddriven today.

biggking

Why not simply sell parts from your E500. Im sure you'd make your money back 'down uuhhhnnnndddaaaaah' if there are limited used parts available.

Denroll

I used to visit Oz back in the late '90s and early 2000's and it was not bad. Of course, the US:AU dollar was like 1:2, so the high prices were offset by the mighty US dollar.

Went back there again in 2011 when the AU dollar was stronger than the USD and about went broke. Spent $50 on my first lunch! Food prices are ridiculous... but the beer is good.

e500slr

You mean part out the car? I can't be bothered and don't have the space. It's not even about getting the money back for me, I'm just seeing this as a possible opportunity to swap an engine in but if I cant pull it off I'll just get a box and sell the car straight away. I might even be able to offset the cost of the gearbox in the price of the car as long as I'm a little more patient to sell it. My car has the E55 AMG bodykit and wheels as well as being in good shape and a clean report so I won't really lose much. I'm bored as hell though so throwing in an M113k would be sweet. My E55 is still stock except for a tune and limiter delete so this could be a "second E55" for me to actually modify as it won't be my daily driver.

HAHA everything is really expensive here and more so now because of the Aussie dollar's ratio with the USD. Last year it was STRONGER so you can imagine what it's like for tourists. Australia to be honest is kind of socialist in alot of ways. I know Americans always say at least we have free healthcare but honestly if you want real health care here you still need private insurance. Public health is pretty bad here and they almost abolished it but here we have a billion different taxes on literally everything. I always follow US politics and the whole tax talk and I'm surprised because you guys have really low taxes compared to here. Registration here costs ~$1200 a year per car WITHOUT comprehensive or third party insurance. It would be alright if the roads were smooth and pothole free but most roads are SHOCKING. You can forget about driving a lowered car in some areas and even rich areas.

Anyways I'm not ranting this is a good country I'm happy here and at least it's fairly safe and peaceful. Life isn't bad here, could be better under better management and different politics but still a pretty damn good place to live

need4spd

What about putting a LS2 or LS3 motor with a 6spd? For 9k you can easily do that, maybe even turbo charged. You have plenty of Holden's over there so parts should be reasonable. With twin turbos that's a nice 800whp ride, it will surprise tha hell out of people

turbo97se

Swaps always cost more than you anticipate. If you want more performance, turbo what you have got and get a tune and fix your transmission in the process … maybe even add a headgasket. It'll be easier to turbo what you currently have since some turbo kits use pretty much your existing intake manifold and the exhaust can be modded to your existing manifolds … some additional piping and a tune and you're done …

e500slr

Thought about it but the wiring issues and the traction control not working and also the cluster and interior and electrics. Plus I think LS engines are overrated, they're nice in fast road shredding beasts like camaros and vettes but a manual LS mercedes e class? It just doesn't suit the car. I certainly wouldn't want it like that and if I do it to sell it as a unique car to someone I'm not sure who would be interested. You're right about them making huge power for cheap though. If this was an E39 BMW I'd be all over this. I've been doing some research on M113ks from the US and the shipping and tax costs.......I've realized costs mount up really fast Another issue is I'm kind of bored of the W211, I'm gonna put the E55 for sale and maybe look into getting a CLS or a W212 E63 so I don't wanna go too custom with the E500 that's why the M113k popped into my head as it would bolt on directly, mechanically anyway.

I did find a 5.8 V12 from the S600 and his price isn't too bad and he's local, I also found some M120 6.0 motors here in Aus for a good price and they're a great engine, they have a unique sound and their power isn't bad. Now that for me would be a nice project but anyone have any idea what it would take to bolt one on and what kind of electronic changes would need to be made? This is something I've always daydreamed about, I just love those V12s

need4spd

If you want good friend of mine ships cars to Europe, I can check what he says about shipping to Australia. He buys cars at insurance auctions to.

e500slr

That would be really nice of you. I'm not sure about write off laws here for import though. I do know that if you want to import a car here you have to own it there for at least a year and even then the taxes are massive. It's all to try to keep the Australian car industry in business as people wouldn't buy these crap cars they make here if they can get Mercs and BMWs at US prices. Even this has failed though with the only two domestic companies closing, Ford Australia and Holden which was announced a couple of days ago. Apparently GM is pulling the plug on Holden and our government won't save them with some cash injection. Toyota have factories here but they are said to be leaving too and they are not domestic, they just have factories. It's sad really to see a government resort to price gouging of a product they don't even own/make just to force people into buying domestic.

CrisT

Sorry for resurrecting such an old thread, but is the chassis in the E55 AMG the same as any W211 E-class?
More specifically, is it possible to have an entire E55 engine/drivetrain/etc. transplanted on a standard W211 chassis?

James M

Here's a different idea - why not keep everything and get a used gearbox for your E500, then as the ultimate project drop in a twin turbo setup or a used big fat supercharger? The only nightmare will be your ECU/engine management system. You won't have to swop out harnesses or wiring. You can build it slowly and test to see what works and what doesn't. I agree, the LS motors will be crap in a big E Class body, plus fitting issues, gearbox and ECU issues. Improve on what you already have and build from there!

CrisT

This is an year old thread and I think he resolved his problem.
I considered it was better to ask here about the differences between the regular W211 and the AMG chassis, rather than opening a new thread.
From what I know and what @need4spd said, there shouldn't be any difference, but it is better to ask.
The reason why I ask is that I had found a complete E55 that is written off and transplanting it on an E200 is quite tempting.

e500slr

Ask Shardul. He says it can be done using the same ECU/TCU and that you only need a wiring harness and some ECU/TCU modding, very basic. If it wasn't for the stupid taxes and import fees where I am I would have jumped on an engine/gearbox he had. I'm still not getting a proper answer from my country's customs. They're ****ing useless. Idiots lost their domestic car manufacturing and they're still hassling us on this ****. Brand new E63 AMG = $270,000 USD. ****ing animals.

I would do it though if you have a donor car.

What are talking about? What does this have to do with LS motors anymore. He resurrected the thread to ask a completely different question. This thread isn't about swapping a different motor/LS motor anymore. You make sound like you're replying to me when this thread is from last year. So answer HIS question if you can, not mine.

CrisT

I know what problems you face. I live in Europe and most people know that we pay stupid money for our cars. As for import duties, in Romania we have a 10% customs fee plus 24% for VAT. And this is only for getting it in the country.

Buying an E55 is suicidal here. I would have to pay 5439euros in "luxury tax", 3900€ registration tax and about 2000€/year local taxes. Forgot about the insurance, which would be ~2500€/year.
This is why registering it as an E200 is actually the only sane method to have an E55.

Thank you very much for your reply. I will talk with Shardul about this and if I will proceed with this "project" I will let you know.