C36 TO WAGON CONVERSION

[nulu]

finally picked up a 1996 c36 motor complete with wiring harness for my 94 e320 wagon , is this a straight bolt in as far as ecu what else do I have to do ? or will 96 c 36 ecu plug straight up with no mods?

[ccrelan]

If you use the C36 wiring harness than it is a straight plug and play. You could then use the C36 ecu to run the car.

The other alternative is to use the w124 wiring harness. You then have to swap over to the w124 air pump and all the front accessories from the original 3.2. Finally, you would have to send the w124 ECU to Speedtuning in MD to be chipped with 3.6 info.

If you have a good w202 wiring harness and C36 ecu it is the far easier route.

[nulu]

Thanks , I bought the 96 c 36 with the c36 engine harness and ecu, so im all good to plug and play

[ccrelan]

Do yourself a favor and clean out the egr pipe when the engine is out of the car. Very simple to do when the engine is out. Plenty of write ups on how to do it.

[nulu]

Got it, im going to first do comp test then install, then remove and hop it up
, cp pistons , different cam,s, port head, then reseal as motor has 140k miles

[iwrock]

Sub'd.

I've thought about doing this swap, and would really like to see how it turns out.

[nulu]

I had already bought a c280 engine complete=had 2nd headgasket failure,was going to use bolts, covers etc, head if needed etc for c36 build,bought in 2006 a brand new engine block from Mercedes in the box 104 engine, and diesel crank to convert to c 36 specs, and now have a genuine c36 engine, I want to remove crank from c36 engine and send diesel 603 crank 3.5 to machine shop to copy, then when crank comes back I can build 2nd c36 block later on,i also have an extra head with low miles , I was going to install running gear as needed into low mileage head,then mount the head to 104 -c36 block,note , ill start taking lots of pictures as this has been discussed in previous post,still like the idea of low boost tubo setup, and I have a greddy additional injector controller 1-4 injectors can be used, I doubt ill go that route as everyone says it will blow headgaskets, but my new 104 block is not bored yet standard c 280/320 block, im I wonder if c 36 crank with c 36 rods will clear virgin 280/320 block, then maybe a turbo may work

[SpartanV]

Nice nulu. I'd like to see that. I see you're in LA too

[nulu]

Ive been gathering parts to do a c36 type motor but its complicated, pistons are special, crank special, oiler tubes modified , cams and gears modified, finnallly just bought a c36 motor and im going to mix and match my second motor and see if I can make a powerful 3.6 like amg did

[HZach]

Since you have '96 engine and ECU, you will also need the IRCL controller from the same car the ECU came out of. The IRCL and ECU are matched, without it the ECU will not let engine fire.

[nulu]

Originally Posted by HZach

Since you have '96 engine and ECU, you will also need the IRCL controller from the same car the ECU came out of. The IRCL and ECU are matched, without it the ECU will not let engine fire.

Thanks for ircl info , ill look into that.

[97 SL320]

Not for 96 as they didn't have a chip in the key and I'm pretty sure it didn't talk to the engine computer. The Infra Red Central Locking module and ATA Anti Theft Alarm worked by interrupting the crank signal to the starter if car was locked with the IR remote. This is easy to bypass.

In 97 DAS X ( Driver Authorization System ) had a mechanical key like the 96 and down but had a RFID chip making it operational regardless if you locked the car. This system uses a antenna ring around the ignition lock cylinder, a small box behind the instrument cluster. The small box is linked to the engine computer through CAN bus. ( On the cars I'm working on the DAS box is 210 820 32 26 ) For this system you need the chip key, DAS box and engine computer to match. The the engine computer in this case has about 7 plugs and is called ME 2.0 or ME 2.1

Beckman can unlock the 97 up engine computer to work with a matching key / DAS you come up with. If you have a matching DAS / engine computer, China sellers on E bay have a reader for the DAS MCU for about $ 80 that will burn a new chip key.

[nulu]

I checked the date of manufacture the C36 was made 11/95 so I don't need anything but the HFM module to run

[400Eric]

Talk about your living coincidences! Board member J-sauce is also building a c36 powered 94 E320 wagon! The only difference is his had a 5spd auto (722.6?) behind it so I guess that means that his engine is a year or two newer than your engine is. It's making his swap a little more difficult because his C36 ECU isn't compatible with his W124. For now he is going to use his wagon's ECU with a re-tune.

You should join him and me at the drag strip in Fontana when your swap is finished! For that particular day I'll be bringing my 93 turbo 940 wagon so that J-sauce and I can have a battle of the wagons.

[nulu]

Ill get in touch, I decided to turbo if possible, or course my trans should be refreshed, im going to drop c 36 engine in first before hot rodding engine to get baseline , then pull out and do pistons etc, ive got everthing but turbo manifold and good turbo , I also will need limited slip , I cant stand open differentials,im considering 722.6 conversion too,i want it dead reliable, my buddy with a 96 c 36 was running 14.10 with stock motor,he removed seats to lighten for drags, ill drag before and after , sounds like fun