The Artisan guide glosses over how to install the timing magnet from the ring gear to the DMF, it's a PITA and even though the timing tabs are physically a different size, it has to go in the exact same place with reference to the teeth! A setup like this ensure that your measurements are accurate to the nearest foot so if you have a better setup definitely use it!

The Artisan guide also doesn't go over how you can sketchily check if your setup will run, by grounding the bell housing, bolting in the starter and just going for it. Don't do it yet though!

First, grab the tranny wiring harness and jump the purple wires. But how will you know which wires are purple? Jump it as pictured below before altering your harness permanently if you want. I also jumped the wires on the screw on plug. Don't ask me what that does, I have no idea. Later on I ran it without those jumped and it ran fine.

Jumping the purple wires to my understanding bypasses the neutral safety switch will allows the starter to activate.
I'm not sure how to upload a video but rest assured the first time I started the car it misfired so badly that a ball of fire escaped the manifold and almost burned everything to the ground. I quickly removed the DMF and found the culprit, can you guess what it was?

That's right, it was the damn crank position sensor. The Artisan guide won't tell you this but if the transmission you're installing is from a non HFM M104, your HFM M104 crank position sensor sticks a couple fractions of an inch too far out. Above you can see how the DMF legitimately sheared the CPS. It was just the tip though. I installed the timing magnet back onto the ring gear in a panic to make sure I didn't fry the engine. It ran just fine, which doesn't mean anything but did allow me to breathe again. After a new CPS came in the mail, I put a small rubber O-ring between the case and the position sensor and this gave it the proper spacing to allow the new DMF to run.

 

Where am I in the process now? Well I realized that the 717.451 doesn't have a mechanical speedometer output and that Mercedes no longer sells the rear case and speedometer gearing to be able to convert a 717.451 into a 717.450, so I recently purchased some 717.450s in Germany (shout out eBay Kleinanzeigen) to smuggle back into the United States with me. I am also waiting on a Single Mass Flywheel conversion kit from Rennsport to be delivered because I've decided to put something that can be resurfaced and last longer into this car. I am also going to try to locate a stock 717.430 front prop shaft to see if it's compatible, otherwise I'll have to have a custom front prop shaft made up. Edit: Keep reading, I ended up completing the swap with one of the 717.450s.

 

Seems like you've put in a lot of work to make the wagon uniquely yours. Bravo.
A V8 speedo can be used as it uses the ABS sensor in one of the front wheels for reading.

 

Appreciate it boss, it's a struggle to keep it as "factory" as possible while still making it what I want. I appreciate the speedo tip but I think at this point I'm wholly committed to the mechanical speedometer route, even though it may not be the easiest/smartest.

 

Wow this is awesome can't wait for this! I've been searching and searching for a good build thread about a manual swap. I have been emailing with caltar2. My reverse is on its way out on my 92 300TE. Few buddies and I are going to be doing this in a few weeks. I would love to chat about a few things or hang ups.

 

Which transmission did you decide to go with? And yeah man that sounds super fun, please hit me up if you need any advice on what not to do haha

 

This is the coolest thing I've seen in a while. I've been itching to get a wagon myself since the arrival of my son, but the rarity of manual 123/124 wagons here in the US has put a damper on my desire to get one.

I'm no stranger to swapping in manuals, as I've done my '96 F350, going from the E4OD to a ZF5, and my Durango going from the horrible auto to an NV3500. Were parts more available domestically in salvage yards and such, I'd be all over it!

 

This is the coolest thing I've seen in a while. I've been itching to get a wagon myself since the arrival of my son, but the rarity of manual 123/124 wagons here in the US has put a damper on my desire to get one.

I'm not strangers to swapping in manuals, as I've done my '96 F350, going from the E4OD to a ZF5, and my Durango going from the horrible auto to an NV3500. Were parts more available domestically in salvage yards and such, I'd be all over it!

Yeah definitely a PITA insofar as finding parts, but definitely fun breaking things and learning! For example, when I removed the automatic gear selector I was stunned to silence for a couple minutes to find that the gear selector has a mechanical lockout for the brake pedal. Perhaps this is commonplace but I just thought it was the coolest damn thing that the gears can't be shifted even if the car is off, unless the brake pedal is actuated. Have you thought about looking to our neighbors in the north? They may have gotten better pickings for manual wagons.

 

Other bits and pieces I've knocked out while waiting for parts include:
Cleaning up the wiring a little bit as pictured below.

Here you can see the purple NSS jumped as close to the plug as I could go, and the reverse light wires extended to then be routed through the center console to the reverse light switch on the gear selector.
Installing a new center support bearing on the prop shaft, which, if it's never been done before is definitely a good idea.

Installing the gear selector

I went with Zebrano to match the rest of the interior, my main advice with the gear selector is to be super slow and methodical moving wires and cables out of the way while shimmying it in there. There is an insanely little amount of clearance and you'll have to play with multiple angles to make sure nothing gets pinched. I thought I had it in perfect but then I noticed when I tried to turn the key in the ignition later it wouldn't budge, and it was because I had pinched the ignition lockout cable under the corner of the gear selector and tightened it down.

Here is everything mocked up including a new zebrano steering wheel that I got from woodandcarbonworks on eBay (Lordy those Turks know how to make a fine wooden steering wheel) and a beautifully refurbished center console that I got from w124belgiumm on eBay.
There is a really good guide for steering wheel removal on Pelican Parts if you need one.

Mercedes-Benz W124 Steering Wheel and Air Bag Removal | 1986-1995 E-Class | Pelican Parts DIY Maintenance Article

Safely remove your steering wheel and airbag.

www.pelicanparts.com

All this wood may detract from the original understated feel of the cabin, but hey, I like it, and money can't buy good taste

I also installed the pedal assembly so I can pretend I'm driving it as it sits on jack stands for months on end.

Process wasn't too complicated, just take some before pictures so that the brake pedal spring location isn't lost on reassembly. The top two mounting bracket bolts are also a PITA to access, so have several swivels and extensions for your ratchets. Also, the bolts from the 300SL were 11MM and the bolts on the 300TE were 10MM so I almost stripped them out, make sure you have the right size socket.

 

I had imagined that Canada would have have close to the same market options as we did here, but it might be worth checking after all!

 

I love this project.

 

I didn’t do the diff swap in mine yet. Most I’ll do that once I change out the clutch again. I was in a rush since we were moving. My research has said the correct diff will make for a more sport inspired ride. Change this diff or just rev it out. My mpg is at 20.6 and improving.

 

Yup, you at least have some versatility with the gasser. I’ve done a swap to a 190D turbo with a 5 speed from a 190e 2.3 trans and the diff (it’s a 3.64 in the auto 190DT) made it too “tall” to be practical. You had to be going 75mph to use 5th 😂

 

Long time no see y'all, guess I should give everyone an update! Came back from Germany about a month ago and got cracking on the transmission posthaste. First thing I should start off with is that I left key pieces of info on pulling the automatic transmission. First off, there is not one but two vacuum lines that need to be removed from the car. The first is the obvious green one that connected to the small plastic bit to the right of the two large yellow clips in the below picture.

The second one is a slightly less obvious black one that connects to the plastic air intake plenum pictured below.

In both cases I used some rubber vacuum line caps that I picked up at the local O'Reilly's and then cinched them down a little extra with some plastic zip ties. The only remaining relic from the auto tranny was a small black plug on the right side of the transmission tunnel which I sort of just pushed back into its recession and forgot about, since I couldn't find anywhere on the manual transmission to plug it in. Now that everything was accounted for, I installed a slightly longer mechanical speedometer cable that came in the 300CE-24 and was designed for the manual transmission. I believe that the automatic one may have worked fine, as it was only slightly longer than the original but your results may vary. Next, I prepped the 717.450 I picked up in Germany by ensuring the fluid was completely drained, and installing a new magnetic drain bolt, fill bolt, rear transmission mount, clutch release or "throwout" bearing, and giving it a good clean. I then installed a new FTE slave cylinder, lubed up the release fork and center spline and started bending a new slave cylinder hard line in place.

For the most part I used a plain jane tubing bender and tried to model the bends off the original slave cylinder hard line, which had stripped horribly. No kidding, the bolt turned into a circle on the old fitting. Here's the new one compared to old. Also pictured, the two types of pipe bender I used.

I also pulled the pedal assembly that I had installed earlier in the year and disassembled it to install the new brake fluid reservoir to master cylinder hose (which is a complete redesign from the old rubber style, and can be seen in the picture of the first vacuum line cap) as well as a new FTE master cylinder. Pay particularly close attention when reassembling the master cylinder assembly, as the black hook thing has to go back in behind the master cylinder and cannot be removed completely, despite the whole clutch release electric impulse assembly being useless in my application.

 

Next, I attempted to press fit the supplied pilot bearing into the Rennsport single mass flywheel that they sent and was surprised to see that it freely slid through. They recommended a pilot bearing from Mercedes, part number A0189812510, so I ordered one and successfully pressed it in.

Now I had to ensure that the timing magnet placement on the SMF would be compatible with my HFM magnet sensor spacer. Stock flywheel bolts do not work with the Rennsport SMF, and they recommend 12.9 socket caps which I purchased from Belmetric for quite a reasonable price. I used Belmetrics M10x1.0 x 25 mm which worked perfectly for me but do note that they are no longer torque to yield, and are therefore not factory and as such install at your own risk! Plenty of red thread locker and 40 NM followed by 80 NM was the torque spec I used and we're holding steady for 100 miles now. After the test crank (as a reminder, the engine can be started with just the flywheel, grounding bell housing bolt and starter bolted in but it is sketchy), I installed the friction disc and pressure plate.

I then installed the transmission with the help of my girlfriend (mostly me screaming bad words and her cowering in fear with a flashlight).

I then bled the brakes with my new Motive powerbleeder to cycle out what I can only assume was 30 year old brake fluid, cut the nipple on the brake reservoir and plumbed/bled the slave cylinder with the help of an assistant.

Reminder that brake fluid is caustic shit and is horrible for your paint.
Once the clutch was properly bled, I filled the transmission fluid with Dexron 3 with a little bottle mount pump dealio I purchased at O'Reilly's.

The issue now was that I couldn't tighten the fill bolt properly with the horrible clearance, but FCP euro sells the perfect M14 wrench tool to remedy this issue.

Euro Drain Plug Wrench (14mm Allen x 17mm Box) - CTA Manufacturing 8762

Euro Drain Plug Wrench (14mm Allen x 17mm Box) - CTA Manufacturing 8762

www.fcpeuro.com

Once this was all bolted down, and the rear tranny mount was installed I "drove" the car to see if the clutch was properly engaging and disengaging, to check for leaks, to make sure the mechanical speedometer cable was properly installed, and to make sure the output shaft would spin. Here is a picture of the proper hose/cable orientation by the way.

 

Next, I attempted to press fit the supplied pilot bearing into the Rennsport single mass flywheel that they sent and was surprised to see that it freely slid through. They recommended a pilot bearing from Mercedes, part number A0189812510, so I ordered one and successfully pressed it in. View attachment 2784169
Now I had to ensure that the timing magnet placement on the SMF would be compatible with my HFM magnet sensor spacer. Stock flywheel bolts do not work with the Rennsport SMF, and they recommend 12.9 socket caps which I purchased from Belmetric for quite a reasonable price. I used Belmetrics M10x1.0 x 25 mm which worked perfectly for me but do note that they are no longer torque to yield, and are therefore not factory and as such install at your own risk! Plenty of red thread locker and 40 NM followed by 80 NM was the torque spec I used and we're holding steady for 100 miles now. After the test crank (as a reminder, the engine can be started with just the flywheel, grounding bell housing bolt and starter bolted in but it is sketchy), I installed the friction disc and pressure plate. View attachment 2784171
I then installed the transmission with the help of my girlfriend (mostly me screaming bad words and her cowering in fear with a flashlight).
View attachment 2784172
I then bled the brakes with my new Motive powerbleeder to cycle out what I can only assume was 30 year old brake fluid, cut the nipple on the brake reservoir and plumbed/bled the slave cylinder with the help of an assistant. View attachment 2784173
Reminder that brake fluid is caustic shit and is horrible for your paint.
Once the clutch was properly bled, I filled the transmission fluid with Dexron 3 with a little bottle mount pump dealio I purchased at O'Reilly's. View attachment 2784174
The issue now was that I couldn't tighten the fill bolt properly with the horrible clearance, but FCP euro sells the perfect M14 wrench tool to remedy this issue.

Euro Drain Plug Wrench (14mm Allen x 17mm Box) - CTA Manufacturing 8762

Euro Drain Plug Wrench (14mm Allen x 17mm Box) - CTA Manufacturing 8762

www.fcpeuro.com

Once this was all bolted down, and the rear tranny mount was installed I "drove" the car to see if the clutch was properly engaging and disengaging, to check for leaks, to make sure the mechanical speedometer cable was properly installed, and to make sure the output shaft would spin. Here is a picture of the proper hose/cable orientation by the way.
View attachment 2784175

Sorry to be a little late to the party but in regards to the RENNSPORT SMF what clutch setup did you end up using?

 

Wrapping things up, I had to shorten each gear selector rod by 2 3/8 inches which I had a friend who was good with a welder do for some beer, and they turned out okay!

Slapped some new Febi gear selector links on there, the rest of the Delrin bushings and it was time to install the prop shaft which I had gotten resized and rebuilt by Pickard Gelenkwelen while in Germany.

Thankfully, numerous measurements paid off and it fit beautifully. Next I installed the center exhaust hangar, new rubber exhaust hangars, the heat shielding, the O2 sensor, the manual transmission sized exhaust transmission bracket and finally the exhaust.

She lives!! The SMF is a pain to get used to, and I've lightly toasted the clutch a couple of times but damn is this thing fun to drive! Just waiting on a custom shifter boot bracket.

Here was all the new wood installed while the driver seat was out.

 

Looks great! Always nice to see another fellow manual swapped 300 . I am running the dogleg 717.404 from the 190E in mine with a single mass flywheel. Really wakes up the car in comparison the auto.

 

Yeah I don't mind the single mass but I think next time I change the friction disc I may switch back to dual mass. It could be the lightweight kit from Rennsport (or maybe I'm not as good as I thought at driving manual) but it's a steep learning curve driving it! Is it easy to drive the 404?

 

Just buttoning up another odd and end, big thanks to @TheWestminsterClub for his suggestion about using two 3/8 inch FIP brass pipe caps to plug the auto tranny fluid cooler that sits next to the radiator. Should stop debris from getting into that part of the radiator, and maybe even make it viable to convert the car back to an automatic once the resale value reaches the aluminum Gullwing levels

Here is where the auto transmission fluid cooler lines used to screw into

And here is the part, easily found at Home Depot.

Also here's a bonus picture of the car with the euro headlights (minus the euro wipers) installed.

 

Nothing should be SAE, FIP or otherwise on this car. I'm surprised the cap fit.

But a manual wagon would be nice.

 

Plenty of nice swap kits available from our neighbor to the north, caltar2 on eBay right now! But yeah the cap doesn't serve much of a purpose except blocking off a potential insect home and keeping the radiator sealed.

 

Did some finishing touches on the manual swap, the under dash panel didn't accommodate the third pedal as it was. Luckily, Mercedes left a trace on the plastic that can be cut to make it "factory."

Here it is pictured, just cut along the dotted line!

Then the rest of the drivers side panels were installed.

I also came up with a temporary solution to the gear selector problem. If you'll recall, the stock gear selector cutout for automatics is larger than manuals and as such, there is no practical way to fit a manual shifter boot into the automatic hole. My solution was to stretch a universal leather boot over the plastic trim panel on the old automatic shifter, and rest it in place.

Next challenge will be to find a way to secure it in place, maybe with some sort of clip addition on the bottom.

The car has been holding up well, I've been daily driving it, but noticed that the fuel mileage is pretty abysmal and who knows when the ignition system was worked on last, so I've got some FCP euro goodies coming in the mail for a total refresh.

 

Wow! Love the manual swap, it is actually almost the exact swap I was looking to make. A few questions:

Why did you have to shorten the gear selector rods?

Also which weight flywheel did you go with? If you went with the lighter weight I am curious if the heavier one is a better option.

What is your diff ratio?

I think I recognize your CARpet from ebay selling a 717.450. I wasn't planning on doing the swap until next winter when I have some time, but I just might have to grab that if the wife is cool with it just sitting in the garage for 9 months!

 

Wow! Love the manual swap, it is actually almost the exact swap I was looking to make. A few questions:

Why did you have to shorten the gear selector rods?

Also which weight flywheel did you go with? If you went with the lighter weight I am curious if the heavier one is a better option.

What is your diff ratio?

I think I recognize your CARpet from ebay selling a 717.450. I wasn't planning on doing the swap until next winter when I have some time, but I just might have to grab that if the wife is cool with it just sitting in the garage for 9 months!

Welcome to the forum

Please Complete your Profile by adding the year and model of your car, so it will show next to every future under your Avatar.

 

@Karl24374

Are you happy with the Delrin shifter bushings? I installed them in my car, but haven't got it on the road yet.

 

I wish I had a baseline rubber bushing to compare them to but I never had rubber bushings installed on the car as a manual. Comparing it to other manuals I have, the gear placement feels a lot more assertive and reassuring. The shifts feel crisp maybe even a little tight, and there's never any question about whether I'm in gear or not. One downside would maybe be that there's not a lot of forgiveness if you're going for a quick shift and miss the "gate" by a hair, the car simply won't let you. But long story short I love the delrin! Took a little extra drilling to get the size perfect, but well worth it.

 

Commonly applied in the w201s way back.

Getrag Shifter Delrin bushing install

ok got lucky and was able to get a set of delrin bushings for my shifter. (courtesy of 16V4NRBRGR on 190rev) And people are considering changing their bushings to some other kind other then those 20yr old MB. so here is my picture how to for a getrag shifter First step is to support the...

www.benzworld.org

 

This is awesome, thanks for the write up and really clears some stuff up and the pictures help tremendously. I'm doing a manual swap on my 190e with a 717.411 transmission but everything looks to be pretty much the same. So these pictures really help. Just need to source a few things, and I'll start the swap.

 

Awesome, sounds exciting! Feel free to message me if you need any help.

 

I must have missed it but where did you get your shift rods?

 

Sorry about the late reply, I purchased them in the original "swap kit" from nelson_imports on eBay. They were out of a 300SL and I guess because of the long hood on those cars, were way too long for the 300TE so had to be cut down to size. I looked all over the place for original Mercedes shift rods and couldn't find them anywhere. Good luck on your search!

 

Picking up a 717.451 this weekend to throw into my 300D Turbo, wondering if I could get your Facebook/Instagram so I can have a line of communication with you. I'm a bit nervous given I've never done it before and your experience would be greatly appreciated! My Instagram is @bmfillman