C320 Engine Transplant, Transmission Swap, or ???

[hanknum]

Hey All,

I've got an '02 C320 wagon. Great little car. I've lowered it (H&R Cup Kit), C32 front calipers, clear headlights, funnel wheels, quad exhaust, and Eurocharged tune.

I want to step up the fun factor now. I've thought about transplanting a C32 motor in it, but was told by a shop who has done this before, that it would be in excess of $15k (and this did not include the donor car). Then I saw someone on MBWorld that said they did it for less than $2k. Anyone have thoughts on this and how involved this would be? Also, keep in mind that I'm in CA, so this would have to have CARB blessing. But then I thought, would someone doing a smog check on this really know if the motor was a transplant?

Second option is to swap the automatic transmission for a 6 speed manual. The Eurocharged tune helped with the shifting speed, but it still lags tremendously. The manual would provide a much more stirring experience.

Lastly, has anyone installed a later model steering wheel with paddle shifters to work with the slush box (automatic)? I was also thinking that a cheap and relatively easy mod would be to be able to use the buttons on the existing steering wheel to shift...has anyone done this?

Thanks in advance.

Henry

[Matej]

Not sure how much extra power you would be satisfied with, but the M113 5.0L V8 engine could be a potential swap. I would not be surprised if it bolted in directly, motor mounts, headers, hoses, lines, and all, since it is essentially the same engine but with two more cylinders. Plus it can be found for quite cheap.
The AMG engines such as the C32 are great fun until you need to rebuild or repair them and discover the costs of the replacement parts.

I have been curious how involved it would be to get the M113 running in a C320 or any other car originally equipped with the M112. Most of the connectors on the engine harness are probably already the same. It could be a huge pain or it could be as simple as swapping over the engine harness and ECU from the donor vehicle.