[AxelWulff]

Im asking this and a few other questions later to get a feel for the current "niche" that we occupy, that is the niche full of the W126 obssesed.

Question:
Would the avaliability of aftermarket performance parts for the 117 engines make it easier to enjoy your V8 powered W126 and potentially keep it for longer despite its (the W126's) advancing age?

This question is in the context of avaliable "substitues", that is cars that offer close to the same fulfilment of the W126 but are more modern and offer things like better reliability, a better performance to economy ratio (power to weight) etc, that could potentially make you sell/get rid of your W126. And the current economic climate.

Now this is mainly focused at those who regularly use their W126, those that only get it out on a sunny saterday arnt really affected too much by the previously stated context.

The reason for the question is that Ive chosen to continue development of one of the 560 engines I have into a race engine for a project/assignment, and I need to fulfill the other parts of the assesment that include things like market research, industry trends, sustainability and project management.

cheers

Yes, I think the W126 would become a more attractive buy if there were performance upgrades readily, and inexpensively, available.

With just about any car with sporting pretensions boasting in excess of 300 HP these day (and most go higher than that.....), it is kind of off-putting to have only 238 HP or less from our cars (US) and finding it quite impossible to even get up to 300 HP (engine swap).

A plug-and-play EFI system would be great, but I do think more efficient 5-speed transmissions would be even better. Not the same price range, of course, and they could perhaps even be made to work together, as they do on newer models.