I posted this question on another forum. Neil, thanks for your response. In the STAR, there was na artiucle about a 400E; the owner changed out the stock differential for an old 450Se 3:07 one. He reports a major increase in acceleration. My question; how much to do this, parts and labor? I thought perhaps a 3:07 differential from a 300E might be the easiest. I am not a DIYer, and would have to pay to have this done.

Any help will be appreciated.
Tom

The 300E 3.07:1 differential is smaller than a 400E and will not fit properly. I am not certain what differentials would be a direct bolt in. MB did put a 3.27:1 rear gear in 1990 300CE's. You would definitely have to swap the differential rear cover, but this MAY be closer to a bolt in. Don't forget about speedo calibration when changing gear ratios. Also, your cruise may act oddly with a different ratio.

Scott P.

1986 560SEC (with 3.27 rear end)
1996 E320
1994 S600

I spoke(email) to Stu(the editor of the article) and he referred me to the Shop that did the work. I then spoke(actually via phone) to the shop owner/craftsman who did the work.
What he does is take YOUR diff opens it up takes out the guts(Ring/Pinion), and replaces them with a NEW ring/pinion whose P/N's were OEM in the 450SE/SL. And I think your car needs to have NOT come equiped with ASR. If They do all the work its @ $2600. If you ship just the Diff, its @ $2K (@$300 for Ring/Pinion + addl cost for seal etc. and of course $$$ for labor)
I too read the article as saying that they went out and found an old dead se/sl and remove the diff for parts. But think about it, the diff would probably be shot(Over 100K mi) with at least some slack/play in it.

Screw the chip, the exhaust and the K&N's for that matter....If your ONLY desire is to feel "HorsePower" do this diff swap.

__________________
Regards,

Albert
aldedmon@yahoo.com

I've been wanting to do this mod to my '94 E420.

What are the performance gains? Real world numbers.

I think that the 3.07 might kill your freeway mpg, if you care. But then again, it'll give the 500 a good run. Heck, why not put in a 3.27 (?) from the W124 wagon?

Seems like a 2.82 like the one from the 500's would be better.

Thanks,

Craig

__________________
1994 E420, Pearl Black/Black. 2.82 rear diff., AMG front spoiler, painted lower half. SOLD

1972 & 1974 BMW 2002tii's.

According to the author of the Article the car shld be able to mid to high 6 second 0-60's at sea level conditions(provided enough traction could be put down...but certainly not with those skinny 195X65X15's) . He's mile high(Colorado) and I beleive he said he's doing maybe high 8's.
As to other Ring/Pinion combo's, I can only assume they've done the research and this combo from this (450sl/se)car may be the only ones that would fit the 400e/e420 diff case.

__________________
Regards,

Albert
aldedmon@yahoo.com

In the 1993 Motor Trend comparison of 8 cyl luxury cars, the E420 got 0-60 in 7.0 with those skinny tires. I believe that was at sea level.

I hope all that work and $$ for a higher diff. would lead to faster numbers.

Craig

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1994 E420, Pearl Black/Black. 2.82 rear diff., AMG front spoiler, painted lower half. SOLD

1972 & 1974 BMW 2002tii's.

Sometimes a higher diff will lead to a LOWER number. The main reason as you are no doubt well aware is the inability to get the power to the road. That's why we sometimes faster/slower times with/without traction control. If she spins more(which she certainly will with the stock rubber) she may actually be slower than the original times, unless you can manipulate the torque and get out of the hole with high engine speed and low wheel spin. I dare say that my car as equiped could get the power to the road 245x40x17 is plenty enough rubber and the Kumho's are no traction slouches, but those AMG's ain't no lightweights. With a lighter wheel like say BBS RC or maybe the MB EVOII's the times would probably be pretty awesome

__________________
Regards,

Albert
aldedmon@yahoo.com

So what you are saying is that 0-60 times might be slower if there is a lot of wheel spin.

To remedy that simply put on bigger rubber. I've got Kumho 225/45/17's all around. A guess I assumed that before anyone would drop $2600 into their diff they would have spent a little on bigger rims and better tires.

I want to do this upgrade to the diff. but I want to know the difference I can expect in my car, given my setup.

Craig

PS. Anyone got a copy of the article?

__________________
1994 E420, Pearl Black/Black. 2.82 rear diff., AMG front spoiler, painted lower half. SOLD

1972 & 1974 BMW 2002tii's.

That's what I said. .
The article is available in the Jan/Feb issue of the Star. It really doesn't speak a whole lot about the rear diff upgrade. In fact you and I have spoken more about it than the article does and in much greater detail. All the author said was and I quote from an his earlier email to me(thought I had deleted it:

Up here in Denver my car had 0-60 times of 9.3 seconds with the stock
2.24 rear end.
With the change I am down to 7.1 seconds up here, which I am sure, is a
sub 6 second
sea level 0-60 time.

__________________
Regards,

Albert
aldedmon@yahoo.com

Well that's completely diffrent.

In your earlier post (unless I read it wrong) you said mid to high 6's for 0-60 at sea level. At sea level the E420 is capable of doing 6.8 (I've heard, Subman?) to 7.1 (Motor Trend) 0-60 times.

I think you meant to say was mid to high 5 seconds range 0-60 with the higher diff.

Craig

__________________
1994 E420, Pearl Black/Black. 2.82 rear diff., AMG front spoiler, painted lower half. SOLD

1972 & 1974 BMW 2002tii's.

But I still stand by my arguably low ETA's/ High 0-60 times.
I think that the car would "run out of wind" toward the end of the track. Sure it would beat its prior 0-60 / ETA on the track, but at 4.2 litres different mapping, cam duration etc.,I do NOT believe that it would best the 500e/e500's times. The 500e would be getting stronger toward the end of the track as the "lungs" of the 5litres with the longer intake runners, CPU mapping and Cam duration began to kick in.

My 1/4 mile street race scenerio is as follows:
Re-geared 400e/e420 claws off the line screaming / tire smoking and draws a slight lead advantage to 330ft.
500e/e500 begans to close lead at 660ft(half way)
500e/e500 passes Re-geared 400e/e420 by 990ft
500e/e500 crosses finish line 1320ft 1 1/2 lengths ahead of the Regeared 400e/e420.
The thing is (and this is purely my opinion however it does carry a little bit of certifiable truth as I have done some street racing/re-gearing in my day) The Regeared 400e/420 will certainly run rings around its former self from A - B and probably 0-60. But 0-100 will be a different thing.
The HP of these cars is generated at higher revs 5000+ however the Torque max is at lower rev's 3000+. The Re-gear will have the car running at / near max revs(HP limit) most of the time and especially in a race situation the engine will zip thru the mid rev point(Max Torque) and have the car straining at the rev limiter while not necessarily achieving max velocity.

Bottom Line:
The car will be Quick. No argument.
Quicker than it is YES, Quicker than a 500e/e500 , well it'll certainly feel as though it is, but the truth lies ONLY at the Track!
It'll kick Most Automatic Mustang , Z , Tram Am, Non "M" 3 and 5 series BMW incl 540 series butts.

__________________
Regards,

Albert
aldedmon@yahoo.com

Time for me to chime in.
The article said 7.1 0-60 and a 1/4 of 15.3 at 93 mph. However I have done a 1/4 in as little as 14.8 at 94.8 mph. So I have to think that my 0-60 time was less than 7 sec I would think as Craig said about 6.7 or 6.8. You should have no problem getting traction on wider tires.
I have seen other members say that a 400E/E420 w/ a 3.07 rear will out run a 500E in the 1/4 but it is hard to say unless some one has one w/ 1/4 times.
I too have considered this upgrade but I dont think I will do it. Because I would loose highway MPG, I dont have any money for that right now (I just bought new wheels), and by the time I would be able to do it will have a newer faster car (in the long future that is).
Subman

Oh and besides K&N airfilers, and springs my car was stock, and it had a speker box in the trunk, this is at the time of my 1/4 run.

__________________
Factory trained Mercedes-Benz Technician
Look At My Website
-2002 C32
(E420 has passed away)
The best way to contat me is e-mail.

Hey Subman-

Neil was the one who told me that a 3.07 diff on my E420 would out run a 500 to 100mph.

Craig

__________________
1994 E420, Pearl Black/Black. 2.82 rear diff., AMG front spoiler, painted lower half. SOLD

1972 & 1974 BMW 2002tii's.

I have a 1997 (W210) E420 and it has the 2.82 diff.
I have often thought, what a shame it does not have the E320 3.07 differential but I do not know if that would work.
You might want to check if the 1997 2.82 diff would fit into the w124 E420.

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2008 S550
2010 GLK350
1997 E420 (retired)
2005 CLK500 (retired)

I have both a 1993 500E and a 1988 360TE AMG wagon (W124 wagon with a 1995 C36 AMG engine & tranny).

The 500E is stock, and the wagon has SportLine front suspension, 500E rear suspension, and 500E brakes all around.

The 1995 C36 AMG is conservatively rated at 268HP and 276 ft-lb torque, almost the same as a W124 400E. The 1997 C36 is up to 278 HP and 280 torque.

Moreover, the wagon has a 3.07 limited-slip differential from a Euro 190E 2.3-16v Evolution II.

The wagon will beat the 500E to 85 MPH from a standstill. My mechanic who is a SCCA racer and has timed trial my 500E at EuroTuner Fest @ WillowSprings (3rd in class) could not believe it.

We raced side-by-side on a freeway on-ramp. He was in my 500E, and I was in the wagon. The wagon won by 2-car lengths to the next exit. After 85 MPH, the 500E catches up quick.

We haven't seen at which speed the 500E actually passes the wagon, but I believe it will be at 95-105 MPH.

Now add 3.07 gears to a 400E, and watch out.

:-) neil
1988 360TE AMG (wishing for a 5 or 6-speed auto)
1993 500E