300CE 3.6 Brabus
 

Yesterday I got a call from my indie mechanic that he had an interesting W124 coupe in for service and that I should come take a look. I went over in the afternonn and saw a very interesting black on black Euro 5 speed 1988 300CE which was modded/tuned by Brabus. The car is insanely low. They nearly had to lift it up with floor jacks to get the lift arms under the side skirts. The front bumper is no more than an inch off the ground. The body kit has a great deal of damage to it from being so close to the ground.

I had a chance to look at the car on the lift. The springs are yellow, but don't know what they are. The shocks are red Sachs front and rear and have long sleeves covering the exposed/travelling portion, instead of the standard bellows. The control arms in the front are the standard early 124 arms with the replaceable ball joints. The rear ones are not MB, but it was impossible to tell what they are without some disassembly -- there is a large cover on them. The brakes are stock early 300CE brakes. The wheels are 16" Mims, with crappy 205/55 tires of an off-brand I didn't recognize. Two of the tires had exposed steel belts.

There was a disconnected wire near the oil pan, which probably used to connect to an oil drain plug with a temperature sensor, as there is an oil temp gauge.

Under the hood, the car looked surprisingly like my 300CE, but for two things. First, there is a red valve cover which says "Brabus 3.6" in black letters. The mechanic said he has in the past had the valve cover off and that the cam and valving are modified from stock. Also, there is a large hydraulic fluid reservoir, I'm not sure for what.

The interior was interesting, the seats were black leather with white piping. The front seats are manual. The original steering wheel and shift knob have been replaced. The wood on the a/c, ashtray, and console is Zebrano, but somebody added burlwood on the doors and the dash. I didn't see a fire extinguisher.

Overall, the car was really cool, but kind of trashed, although I did not see any rust at all. Unfortunately, I didn't have a camera or my Iphone with me. The owner only puts 500-600 miles a year on the car, but does have it in for fluids and a once over twice at least once a year. I have put an inquiry to see if it could be for sale. If so, and I don't bite, I'll try and post info about it. Could be a really nice resto project.

Mark

Is this the car?

http://www.alfa-base.com/brabus/

Could be an intersting project if it's for sale !


Ed

Yes, I think that's it! It doesn't look quite as good now, but still eye-catching.

WTF is that right behind the alternator? Did it have SLS? Very interesting car. I'm having a hard time trying to figure out if someone just found a 3.6 engine and built a car to match it. Or if it was a real Brabus car through and through.

http://www.alfa-base.com/brabus/Brabus%2520engine.jpg

I spoke with the mechanic and he said it's traction control.

guys that oil can is for the ASD Differential. lots of w201 w124 came with those. I have owned three W124s and they all had this ASD.

ASD is great - it is a hydraulic locking diff which engages at speeds up to 19mph if wheelspin is detected. The rest of the time it's a normal LSD. It is NOT traction control, however. If you want the tires to stop spinning you need to pull your lead foot off the pedal. And, as the diff clutches wear, the LSD and ASD function decreases. When the clutches are worn out, it will act as an open diff even when ASD is engaged. New clutches will fix the problem.

Detailed info on ASD is available on my website here and here. Those links also explain the difference between ASD and ASR (ASR is true traction control).

:euro:

I believe that same bottle/system can be used for the SLS as well, correct me if im wrong. I dont think they would have two seperate bottles for essentially the same principle, maybe just more capacity.

THe same bottle/system is used with SLS, but I believe cars with both systems (SLS + ASD) have one pump and one reservoir and share the pressure line via solenoids at the rear.

:scholar:

Does anybody know how difficult an undertaking it is to bore an M103 3.0 out to 3.4 or 3.6 like Brabus did with this car? Would that require custom rods? What else?

My guess:

1) Bore block oversize (not a big deal, it's iron)
2) Custom pistons (I think? $$$)
3) Stroker crank (is the 3.5L diesel a donor?)
4) Not sure if custom rods are needed, or if some OE rods will work (??)
5) Custom cams would be needed to maximize power output ($$$)
6) Engine management is the next question - CIS? HFM? Standalone aftermarket?

I'd consider picking up a C36 motor (available for ~$2-$3k) instead. Potomac Pat dropped in a late M104 into an early W201, no reason you couldn't do something similar with a C36 powerplant. It would be easier if the recipient was a late 124 - I think.

:boat:

Dave, were u ever banned!!!!!! WTF!

Yeah, for a few weeks, my website was banned from here. It's unbanned (for now). Really weird situation, the powers that be were all worried about liability for what might be on my site. Bizarre.

:rolleyes6:

That Brabus car looked like it still had the single cam and the CIS. You think that is a custom cam?

Boring out to the 3.6l is a complete waist. It is only .1liters over just the stroke on a 3.2l m104. I know that you are coming from 3.0l but I would not go that far. It will be cheaper to just buy a 3.6 engine anyways. If you find a 350 diesel crank to use. You still have to buy pistons and rods and build the engine. Stock engine parts cost more than 3-4 custom ones. Get a good used 3.6l engine and put standalone injection on it. This will be cheaper and easier. Stock engine parts cost more than 3-4 custom ones.