You're playing with fire. Just find a clean 1995 E420 to use on purchase. It is V8.

Trust me, I know.

But to answer you're questions, 400E up to 1992, E420 up to 1995 after it, 500E up to 1992 and E500 up to 1995 after it are the V8 W124's. To put any V8 MB engine up to ~1998, you better have one of those. Not sure about the transmission.

 

^This. Just buy a W124 that already came from the factory with a V8.

The 400/420 are the best bang for the buck.

Forget the manual transmission. Never came that way from the factory. Besides, the factory manual transmissions are not enjoyable and lack refinement compared to say a Mazda MX-5 from the same era.

 

Imagine a V8 W124 with (practical) manual transmission tho. That would be legendary

 

There are manual V8's around. Usually a BMW tranny.

Sent from my XT1080 using Tapatalk

 

IF it has to be German with a V8 AND a manual tranny, then you should only look at E39 BMWs such as the 540i and/or M5. They are the last real BMW in my book.

The hardest part will be finding one that hasn't been abused/thrashed, BUT once you do find a good example it will be a much more rewarding car than a cobbled W124 can ever hope to be.

As I said before, MB never made a V8 powered W124 with stick. Their transmissions are too weak and suck to have a long life behind a 8 cylinder motor.

 

Good afternoon,

I am looking for a 1994 W124, with the intention of an engine swap.

....

1- What model to buy initially ie. e200, e280, etc...
2- What engine to choose for the swap
(must be a V8 and from MB)
....

wayy WAY too hard to retrofit a V8 to a 4 or 6 cyl Mercedes. massive changes in the engine compartment to squeeze a v8 into a car designed for an inline 6, the V8's have the battery under the back seat instead of behind the false firewall, etcetcetc.

Why specifically a 1994 ? get a 1994 E420 thats well cared for, and be done with it.

 

Hello all
I have a 93 w124 200e M111.940
I got a w203 c230 kompressor M271 1.8L 6spd manual as scrap
The M271 engine is in good condition
Looking forward to swap the M271 into the w124 as the M111.940 lacks power
Do you know anything about the swap ?
I want to know about what differentiel to use
And also what about the gearbox
Will it mount in the same layout where the gear knob is

 

Hello all
I have a 93 w124 200e M111.940
I got a w203 c230 kompressor M271 1.8L 6spd manual as scrap
The M271 engine is in good condition
Looking forward to swap the M271 into the w124 as the M111.940 lacks power
Do you know anything about the swap ?
I want to know about what differentiel to use
And also what about the gearbox
Will it mount in the same layout where the gear knob is

Thanks a bunch for reviving a 5 year old thread.

If you want help, start your own fresh thread.

FWIW, the M271 is piece of dogsh!t. You're better off getting a M111 kompressor i.e. M111.973, M111.975, M111.981, M111.983 and use the M271 as a boat anchor.

 

The M111 variants I mentioned have about 200 ponies while the most powerful variant of the M271 (M271.942) makes 168.

If you want further help, create your own thread.