I have an opportunity to buy a very very very clean 1974 W116 450 SEL.

No rust, good interior about 30,000 miles

The problem is the engine electrical system.

It has been "fixed " by a large number of cheapest-bidder mechanics after Grandson got it from dead Granny.

Now he wants to sell it.

No liens, he owns free and clear but its's costing him money to store and he can't park it at home, given no space where the family lives in an exclusive neighborhood.

Yes, it's a gasser but which is better:

Repair the 4.5 liter? It's an abortion. and repair of that old Jetronic system might not be worth it. It does not start, system is dead, no click even with NEW battery I brought over.

Rip it out and put in an OM 617 turbo? They did use them as one option.

I can just buy a 300SD plaque and put it on the back, lol

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Strelnik
Invest in America: Buy a Congressman!

1950 170SD
1951 Citroen 11BN
1953 Citroen 11BNF limo
1953 220a project
1959 180D
1960 190D
1960 Borgward Isabella TS 2dr
1983 240D daily driver
1983 380SL
1990 350SDL daily driver alt
3 x Citroen DS21M, down from 5
3 x Citroen 2CV, down from 6

Your options are limited.

1. Learn to love Djet. It isn't that bad, you just have to learn how it works. I drove a 1975 Volvo 164e with Djet for 8 years and it died on me twice in that time due to Djet issues. Fuel mileage will be absysmal unless you renew injectors and seals and ensure the pressure sensor is alive and well.

2. Find a later motor with CIS and transplant. Still end up with lousy fuel mileage, SUV-league.

3. An OM617 won't be a painless drop-in solution unless you find one that came from a w116 in the first place. Issues I can recall:

- Lower oil pan off a 617.952 will rub on the crossmember, need to change for a .951 part or grind away a chunk of crossmember.
- Ditto for the engine "horns" for the motor mounts.
- Not sure if the oil filter canister is the same.

And of course you will need an engine and transmission swap, as the 450 had a three-speed.

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Mac
2002 e320 4matic estate│1985 300d│1980 300td
Previous: 1979 & 1982 & 1983 300sd │ 1982 240d

“Let's take a drive into the middle of nowhere with a packet of Marlboro lights and talk about our lives.” ― Joseph Heller, Catch-22

Well Strelnik, at 30,000 miles that car should be awesome, unless it was left parked out of doors for a number of years. I would say that if I had it I would go the 617T way with the four speed manual. But if at 30,000 miles and the car isn't awesome, like as close to new as you can get one, well then you better find out who is fibbing. Of course if it isn't running and they want really big bucks for it, that could slow one down a bit also. Keep in mind that I do have all the parts to make it a 617T with a late style four speed and could deliver them.

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Junqueyardjim
Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, of infinite importance. The only thing it cannot be is moderately important. C.S. Lewis



1983 Mercedes W123 240D 4 Speed 285,000 on the road with a 617 turbo, beautiful butter yellow, license plate # 83 240D INDIANA

2003 Jaguar Type X, AWD. beautiful, good mileage,
Mom's car, but I won't let her drive it!

At work last night I was thinking about how I'd like to get a 116 gasser to fart around with. I wonder about the price and difficulty of going to Megasquirt or something similar, or of grafting a carburetor on.

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Whoever said there's nothing more expensive than a cheap Mercedes never had a cheap Jaguar.

83 300D Turbo with manual conversion, early W126 vented front rotors and H4 headlights 400,xxx miles
08 Suzuki GSX-R600 M4 Slip-on 22,xxx miles
88 Jaguar XJS V12 94,xxx miles. Work in progress.

I have a good 4.5 from a 73 that i pulled from a rusty 116. it ran good. If there are any parts that can help you, PM me.

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1959 Gravely LI, 1963 Gravely L8, 1973 Gravely C12
1982 380SL
1978 450 SEL 6.9 euro restoration at 63% and climbing
1987 300 D
2005 CDI European Delivery
2006 CDI Handed down to daughter
2007 GL CDI. Wifes

Seems like to me that if the car truly has 30,000 miles, it is best to keep that gasser in there as there is only 30,000 miles of wear on the engine.

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Current: 1975 450SEL, 83 300D, 88 Yugo GVX, 90 300D OM603 swap, 91 F150 4.6 4v swap, 93 190E Sportline LE 3.0L M104 swap, 93 190E Sportline LE Megasquirt, 03 Sprinter, 06 E500 4Matic wagon.

The issue he has is the Djet, not the 4.5 itself.

Injectors and injector seals should be relatively easy to source. The easy ends there.

Most or all components have been NLA for some time, and when Bosch does produce some, they will be selling at upscale prices. Djet-equipped cars also tend to have an issue with wiring harnesses. In that era several european manufacturers had troubles with biodegradable harnesses, and I believe Mercedes was included. Hopefully with only 30k this car should be immune to that.

Also you have to learn the system inside out. The mechanics who really knew it are mostly now in old folks homes. Like finding someone who can work on a stereo receiver with tubes. This was literally the first generation of EFI.

I would love that car to death, regardless, but I am not afraid of the big bad Djet wolf. I took my Volvo on 800-mile round trips to go to shows, though I was a younger, more foolish me at the time . However, I was insanely lucky as I had an old timer German with an indy shop who not only liked Djet and had trained on it when young, but loved Volvo 164s.

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Mac
2002 e320 4matic estate│1985 300d│1980 300td
Previous: 1979 & 1982 & 1983 300sd │ 1982 240d

“Let's take a drive into the middle of nowhere with a packet of Marlboro lights and talk about our lives.” ― Joseph Heller, Catch-22

Actually it is easier to find someone who can work on a tube stereo....your looking at him and nope not anywhere near retirement home age...

I just picked up a magnavox color tv! from 1967 full of tubes...second color tv made by them...it surprised the people at the thrift that someone knew how to fix them....and I serious surprised a lady who I told what a tv lamp was.

I think djet and tube stereos, go hand n hand....while tube stereo repair items are real easy to source, if you need tubes...be prepared with a lot of green...

Like was said, at that mileage the car should be in very nice shape....if that was the case, I would attempt to get it running and put it on ebay or sell it to mercedes motoring

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Sounds like a really nice project car.

I was thinking about a single plenum chambered air intake fed by a single supercharger and twin turbos (one for each exhaust side) with custom made computer control / Mega-squirt fuel injection - no catalytic converters on an old school Mercedes V8...

...oh and a wide smile.

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1992 W201 190E 1.8 171,000 km - Daily driver
1981 W123 300D ~ 100,000 miles / 160,000 km - project car stripped to the bone
1965 Land Rover Series 2a Station Wagon CIS recovery therapy!
1961 Volvo PV544 Bare metal rat rod-ish thing

I'm here to chat about cars and to help others - I'm not here "to always be right" like an internet warrior



Don't leave that there - I'll take it to bits!

x2 on megasquirt. You can buy it in pieces or already assembled. People driving those specific cars will have a few parts cars lying around and can hook you up with parts.

Look up the book "Automotive and Small Truck Fuel Injection Systems" by Robert Brady. It may be helpful.

At least that is what I find with 70s era Datsuns. I have 4 air flow meters from 78-83 Zcars sitting on a shelf collecting dust. There are also 3 cars in the back and 1 in boxes. Another is in the shop waiting on a turbo transplant.

Strangely, I only have 1 SD parts car. It is in the way and needs to be moved.

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85SD 240K & stopped counting painted, putting bac together. 84SD 180,000. sold to a neighbor and member here but I forget his handle. The 84 is much improved from when I had it. 85TD beginning to repair to DD status. Lots of stuff to do.

I understand that this system is expensive to repair but a proper OM617 swap (at least to make it look like it belongs in a 30,000 mile car) is going to be expensive as well. You want the engine and accessories from the 1980 300SD as it is the OM617.951 and it has like 12 more HP than the 79 version of that engine. This is a much harder to find engine that other OM617 turbos because only 28,634 W116 300SDs were produced and the updated engine was only in the 1980 model. You also need the correct transmission to go with it, exhaust, the drive shaft, the rear differential, the correct speedometer, odometer, and tachometer. I'm not completely sure but you may need the tach amplifier and wiring for a 300SD plus have a tach amp bracket welded in and I think something about the battery is slightly different.

A half ass job could cost less than $1000 but if you want to make it look correct, meaning you have a true condition 1 or 2 car like this could be, it's going to cost you (but of course with an engine change, its already not going to be considered condition 1 or condition 2). A rusted up exhaust manifold and a filthy engine with rusty injectors, pulleys, faded and cracked plastic throttle bits, etc is going to look terrible in there. To make it look like a 30,000 mile diesel drivetrain, and just as importantly run like a 30,000 mile diesel drivetrain, it's going to cost a lot (even if you do all of the work yourself) plus it will significantly reduce the value of the vehicle.

So I say an example as good as this (provided it really is in good shape) should be kept stock. The W116 was not a cheap car in its day and in real-world retail channels (read: NOT CRAIGSLIST) a 30,000 mile example could be worth upwards of $18,000. You can safely cut that at least in half with a bad engine swap and at least $5000 with a good engine swap. A car in this condition should not be treated like a decent daily driver example (condition 4) that is easily pointed out as flawed.

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Current: 1975 450SEL, 83 300D, 88 Yugo GVX, 90 300D OM603 swap, 91 F150 4.6 4v swap, 93 190E Sportline LE 3.0L M104 swap, 93 190E Sportline LE Megasquirt, 03 Sprinter, 06 E500 4Matic wagon.

I have a 79 450sel with a 4.5. It has 330k miles, runs great. I don't know what to do with it either.

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93' 190E Sportline LE
80' 450SEL 6.9
67' 250SE

Wanna sell it? Maybe I'llnot get this one and buy yours. PM me privately if you want to sell.

__________________
Strelnik
Invest in America: Buy a Congressman!

1950 170SD
1951 Citroen 11BN
1953 Citroen 11BNF limo
1953 220a project
1959 180D
1960 190D
1960 Borgward Isabella TS 2dr
1983 240D daily driver
1983 380SL
1990 350SDL daily driver alt
3 x Citroen DS21M, down from 5
3 x Citroen 2CV, down from 6

Well, several years ago there was a 450SL on eBay with some type of 4V carburetor grafted on. No idea how it was done or how well it ran.

Happy Motoring, Mark

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DrDKW

If the car is really a 30K car , and assuming it has NO rust, no wrecks, and it's in near minty condition, who cares? I would buy it. Because it won't start or even turn over, you should be in the catbird seat so to speak. Tell the seller your price is probably better than 9.5 cents per pound.