Does anybody have the gearing ratios for the 300SDL transmission?

It is just a curious matter, as I have no outside reference to look at.

From what I gather, and what my GPS reads, it seems gearing would be something like this, with the 2.88 diff.

1st @ 3.90:1 Shift at 30 - 31 4700 rpm
2nd @ 2.51:1 Shift at 48 - 49 4700 rpm
3rd @ 2.49:1 Shift at 81 - 82 4700 rpm
4th @ 1:1 -- max velocity

Am I correct, or not? This is just a guesstimate. I assume Mercedes governs most 603's to shift at 4700 rpm's past kickdown. That would line the gearing up with what I assume for the V8's.

See this PDF file for the exact numbers:

http://www.meimann.com/docs/mercedes/tranny_ratios.pdf

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Thank you, Dave. Much appreciated!

Oh, I don't mean to nit-pick but 2nd gear just doesn't seem to line up.

All the rest of the ratios fit great, but 2nd gear seems a lot shorter than it is depicted in the charts.

Take a look at an '86 560SEL vs an '89 560SEL, and you'll notice 2nd gear ends differently.

The rest of the ratios fit great.






I swear 2nd gear has to be 2.59 in the older ones. It would make sense.

Also, I just noticed that 3rd gear HAS to be a 1.51 or so. Look at the gearing of the 560's. Assuming tire size is 25.49 inches in diameter, and using a handy differential conversion calculator at prestage.com, I can figure this stuff out in a flash with less paper to throw out.

Don't mean to criticize their documentation, but it can't be entirely universal.

A 2.59:1 second would have the 560SEL shift at 70 - 71 mph.

A 2.41:1 would shift at about 76 - 77 mph. Both with 2.47 differentials. Makes sense, right?

Interesting! I was doing similar math for top speed purposes a couple of weeks ago, and the numbers weren't coming out as I expected them to. I suspect there is a few hudred RPM of slippage due to the torque converter when WFO - but I don't have a way to confirm that.