I can't speak to the difference between w123 and w126, however, the hoses worked fine. I've had similar experience with other vehicles, they put the bends in the right places, just leave the ends of the hose too long. I guess many cars use the same bends with different length hose off either end.

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1984 300TD -- summer daily driver
Many others that aren't Mercedes...

I think the W123 and W126 use the same lower hose. The W116 is a different part number and seems to be longer. I picked up the Gates 20700 hose from O'Reilly. It seems close enough to work (and no need to cut it).



The hose is going to have to conform a bit, but hopefully it works, because the options are either it or URO. Actually, AutoZone has a Dayco brand C70705 which interchanges with the Gates hose, so that's another option, though the shape and dimensions are likely no closer to the shape of the W116 hose than the Gates version.

The hose's inner diameter looks smaller than the original, but hopefully it stretches.


I haven't fit the hose on the car yet because I haven't drained the cooling system. The hose I used for reference is a spare. Even though you can't really tell from the pictures, the rubber on the old spare hose is hard and cracking.

I think Gates hoses are supposed to be made in the USA, correct? This one says "MADE IN" and then the country of origin is rubbed off. Hopefully they aren't making them in China or something. If so, I probably would have been better off just buying the URO hose that actually fits.

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DON'T MESS WITH MY MERCEDES!


1967 W110 Universal Wagon, Euro, Turbo Diesel, Tail Fins, 4 Speed Manual Column Shift, A/C
1980 W116 300SD Turbo Diesel, DB479 Walnut Brown, Sunroof, Highly Optioned, 350,000+ Miles

Just because a part is made in China doesn't mean it's bad. Name brand manufactures have quality standards their product must stand up to, where as others (URO), don't. That said, I'm pretty sure Gates makes their parts in the US. I use their timing belt kids on Subarus because they aren't junk like most other brands (besides OEM, but yea, have fun paying for that...).

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1984 300TD -- summer daily driver
Many others that aren't Mercedes...

Not related to hoses, but
In terms of flying down the highway, my 95 e320 wagon with 2.65 gear is at ~3200 at 85mph. Did a trip recently over 5 hours one way and calculated that it could get over 400 miles to the tank(I think it’s around 18.x gallons) and roughly 25/26mpg at that speed. I was blown away, naturally around town it gets more like15/16.
I’ve been driving my moms 95 e300d (and really loving it) around Atlanta, with a lot of 65mph zones, speeds of 80+ are common. I noticed right away the rpm difference, looked it up and I read it’s a 2.88 or 3.07(need to clean off the corner and find for sure) It is at 35/3600 at 80mph. I would bet it would get even more stellar mileage on long sustained speed trips say to Miami, I wouldn’t have to stop for fuel. The om606.910 has plenty of power up past 3000rpm, it obviously is no m104, I wonder how dismal acceleration around town would be with a 2.65...

I can't see running my 300D's at 80 mph for hours. Amazing they didn't put a taller gear in for 4th. The engine is already spinning 3000 rpm at ~60 mph. My 1985 CA has the 1986+ transmission, so is slightly better than my 1984. My old U.S. gas cars only have 3 gears, but run maybe 2500 rpm at 60 mph (no tach).

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1984 & 1985 CA 300D's
1964 & 65 Mopar's - Valiant, Dart, Newport
1996 & 2002 Chrysler minivans

I've always wondered why they didn't make 3rd gear direct drive and 4th gear OD. I guess their solution was just to put a taller final drive in the trans instead.
My 300td could definitely have a taller final than 3.07, first gear gets be about 10 feet before it shifts into 2nd.

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1984 300TD -- summer daily driver
Many others that aren't Mercedes...

My 91 300TE was swapped to a 5 speed manual with OD and the 5th gear gives this car legs. I’m at 2200RPM at 70 MPH and it’s getting close to 30mpg on the highway.

As it's been explained to me, OD transmissions wind up being longer to fit the larger output gear. Or they were just making it up.

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$60 OM617 Blank Exhaust Flanges
$110 OM606 Blank Exhaust Flanges
No merc at the moment

I'm not sure I buy that, first gear in a 722.3 is 3.8ish to 1, that's way lower than most other 4 speed automatics. The further a gear ratio is away from 1, the larger the difference between gear sizes has to be. Thus, I'd argue you'd end up with larger gears having such a low first gear and a 1:1 top gear, rather than splitting the ratios up a bit having 3rd be the direct drive. The driveshaft also carries less torque with an overdrive and deeper axle ratio. There are a whole host of reasons to use an overdrive gearbox, just makes me wonder why mercedes didn't do it. They clearly had the technology at the time.

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1984 300TD -- summer daily driver
Many others that aren't Mercedes...