w126 manual trans
 

does anyone know if MB ever made a 126 with a manual? If overseas, which countries are most likely? would like to build (keep comments to yourself)
a 500 sdc with a 4 or 5 speed. Would the pedals from a 123 fit a 126?

None were ever mass produced. 126 diesels were US only. AFAIK swapping is the same on the 126 as the 123. Custom cross member, shift linkage and driveshafts are needed. DS can be found on some 116's or so the rumor has it.

^^^^He is wrong.
 

They made them for the 280SE.

Here are pictures of one, and in particular, pictures of what the pedals look like.

(I have personally seen this particular vehicle, and know for a fact it exists. So far as I know, it is still there, for sale.)

http://www.richmondmercedes.com/280SE/280se.html

I've seen two w126's in the junkyards here with manuals from the factory.

I said mass produced. You could order a rubber ducky on the hood instead of a mercedes emblem and they would have installed it. I hardly call AMG "Mass produced". Furthermore he is speaking of a diesel engine implant into a 500sec. There were NO DIESEL 126's with manual transmissions.

Yes, I've heard of, and seen pics of factory equipt stick shift 126's. None, however, with V8 in them, that I know of. Which is very unfortunate, to say the least. If anyone's ever spotted a V8, 126 with standard in it. let me know please.

Nick

The Mercedes Benz factory never equipped any V8 engine W126 cars with a manual shifter, unfortunately.

Too bad for us, 126 owners. Also seems a little weird, that they didn't equip. any of the V8 126's with stick shifts, considering the fact that they were the best handling, most race ready Mercedes vehicles ever produced, atleast the SEC platform cars anyways. You would think they would have been in demand, atleast for the AMG, SEC orderers.


Nick

MTU.....which yards, how long ago.

I'm planning on installing a stick in my SD. I've gotten all the parts. I was planning on installing it this winter. but with the death of Garrett's Euro, the garage is going to be used rebuilding his car. maybe this spring.

I have read here of the 123 pedal cluster working with a minor modification. On my list of to dos is a clean 300sd with a four speed conversion.

Tom W

Yes somebody here has done the conversion if you google around. I forget specifically who. As far v8+manual, do you think this was due to excessive power issues?

In the 280S/SE/SEL you could get a 4spd stick. They were the cheap hotel cars. Nobody wanted a stick S class so, it was a pretty rear option.

One was for sale on Long Island a few years ago, they are pretty rare but pop up every now and then.


The diesel W126's were North American market only cars, their is no such thing as a "euro" 300SD, or SDL. The ones you do see in Europe and Japan are gray market.

those pics are sooo nice! that is a bare bones car! manual everything, and NO a/c... sweet! oh, if only it was lower in value...

W126 W140 Stick shift
 

They mass produced the 260SE, the 280SE and the 300SE.

Furthermore, you could buy a mass produced W140 280SE/300SE (S280/S300) with am manual transmission.

I do not know if they came in the long wheelbase.

I too have seen a 280SE with a 4-speed in the junkyards. They were mass produced in Euro form only, none were sold in the USA.

The W126 order book for Germany starts with a manual transmission, 4 speed, as standard on the in-line 6. A 5-speed was optional as was an automatic with a column or a floor shifter. I have the books for 1982 to 1985. The German models would be perceived as peculiar here in that nearly everything Americans believe is "normal" for a car (electric windows, automatic transmission, "climate control," power mirrors, etc.) is optional. You could even order only electric windows in the front or the rear.

Germany was extremely frugal in the 1960s' and 1970's. I lived there and when we moved there in 1959 there were still non-functional, bomb damaged buildings, like the opera house. The economic recovery was definitely "on" but it took a few decades for the average German to be able to afford any luxuries.

Automatics were viewed as a luxury, and, so was any engine with more than about 1.3 liters displacement (property tax on cars were calculated on displacement). In fact early 1960's "S" class cars with automatics actually had the word "automatic" written on the trunk lid opposite the engine/model designator. So, the logic originally went, if you can afford a luxurious 8 cylinder of multiple liters of displacement, not springing for the automatic would ruin the image. In the early days of MB V-8's they just didn't make that much more torque than the in-line 6's to suggest there was a technical hurdle too large to overcome. As time went on, there just wasn't a compelling reason to change, and then, as displacements went into the 4 and 5 and 6 liter ranges and output sky rocketed, a manual transmission became less and less of a desire by MB customers, and the technical challenge became larger and larger. Today it is not that it cannot be done, it is that they would sell too few to make it worth their while.

Jim

I know of a 280S four speed W126 (I want it LOL) and a 280SE in the yards with a four speed W126.

Four and five speed were options on the I6 cars 116 and 126, Euro.

Also I read many years back that they decided not to bring any sticks here anymore after the early seventies, and for a long time they did not except for the 240d. They said 'mericans didn't know how to use a clutch and were burning them up and wanting them warranted.

Tom W

You can use the W123 pedals and shifter in the W126, I have done it, it works fine. the shift rods need to be lengthened. about 3 inches IIRC. (i used the 2 longest out of the 240D and used the auto one as the longest) some custom bending and fabbing required.

Also you can align the trans crossmemer with some of the factory holes, just need longer bolts.

One problem I have not completley sorted out is the clutch lines (they need to be longer) and the speedo....

Rick its a great idea, I worked really hard on mine last year, i am about 80% finished, but I didnt want to rush the fine details so i put the project on hold till i had more time.

Im doing a 84 Euro SEC, with a 300 SD engine, 240D trans, I am also installing a big air water IC, and a few other upgrades. I should be done by spring.

The typical American MB customer doesn't want a stick, if they wanted a sports sedan to row the gears, they would buy a BMW.

Even the AMG models, they are made for older guys who just want to put the kids in their Mustangs to shame once in awhile. They are point and shoot. Aim where you want to go, floor it, the computer does the work, and before you can blink your over 100.:D

Having a stick in a large luxury car like the S class is pretty pointless, thats why only the cheap "hotel" models could get them. Why would anyone want to shift gears on a 5k pound luxury car.

If you want to shift buy a BMW or Audi.

I love my manual transmission. It's just too much fun and it keeps me in better sync with the car. Automatics are boring and inefficient.

I guess the "Typical American" profile does not quite fit me. :cool:

There are typical americans who buy new cars and then there are us. Car nuts who like to turn wrenches and shift gears. Maintaining An automatic in a twentyfive year old car is always a dicey thing.

Tom W

I wouldn`t mind shifting a 5 thousand pound luxury car. BMW AUDI suck.
BMW too much of a status symbol.

Actually I was thinking if a 13 speed Road Ranger :D.

One more item to put on my to do list. Now just talk the wife :gorgeous: into it.
she likes her automatic.

Charlie

Manual transmissions don't seem to fit with the luxury-car philosophy of the S class cars in my thinking. Well, except for the SEC's maybe. I love having a manual trans, but it's an absolute killer in areas like Washington, DC. Here you'd have trouble getting much past third gear because of the traffic. All the up and down shifting really wears your left leg out after awhile.

Couldnt have said it better myself.

I'd never buy a manual, I don't want to have to shift. 90% city driving.

The 560SEC is a GT car, not a sports car.

The TDI is a blast to drive with the stick, but I'd never want a stickshift E300...the E and S classes are made for luxury; who wants to ruin their creamy-smooth ride with having to shift?

AT cars are good for daily driving for sure in big cities. I remember driving my 5sp Eclipse downtown Chicago with a ACT 2600 clutch that was smoking after 30min of spirited driving. Not cool considering a $600 clutch setup. Automatics put less wear and tear on a engine also. An amateur could easily over rev a manual diesel then an automatic! I do enjoy the manual better because you have more control over the power band specialy with a diesel, but AT are the way to go in heavy traffic.

Same goes with a Turbo Diesel or NonTurbo. Yeah the turbo will get you up to speed faster but the motor won't last as long as a non turbo version.

I do believe the pump will limit either long before redline is achieved.

I have always driven sticks and find that 1st and 2nd gear idling with plenty of room in fron of you will make for a much smoother traffic situation than the automatic accel brake accel brake accel brake pattern.

If your clutch was smoking you were abusing it.

Tom W

Count me as one of the oddballs. I specifically prefer my manual 240D to my automatic 300D for city traffic BECAUSE it's a manual. The fact that the auto in the 300 shifts really harsh when cold probably doesn't help endear it to me. I probably need to adjust it and I know it's due for a fluid change.

I still have the entire 240D 4 speed assembly in boxes from Bruce K here that is intended for my'82 300CD. I didn't plan to do the install myself and my indie talked me out of having him do it, so I have to find the right shop to help me out.

It would be tempting to have this in the 300SD but I agree that the SD is more of a cruising automatic bigger car, and in my case a manual 300CD would be more fun to zip around in.

I do like Icefire's plan for a diesel stick 500SEC. That is a nice combination.


...

Two comments.

1. A column shifter automatic? In a benz? I've never even SEEN one on a modern era Benz... meaning as opposed to the 40's, 50's, etc... that would be nifty just for its rarity.

2. I'd love to have a manual in the S-class. Why? Easy... same reason I went with a diesel instead of a gasser. More durable (arguably) and positively easier to rebuild and less likely to need a rebuild. A stick shift is almost foolproof...

W123 had the option in come countries.

We had two 220S sedans, the first a 1958 or 1959 and the second a 1964. Both had column shifter manual transmissions. So did my buddy's Peugeot 404. Only his had some skewed shifting pattern where shifting out of 3rd gear was not intuitively going into the gear you intended (choices were 2 or 4, and an erroneous shift into 2nd was pretty dramatic). The MB was an "H" pattern on the column shifter with the reverse gear closer to the steering wheel and up behind 1st.

I believe the column shifter was "standard" and the floor shifter was a no-cost option.

Jim

Wow first time I have ever seen one! Looks strange!

Keeping it simple.
 

Was that a 4 speed column, that the W123 had, like some of the Fintails had back in the 60's? Which countries sold those? Were they only on diesels?

I bet that would be a lot of fun. I learned to drive on a column shift, my father (who himself was German) hated automatics, power steering, power brakes, and power windows and seats, and tried to avoid buying cars that
had those options.

"Just more things to go wrong", he said.

But he didn't like the old Mercedes diesels, either. Said they "sounded like a bucket of bolts" to him.

He was more impressed with the smoothness and quiet of Cadillacs compared to the Mercedes back then, after riding in the Mercedes diesel (which I trhink was a W115, but not sure.)