Hi guys, i'll give a little introduction on myself.
I'm 24 years old from the Netherlands and since about 2 years i've been thinking about a nice turbo project.
I gathered a lot of information on the engine on this forum, thanks @Turbo E320 and others ofcourse.
Last summer visiting Gatebil Rudskogen really boosted my desires for a project.
So about a month ago i bought a M104.992 engine with (said to be...you never know the real number... less than 200K km).



At the moment i'm looking for a W123 TE to put the engine in, but it's hard to find one with not too much rust. (i'm looking around 5/6000 euros, maybe not enough?)

My plan is as follows, first i'll take it apart and measure the important stuff like rod/crankshaft bearings and the pistons and cylinder bore. I'll also post some of my findings which i think might be useful for you readers.
Meanwhile i'll think about what to do with the engine, like CR rods and so on.
I like to not buy much aftermarket stuff if it isn't necessary.

So i'm aiming at 500hp to start.
- Ecumaster EMU
- Dual intake plenum
- Exhaust manifold for twinscroll
- Non modified head
- H-beam rods(maybe?)

I was in the assumption that the M104.992 had a CR of 9.2 but after finding the numbers under the oil dirt it said a CR of 10.0 so i need to get that lower.
At first i wanted it to be in the 8.8 region, but i dont think i'll be able to achieve that with keeping the squish...and im keen on keeping that.

So here's the thing, i would like to take 1mm of my piston dish and keep 5mm away from the edges.
But ofcourse this will weaken the piston, i've read quite some about taking some material off the M103 and M104 pistons, but as you all know there are quite some codes of them.
I measured my piston with an 'X' on top and its 6,70mm thick on the thinnest part(in the middle).
I would really like to have the thickness of a M104.980 and an M103 piston to compare.
My thanks would be great if someone could help me get these measurements!!!

I'm open to critical questions and remarks so fire away!

Befor you dismantle it could you take some overall measurements ,length, width, height and any thing else you can think of and post it here?? would be much appreciated.

Its already mostly apart, but its not too hard to take them for you, do you need them with or without all the parts on ?
The block without any intake exhaust and stuff:
- length (without a gearbox) 85cm (it might be about 3cm less but i took it a bit on the safe side.
- widest part of the valve cover is 32cm and the straight part is 26cm
- max height is 69cm from oil pan to valve cover

There was an extensive build up on this site but I can't find it at the moment.

Have a look at these other threads.

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/performance-paddock/271872-mb-124-m104-big-turbo.html

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/performance-paddock/218549-my-w124-m103-e300-finally-has-mosselman-kit-istalled.html?highlight=m104+turbo

Thanks for responding, with the all the parts on when you get to that point but
this is a good start. Thanks.

I indeed looked at the top one, taking 1mm off the pistons won't be the problem, but his block is a .980 and mine is a .992
I blame the breaking of those pistons to a waay too big turbo and too small injectors, he himself confessed not having made a well balanced map.
So my only question about this is the thickness of the piston deck from the 104.980 if its the same it wont be a problem and i'll machine some off.

don't understand the work, when turbobandit gets 600 hp without any engine work,or trans. Over that he insist on H Beam rods,stock pistons capable over 1200 hp.He does not even use a diesel crankshaft.

__________________
1999 w140, quit voting to old, and to old to fight, a god damned veteran

Because no one can tell what a 600hp burn out looks like vs any other burn out. The stock pistons if they even hint at detonation will crack at above around 400hp. And the cranks are all essentially diesel cranks.

There was a thread on this site where someone spent huge $$ and lots of time to just get to 400 RWH. I think they started out with a 2 turbo system then went to a single turbo

I think the engine was in a black / dark colored S class or pre 95 E class. Eventually the car and / or engine was up for sale.

Well Turbobandit uses the engine blocks with 9.2 CR so thats m104 3L and the m103 as far as i know. I thought the M104.992 3.2L also had 9.2CR found in documents but that ended up to be 10.0
I just dont want to back down on it now (:
Milling the pistons isnt that hard of a job.

Sooo, i'm back!
I bought a 1992 w124 300te just before going to Gatebil Rudskogen.


Looks pretty decent right to put a m104 turbo in it?!

But ofcourse this car has it's flaws too, the jacking points are rusted so it needs to be welded.
The wheel arches have rust too, so i'm going to fix this first.


Enough of all of this, you are here for the performance!!
At Gatebil I spoke to some guys of drift Team Lovetap, they were really kind and eager to talk about their build!


They build a m104.992 (their backup engine) with 713hp and 830Nm.
Here are some things I know about the build:
- e85
- MLS headgasket
- 1mm shorter h beam rods
- dry-sump
- brace on bottom part of the engine (this is only possible because they replaced
the original oil pump for the dry-sump
- cooling through the freeze caps in the block and head
- Borg warner EFR (size.....I think its the biggest money can buy, able for more than
the 700hp)
- Dual plenum intake, I'm in love with this one!

This solves the struggle of milling and weakening the pistons, squish doesn't seem to matter after all




And a bonus W124 on the gatebil party camping!