PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum - W163 ring and pinion choices?

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There are people here way more knowledgable than me on the ML's. Wolfgang's old site was great (no longer maintained).

Do some internet searching, it was how I found the 4000CDI had 3.09 gears. I have a spare set of 3.70's at my mechanic's shop, I can run by next week and check the casing. i would be surprised if the ratio is not stamped either on the housing, or on a tag attached to the housing. If you are getting from a dismantler, just have him give you a 100% return guarantee if the ratio is 3.46 and not 3.70 as he claims. Shipping is relatively expensive only because they are heavy. Easy to check: spin the gears, 3.70 turns of the diff driveshaft should be 1 turn of the rear axle. 3.46 would be just short of 3.5 turns, so it can be measured before it is shipped.

Flooring the ML? Nah, when I need to go fast, I hop into my supercharged M5. :)

Headers are nice, but don't add that much power. I would estimate about 15-20 hp tops. The ML is smoother, seems to breathe a little better and revs freer. Didn't hurt fuel efficiency, although I can't say it improved it either. But it was a closeout from Kleeman, very cheap, so I went ahead and did it. Don't regret it at all, sound is not much louder than stock either.

Regards,
Jerry

Quote:

Originally Posted by itb76 (Post 2817302)

That's interesting, because the dismantler that is selling me a differential said that he has a 3.70 in stock and a 2000 model that he hasn't dismantled yet, but his book or whatever is telling him that it should be a 3.70. Don't know if he's using Hollander or what. I can't find anything in the WIS or owner's manual stating what the axle ratios should be.

Throttle modulation is overrated, I just floor it all the time. After it's warmed up of course. My other car is a BMW 545, and it's just barely fast enough. The ML is a kid hauler/tow vehicle.

The comment about headers is interesting. I did have to replace a stock exhaust manifold once. It looks just like a stainless steel header, with a second layer of stainless around it to reduce noise and corrosion. It's a really nice piece.

I found the ratio stuck on a label on top of the diff carrier casting. A duplicate label is on the subframe. The dismantler's units are labelled, so it should be no problem matching them up.

Will let you all know how the swap goes. Will be a couple weeks.

This last fill of oil only had about 1500 miles on it, and already had visible metal flakes in it. Swapped it out and now the roaring noise is gone. Pretty straightforward swap.

Quote:

Originally Posted by itb76 (Post 2827457)

This last fill of oil only had about 1500 miles on it, and already had visible metal flakes in it. Swapped it out and now the roaring noise is gone. Pretty straightforward swap.

Yes, very straight forward. The diffs are pretty much interchangable as long as you have the same gearing front and rear.

Make sure you get the right weight gear oil, IIRC it is something like 80/90, which is a little unusual.

Regards,
Jerry

The label says SAE 90, which is pretty much impossible to get. I filled it with Mobil 1 75W90. Will change every 40,000 miles; I'm not happy with differentials that only last 200,000 miles.

Hey gsfent

Not sure if your still on here or not, as this is a very old post. Looking to swap the 3.09 gearing in my ML500 too and wondered if you might be able to point out the shop that reprogrammed your transmission computer?

Also does the ratio vary for the 4000 CDI gearing for different years?

thanks,
Jonathan

Quote:

Originally Posted by gsfent (Post 2817479)

So how the coding of ECU/TCU is done?
I already changed the ratios , and driving in limp mode is torture

Quote:

Originally Posted by jc179 (Post 3446226)

Sorry, not here often, just saw your post. If you are still on here, as far as I know, the 400CDI only has one set of ratios. From memory, my diffs came from Germany.

My earlier post names the shop. Renntech, very well know Mercedes tuner in south Florida. Hartmut Feyhl is the owner, trained at AMG in Germany many years ago.

Hartmut did not do the reprogramming, one of the young computer savvy techs did. Nothing came out of the car, all done through programming. I believe it was just the transmission computer (TCU).

Regards,
Jerry