[smart_guy]

Dear all:

The engine for my 300e started to give up and I would like to replace it with a V8 (any) or a high output I6 (3.4 or 3.6 AMG for instance) starting from 124 and 126 as they are easier to find here.

I was wondering what would be the easiest and fastest choice!!!

I mean; trying to keep as much parts as possible other than the engine. Having an engine without its specific-from-factory-drivetrain could obviously result in lose of power and/or durability, but I'm willing to deal with that as I'm making this car a project starting now and change what proves and needs to changed from this point of view when the time and need come.

What matters is fitting for now. One part of the drivetrain having much stress could be discussed later.

Parts that need to stay in place are the alternator and all A/C components.

Thank you in advance.

 

[POS]

We've mangled two engines in our 300E race car, and it boils down to this. The M103 swap is the cheapest and easiest. The M104 swap is doable, but not worth the complication for an extra 20hp. The C36 swap is the fastest engine, but the engine itself can be very expensive. I'm sure you can find some info on how to put a Ford or Chevy block in there, but it's not as common of a swap as it is into the w123 chassis, but the Ford engine is the answer to your question - it's cheap, it's lightweight, and it's very tweakable - but the "easy" part needs more investigation. It's not a common swap.

 

[mckellyb]

SBC...it's the answer to almost any engine-swap question.

(SBC = small block Chevy, i.e. the 350)

While rarely 'easy', I'd wager it's been done a few times, even on a W124.

 

[tuttebenne]

Love to hear more about the LeMons racer.

As to the OP, I would add my voice to sticking with another M103 for simplicity. If extra parts are part of a swap of any other motor, it would be money well spent to channel any extra money spent into a turbo for the M103. A few on this forum have done this and indicate it works well.

 

[smart_guy]

POS, mckellyb & tuttebenne, thanks for the reply guys.

I'd really love to have a relatively faster engine instead of another m103 if possible, or a turbo as where I live no one knows how to install forced induction devices to Mercs.

Does the C36 use the old injectors like the earlier 3l m104? If yes, this wold help a lot I guess. I think, please correct me if I'm wrong, the current distributor would work in that case.

I some how prefer to sticking with MB engines would increase the possibility to keep other parts in place (logically thinking). Somehow, thanks God, the A/C in this 1992 w124 is really nice, and trust someone living in a hot area when saying that

Perhaps we can narrow it to V8's from 124's, 126's or 140's?

 

[macdrone]

Do a search, to shoe horn in a V8 is gonna cost way more than its worth. I think the thread was 300CE conversion. The V8 doesnt fit naturally into the car lots of mods including ignition.

Good Luck.

 

[smart_guy]

Thanks.

Some one in an Arabic web forum managed to install an m117 with its gearbox and differential to his C124 but gave no details and disappeared without leaving contact details. He seemed like a trusted member there who to my luck disappeared right after I joined. This is a video for the pick up.

And my further search showed experiments with m119 of the 400e only, one of them was on a 300CE, probably the one you referred to above, and one same engine on a w201 but with no clear results. The latter won't necessary apply to me as the engine bay is smaller and the engine was 2.6 not 3 like mind.

I hoped someone would help with the details of swapping with the m117 or other m119's if they were different than that of the 400e.

 

[Clarkz71]

The M117 is smaller and less expensive if you go the V8 route.

Mercedes made many modifications to the chassis and trans tunnel to fit the
400SEL driveline in a W124. Not a bolt in.

 

[LeftCoastGeek]

the cheapest and easiest engine swap is to lift the oil filler cap and drive another car under it with a bigger engine. if you like the W124, a 400E might be a nice choice.

to swap a different benz engine into your car, you'll need to swap not only the engine, but the manifolds, full wiring harness, ECUs, etc. the tranny from an M103 powered W124 isn't going to be happy with the torque of a more powerful engine, and you'll need to sort out the downshift bowden cable, ECU signals, etc. air conditioning is probably real important in Saudi, you'll need to mate that, as well as the heater.... the exhaust plumbing is going to be different for a v8, so you'll likely need to swap in the whole exhaust system. probably upgrade the fuel pumps. etc etc etc.

 

[LeftCoastGeek]

oh, the C36 engine, AFAIK, thats got completely different HFM fuel injection, your CIS-E from the 300E M103 won't deliver nearly enough juice for that much HP. you'd be replacing pretty much _everything_ under the hood.

here's the AMG 3.6 M104 engine

 

[Clarkz71]

the cheapest and easiest engine swap is to lift the oil filler cap and drive another car under it with a bigger engine. if you like the W124, a 400E might be a nice choice.

.

That's what I try to tell people, unless it's a coupe The 400E is "THE" W124
to have. Power, simple design and reliable.

 

[smart_guy]

That 3.6 m104 resembles the newer 3.2 w104 so it certainly uses a different injection system than the older 3l w104. Bad news for me.

If replacing with a different engine would risk many other parts (specially the A/C) then I guess I'll stay with the same engine after all. I guess there is no need to open doors that cannot be closed easily.

Man, why is there no 560e?!?! Disappointing...

Guys, thanks for the help. Case closed

 

[LeftCoastGeek]

there *was* a W124 based 500E, but it had EXTENSIVE modifications to support the screaming M119 5.0 DOHC V8 engine, and its totally jammed in there without an inch of room. the 5.6 was an older generation W117 engine, I think the 5.0 in the 500E had more power than the 5.6's from the mid 1980s 560SEL's.

seriously, go looking for a 400E, thats the best of the w124 generation in terms of performance balanced against reliability and maintenance costs.

 

[smart_guy]

I believe the 500e's engine has more power than that of the 560's despite the 0.6 displacement difference. It is m119 after all, which is more advanced and delivers more horse power. But having a w124 with an m117 560 engine would've made it more popular and cheaper thanks to the existence of the already so popular and widely used w126 560 leading to cheaper prices and availability for parts. Just my opinion.

Might as well look for a 4.2 w124.

 

[LeftCoastGeek]

Sadly there's probably more E420 etc's available from the W210 family than the W124, at least around here (California) the w124's are predominately I6's, with the 400E/E420's being quite rare.

 

[smart_guy]

Yeah, the case is the same here around all of Saudi Arabia for the availability of the 4.2 w124's. The w210 had the 4.2 & 4.3 engines longer than that of the w124's, and I think the w124 was the last over engineered E-Class, which means mass production (at least relatively) for the w210, therefore more 4.x engines.

It is annoying, on a side note, how new MB's after w124 and w140 can compare to other brands now, thanks for dropping over engineering.

 

[smart_guy]

Feedback (how often do you see that?):

Found out that the engine is actually in top shape. The engine oil pressure sending unit was replaced about three months ago and the pressure gauge was still showing bad pressure. Took the advice of other members, thanks guys, to replace the sending unit again as it might be faulty or something, and there it is, very good pressure reading. The point of which made me think the engine was giving up is now not valid.

All plans to replace the engine are canceled now.

 

[Jayare]

Now, that's being a Smart Guy.....

Jayare

 

[smart_guy]

Thanks for the support JR, Volvo, Clakz and everyone else.

Kind regards.