So am assuming this is a stock car with the M272 V6 engine. The maintenance for this engine is mostly oil changes with oil filter, air filters and fuel filter. The fuel filter is the most difficult thing to replace. The engine seems to produce good power if everything is working correctly. The M272 has a few design flaws, the swirl valves inside the intake manifold will were a hole through the intake manifold at some point and the vacum lines crack and deterioute on the engine over time, coil packs also go out on the engine, and the pulleys and drive belts where out much faster then most common ford, chevy, type cars. The radiator developes stress cracks because there is to much wieght from the air conditioning condenser hanging on the plastic radiator tanks causing coolant leakage. so if you want to install another engine from another car I would recommend a dodge or chrysler engine since some of the parts are interchangable in the drive line with the mercedes cars. The donor car the engine came from would require all of the electrical wiring and engine management controls and computer to run the donor engine. if you go with a total engine/transmission replacement Chevy LS family of engines have an endless supply of aftermarket standalone engine/transmission controls, wiring, and computers to make it all work. LS engines come in V6 and V8 configuration. The V6 option would be the best fit just because your car doesn't have the extra space that a C55 mercedes has with the V8 configuration.

 

Yeah I have no idea what happened with mine. It’s pretty low-miled. Do you have any examples of a specific dodge/Chrysler engines that would fit? Also… is it tough to get a LS to work with 4MATIC..is it possibly?
much appreciate, Joshua

 

What issues do you have that relate purely to the engine? The M272 should be reliable after sorting the timing chain and intake manifold. If you think there will be recurring issues, you might scale backwards to an M113. An M273 is what you have now with 2 more cylinders so I don’t see any simplification.

Getting more creative will require getting rid of 4matic. I get the sense RWD 211 front suspension parts don’t bolt up to a 4matic but maybe it’s a matter of swapping subframes while the engine’s out. Or cut the axles at the outer CV joints so the splined section stays in the hub. Most through axle wheel bearing arrangements require the axle in place to support a load.

Unless you plan to be the expert, technical expertise will be limited to the availability and memory of whomever performs the swap because no one else will be able to diagnose problems that cross systems.

Sixto
05 E320 wagon 187K miles

 

Bad camshaft was one of the most recent ones.. I got that fixed but I don’t understand what went wrong as my cars got 79k on it.

 

Problem with 4matic is the axle goes through the engine oil pan. I don’t see any practical way around that that’s more reliable than what you have now.

Sixto
05 E320 wagon 187K miles

 

any engine replacement other then the original engine would require a different transmission to be installed in the car. For example if you decided you wanted to install a 3.5 liter pentstar engine out of a dodge charger you would have to use the nag1 transmission that bolts up to the 3.5 liter pentstar engine. the drive shaft flanges should mate up to the transmission without modification because the E350 and dodge charger share some of the same drive train components. If you went with a GM/Chevy LS setup the idea is that these engine/transmission combos are cheap and very plentiful with a vast after market of go fast goodies to accommodate engine swaps into just about anything you can drive. Retaining the 4 wheel drive on you car is not an option if you depart from your cars current specifications with a engine other then what the car was built with from the factory. your end goal is to have a functional car that performs the way you want it to so you would have to plan out different builds for your car with the financial costs involved and then decide what course of action to take. That might end up looking like something that is a factory original car or something extremely radically altered to something in between. I would not rule out using the horribly expensive and unreliable BMW and Jaguar engine transmission combos also.

 

I don’t think the degree of technical difficulty is getting through. This is a project for an incredibly bored and incredibly skilled person. Finding a capable person to do this swap will be difficult so start with that. Call around and see if anyone around you will take on the task. My guess is labor alone starts at $20,000 on a when I can get to it basis and will get you to this stage -

See I you can get mote information on these projects:





Sixto
05 E320 wagon 187K miles

 

Your first engine swap into any car is always the hardest one because of the learning curve, after that you will realize that this is a very rewarding experience because you then have the ability to make any car work the way you want it to work with out being handcuffed to the factory specifications. The fun factor of driving the car goes way up in my opinion also. Don't let anyone discourage you from getting the most out of your car.

 

Wow--What a great car.. Very impressed with the conversion. I see that this an old post. Just stumbled on the post. Thanks for sharing.

 

Another alternative is to go electric. A couple of Leaf batteries should give 100+ miles of range. Swap the transmission, transfer case and front axle for MT components from an Audi or Subaru.

Sixto
05 E320 wagon 187K miles

 

I believe that electric swap would be easier then a gas or diesel swap just because the electric motor is much more compact then a piston driven engine and there is only the 2 systems that need to be hooked up and that is the electric and the mechanical output shaft of the electric motor, also you can pack the batteries in different places connecting the batteries with wire would allow you modular expansion as the project takes on extended range. the gas engine would require, electric, mechanical output shaft to tranny, exhaust, induction, fuel, and cooling systems to all be in place to support the engine swap and that does not include the air conditioning system. There are also companies out there that convert cars to electric which is another option you could pursue and add to a list of builds for the car with an estimated financial cost. if your close to Carthage Mississippi i could give you a hand with the build time permitting.

 

Engine swaps on the w211 have been done. It's dead simple.

 

My finished e240 v8 sleeper car

Hey guys here's my 2003 e220 with a fully rebuilt s500 conversion.

www.benzworld.org

 

Love it, stay in the fight.

 

I heard it as RWDs at Sindelfingen, 4matics at Steyr in Graz. Maybe that was for lower volume 124 4matics. Only SUVs except Gs were assembled in Alabama during the 211 years.

I go by VIN prefix - W as in WDB are from Europe, 4 as in 4JG are domestic.

Sixto
05 E320 wagon 188K miles