was some guy on here who spent a year putting some bigass chevy corvette LS-something engine in his then blew the whole car up or something.

the 124 chassis was *designed* for an inline 6. a v8 is a really tight squeeze. the factory V8 cars were *heavily* modified, battery moved to the trunk, heavy reinforcements to the chassis, etc. while you CAN hack a M119 (4.2, 5.0) into a 300E, its not even remotely easy and its even harder to do a decent job of it. start with a 400E/E420 if thats what you want..

 

The problem with that is this is a car I inherited and made a promise to never get rid of it. I’ve loved the bodystyle since it came out and it’s been taken care of through the years. So buying another car isn’t happening.

But it has no sentimental value to me and I don’t mind cutting into it. SORRY PURISTS! ��

I want to make it fun FOR ME.

If I can find a 6.0l LS cheap enough I’ll shoehorn it in and stiffen up the car.

If I can’t.....I’ll clean up the engine bay, clean up the engine and add a turbo.

Not looking to race, not looking to drift. I just want to build a very low car with a cool engine.

 

Sticking with Mercedes power is probably the least complicated way to go.

 

Put a M120 V12 in it and be done with it. Closest thing you'll have to owning a Zonda since the block is shared with it.

https://www.benzworld.org/forums/w124-e-ce-d-td-class/2097497-putting-v12-m120-engine-124-wagon.html

 

 

integrating a chevy v8 with the dashboard and rest of the car electronics will be painful. air conditioning, etc? hah hah. getting the chevy transmission into their and the shifter not looking like ass? painful. custom exhaust headers? OUCH they will be *TIGHT*. i've heard you need to replace the steering gears with a rack-and-pinion from something else, as the recirc ball stuff just won't fit.

oh, the guy who spent the better part of a year? car rode awful (harsh, shaking), scared his daughter, annoys his wife, a year after starting the build it was on the market for $3500 and another year later, STILL no takers.
the thread is here, but most of the pictures are AWOL, https://www.benzworld.org/forums/w124-e-ce-d-td-class/2346177-how-ruin-w124-build-thread.html I spent a fair amount of time trying to help him with sorting the mercedes electrics out, his donor car was a 1993 3.2L

 

For the time & money you're talking about, twin turbo it.

Kevin

 

heck, even a M104.992 3.2L I6 out of a 93-95 w124 300/e320 will go 140+ mph, has 225 HP, 240 ft-lbs. just how much 'fun' do you really want??

the M103 will go nearly that fast, but doesn't have the low end torque to make for fast off-the-line launches, the 3.2L HFM-SFI engine is far better at that than the CIS-E engine. it is also mated to a transmission that starts in 1st instead of 2nd.

 

OP went ghost. Its folly to fool with mother nature.

 

Who went ghost?

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1993-Merce...-0L-Engine-w-Transmission-USED-127k-Miles-/153006416669?fits=Make:Mercedes-Benz

Not a bad price for a v12

 

Depends on your final drive ratio. 3.27 with the M103 TE has plenty of 'scoot'.

Kevin

 

a trick to making the M103 start-in-second cars scoot faster off the line, while stopped, put the shifter in 2nd for a half second then back in 3rd, then when you start, goose it hard, it will start in 1st, and shift to 2nd, 3rd as you accelerate. drop back into D when you're up to whatever cruising speed you're topping out at or when the tach gets up to around 5000-5500 rpm in 3rd.

 

Add a turbo and EFI.
https://youtu.be/_7Yo1_u9M9w

 

of course, a turbocharged M103 is going to blow its head gasket sooner rather than later, as well as stress every other part of the car from the cooling system back to the differential and rear drive shafts.

 

To start with, a Supercharger avoids the problems related to mounting the turbo, routing the intake, and rerouting the exhaust. Adding a supercharger involves mounting it and routing air to the intake; much simpler. Next step with either solution would be to invest in a better EFI system. What sense would it make to add the ability to stuff air into the engine yet to rely on an injection system design that is 30 years old and relatively rigid with regard to fuel mapping?

 

^This. Also don't forget that a turbo will dump a LOT more heat into the engine and engine bay than a supercharger would.

Since the OP claims to be a expert on welding and other major mods, I'm still sticking with the V12 route although it will take the most work (R129 SL600 engine cradle, wiring looms, battery relocation, module bay conversion, dual EZLS, dual coils, etc, etc, etc). Nothing else comes close to having off the line grunt like a V12. Think of it as having 2 M104s joined at the hip living under the hood.

And bonus, if a EZL, coil, crank sensor, or engine computer goes boobs up, the car will continue to run on 6 cylinders to get you home. On a M119 V8, you're stuck with no choice but to get it towed.

 

Given a choice, always defect to supercharging over turbo. Not saying the V12 wouldn't be 'better', but tons more work effort.

An internal combustion engine is nothing more than a giant air pump. Supercharging forces more air into the pump at the start of the combustion process via your belt drive.

Kevin

 

Okay so if the OP can weld, here is the compromise. Put a supercharger on the V12, keep it in the SL. Lengthen the pan, and put the 300e body on it... (oh shit my blunt just went out...)

 

^And he can fab too as evidenced in his coilover thread where he didn't like being told that these cars aren't designed to take coilovers.

Some people only learn the hard (and expensive) way.

https://www.benzworld.org/forums/w124-e-ce-d-td-class/3006123-anyone-using-ca-tuned-coilovers.html

 

Oh you mean like this?
http://var-car.hu/motorsport/galeria/foto/galeria/epit2007/var-car_002.jpg
Yeah that must be impossible because you said so LOL

 

These photos are from SEMA a few weeks ago. Corruptt is a 68 Mustang with a twin turbo Ferrari F430 V8 and air ride.........excellent build. And you know what.....the car was never “designed” to have that suspension or powertrain.

 

I know you’ll chime in to get that post count up so I’ll add a few more photos for effect. The first are some photos while at WCC.
http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h72/roodogg/wcc dvd/206.jpg
http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h72/roodogg/wcc dvd/185.jpg
http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h72/roodogg/wcc dvd/197.jpg

My own back half of my old pickup where I cut out the old step notch and built sweeping rails from flat stock. And added air.....ya know.....cuz it wasn’t designed to have it.
http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h72/roodogg/more f100/IMG_1161.jpg
http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h72/roodogg/more f100/IMG_1301.jpg
http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h72/roodogg/more f100/IMG_1328.jpg
http://i61.photobucket.com/albums/h72/roodogg/more f100/IMG_1342.jpg

 

Trailer queen in a cheap suit. 'Nuff said

 

You can also look up the Viper V10 powered Charger nicknamed “sliced” I worked on.
Or Rusty Wallace’s Nomad.
Or ANY of Dave Macneils(weathertech founder) Ferrari, Porsche or other restorations. Ya know, the guy who bought the most expensive car on earth.
Or John Mayer’s 35 Ford Pheaton”fearless”
Or Najeeb Khans 52 Ferrari 225s Vignale Berlinetta
Or the 32 Plymouth PB coupe “Moxie”
Or the Tangerine Screem pickup

I can go on.....I’m sure you’ll want me to.

 

Let's get back to the OP's intent to do an engine transplant. All the other stuff reminds me too much of how professional athletes conduct themselves.

 

That’s the thing......all I’m doing is tossing ideas around. That’s how progress happens. I’ll never drop a V12 in the 300 and he knows that. A turbo is a possibility....maybe even twin. Roman seems to know what he’s doing so maybe I’ll go that route. $7000 isn’t a lot.

I have a few 5.0L SBFs laying around. One new crate that is carbureted and 3 factory EFI.
I have two LS’s. A 5.3 and 6.0. Both both low mileage EFI.

And my other option I’m weighing is an 104 transplant with a turbo. Obviously after a rebuild.

 

You'll have to ignore sbaert, he feels any mod to a w124 is a crime against nature and himself personally.

The rest of us will happily support and brainstorm with you.

 

In my opinion, the package with the highest HP/weight ratio would be the way to go. Of course it needs to be balanced by cost. But it makes no sense putting a cheap boat anchor in the engine bay if it doesn't make power though - that's the main point. Keep skinny tires on it and you won't have to worry about driveline failures.