1985 500sel euro vs non euro - Benzworld.org

vdubpower · 12-21-2003, 12:52 PM

what exactly are ALL the differences between the 1985 500sel euro and no euro. when i brought my car over did i get HP robbed....anyone have a list of stats, pics whatever, everything.....please.......

dtkw · 12-21-2003, 01:27 PM

For US market, the cars were all detuned to meet US emmission standard.

E V12 Nerd · 12-21-2003, 01:47 PM

The US versions also have really ugly headlights. They may not actually have benn detuned, its just the inferior gas over here lost some hp, but im not the expert.

EuroCoupe · 12-21-2003, 08:43 PM

No, they are de-tuned alright. Compression is lower, cams are different, exhaust manifolds and cat converter system. Euro 5.0 = 231-240hp, U.S. 5.0 = 185hp. The poor gas here was probably a contributing factor no doubt. Can't run a high compression engine effectively with poor gas and lower octane. Swap your 500 U.S. motor for a Euro 500, you'll feel the difference.

cnd · 12-22-2003, 01:27 AM

Here are some stats on a 1985 Euro 500SEL (From my owner's manual)

Vehicle weight: 1655KG/3650POUNDS

Speed:
Top Speed,
1st gear 69KM/hr/43mph
2nd gear 133KM/hr/83mph
3rd gear 220KM/hr/137mph
4th gear 225km/hr/14mph

Engine:
Engine - 117
Woek cycle - 4-cycle fuel injection
No of cylinders - 8
Bore - 96.5mm/3.80in
Stroke - 85mm/3.35in
Total piston displacement - 4973cm3/303.5in3
Compression ration 9.2

KW at 1/min - 170/4750
HP at 1/min - 231/4750

NM at 1/min - 405/3000
Max engine speed - 5950/min

chriss · 12-22-2003, 03:29 AM

I read a history of the SL of the same era and I think there are some similarities. The US models were heavily detuned, (which is why the 560 came about but originally as a top European model). The US buyers wanted the power and so quite a lot of people set up their own import businesses and basically forced Mercedes into exporting it to the US.
The whole problem was that in the early years of emission control and noise control it was easiest just to restrict, add more cats and restrict again. This backfired because it made the engine less efficient and if you add the need to use more throttle it resulted in using more fuel which of course meant more polutants released in the the air.
I have never heard anyone in this forum say how you can convert entirely to European spec because I think you would still have problems with the law. This is a pity because even if you gained 50 bhp I am sure you would notice it, enjoy it and benefit from better fuel consumption.

amgbnz · 12-23-2003, 06:38 AM

one obvious difference is that the speedometer will be in metric KM/hr not mph. my canadian benz is also in metric.

because the canadian emissions are different than the US maybe the canadian versions are less detuned than the US models. worth checking out. it would be much easier buy and drive a canadian car over the border.

vdubpower · 12-23-2003, 07:53 PM

do they detune them in germany or when they came here, i have a euro gray market, and i guess they put a cat on it, but it still has alot of kick to it, we do have issues when we smog it, gotta goto special places

also i have the original becker radio and the American headlights for sale, never installed , never used, must sell sooooooo fast, make me a deal, thanks