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  #1  
Old 03-11-2008, 09:30 PM
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Engine swap possibilty?

Hey so i was wondering if i could some how find a Mercedes V12 engine (the one outa of a SL600) and put it in a W124 chassis. Is this possible? i knoanything is possible and i kno engine swaps are alot of work, BUT could this be a regular engine swap with little to mild modificatios/fabrications? ive done honda engine swaps before, but never a german car. oh and my 92 jeep traded an inline 6 for 4L V8. but yeah if i couldnt do it, would a shop do it? would any of u guys that own shops that do work on MB and other german cars do this? i would obviously pay for the labor and engine but would any of u do this?

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  #2  
Old 03-11-2008, 09:45 PM
88Black560SL
 
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There are 2 variants of the M120 V-12. The SL600 has the oil pan sump up front and for that reason I selected that one for my 107 project. The S600 variant has the oil pan sump in mid pan location. This might be more suitable for the 124 you need to evaluate this.

Visit my thread on M120 into 560SL to get an idea of what challenges are ahead.

John Roncallo
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  #3  
Old 03-13-2008, 01:06 AM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by E_420 View Post
Is this possible?

Yes

BUT could this be a regular engine swap with little to mild modificatios/fabrications?

Absolutely not in any way shape or form. If hard work and custom seat-of-your pants "engineering" doesn't appeal to you, don't even consider this swap. Plan on spending well over 10k USD to do this right, probably twice that....easily twice that. That said it would be awesome, and one I plan on doing next
Hope that helps
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  #4  
Old 03-13-2008, 12:00 PM
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OK, how long should i expect for this project to take?
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  #5  
Old 03-13-2008, 02:06 PM
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I don't think there is really any way to estimate that. If you took it to a qualified shop and paid big money, it could probably take a week for the right price. But if you do it yourself, who knows. Things I've learned from doing a project myself:

1) Suppliers always take a long time for parts. Sometimes they will surprise you, but its normally the non-critical parts that get to you the next day....murphy's law I guess

2) If you have anything fabricated for you, add 1 month. Not that everything will take that long, but on average, everything I had fabricated took that long to recieve, fix, and recieve again.

3) If you are dealing with a MB dealership for replacement parts, plan on months of waiting for certain parts. It took my local parts dept. over 3 months to get me the correct alternator bracket fasteners for my m117 (not an uncommon engine stateside).

That's not an exhaustive list, but I will say that everything takes time. It would be an understatement to say that this won't be a weekend project.
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  #6  
Old 03-13-2008, 04:33 PM
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Big money? like what are we talkin about 10k? 20k? id buy a sl600 for those prices.
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  #7  
Old 03-13-2008, 05:51 PM
88Black560SL
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by E_420 View Post
Big money? like what are we talkin about 10k? 20k? id buy a sl600 for those prices.
You need to read this thread in it's entirety. I will answer most of your questions. Especially the questions you will inevetably have on electronic throttles and use of after market ECU's etc.

As far as time I have been working on it steadily for over a year. I work on it by myself and generally only on weekends. If you work faster than me (not that hard) you will be done sooner. On the other hand when I was 20 years younger 3 of use young guys put a Chevy 350 engine into a Ferrari 308 in 2 days. Of course the Pantera trans axle was already installed, it was not a quality job and only had 1 wire going to the distributor 2 wires to the starter and a fuel line going to the carburator and the exhausts were straight down pipes. But we started on Friday and drove it at Pocono on Sunday. And it went like a bat out of hell.

M120 into 560SL (With Pictures!).

John Roncallo
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  #8  
Old 03-13-2008, 09:45 PM
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Making a custom M120 W124 is going to cost more (unless you do all the work as John has) then going out and buying any stock M120 equipped car at this point.

Custom work results in Countless hours sorting both major and minor problems.

Jonathan
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  #9  
Old 03-13-2008, 10:21 PM
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Right. Just buy the closest v12 equipped car to what you want for a fraction of the cost of the swap. They are pretty cheap now with the cost of fuel. and maintenance.

Tom W
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  #10  
Old 03-14-2008, 03:03 AM
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While I would say that a w124 w/ an m120 would be about the coolest swap I can think of right now, in terms of cost and lost free time, it would be far easier to just look out for an r129 SL600 and pick that up.
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  #11  
Old 03-17-2008, 02:19 AM
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It's been done...so there is some hope.
I'd like to do it also, but lack the funds and time
necessary, but one can dream
Attached Thumbnails
Engine swap possibilty?-w124_brabus%25207_3_v12.jpg  
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  #12  
Old 03-17-2008, 03:25 AM
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The problems that can be deen from this point are making the E420 computers and harnesses talk to those of the M120 V12.


They are two different types of engine management systems, not to mention the fact that the amount of information that the M120 V12 needs in order to function properly.

If one were to do this swap, it would be easier to start out with an older W124, as they have less computers that you have to deal with... Something like a late 80s 300E comes to mind.


The amount of computers and wires that the M119 V8 has worries me, as it would be a nightmare figuring out what controls what on the newer car, and what relays you would need for different systems to run....


I have thought about putting my car under the knife, and doing a transplant... About a month ago, I wanted to swap over an M116 V8 into it, but got turned off with the minimal power gains, and the effort to make it fit...

Now, I am thinking of doing something like a 5 speed conversion to it... Liven it up a bit.


But now, I am thinking about a 5.6 V8 into it this summer, so we shall see what happens...

As for a shop installing an M120 V12 into a car..... Hopefully you got pockets deeper than what I got....
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  #13  
Old 03-17-2008, 06:04 PM
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The best bet would revolve around getting an entire donor car so that you could pull all harness items and body sensors as needed. Then plan on a little electrical engineering to make it all work. Ok, probably more than a little.
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  #14  
Old 03-17-2008, 07:40 PM
88Black560SL
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by FLYNAVY View Post
While I would say that a w124 w/ an m120 would be about the coolest swap I can think of right now, in terms of cost and lost free time, it would be far easier to just look out for an r129 SL600 and pick that up.
Buying an R129 SL600 would be cheaper than a a Chevy into a 124 assuming you had to buy the 124 and the Chevy engine.

John Roncallo
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  #15  
Old 03-17-2008, 07:49 PM
88Black560SL
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Federico View Post
It's been done...so there is some hope.
I'd like to do it also, but lack the funds and time
necessary, but one can dream
Do you know who built it. The engine painting looks very Satish Tummala like. Do you have more pictures. I bet it goes like a bat out of hell.

John Roncallo

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