Can anyone explain to me why the OE stuff is so bad if I get it from a non asr car without the immobilizer or chip key?

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Current:
'74 450SLC
'89 190E
'95 E420

Previous:
'94 E320
'87 300E
'73 350SL
'75 450SL
'95 C36
'99 C43 55 swap

It is not. You need the HFM module and the EA/CC/ISC module and those need to be wired together as factory. So two rather large control modules and appropriate wiring to each other and the power of course. Then you need and ABS wheel speed signal going to them or you have a low RPM limit. I do not remember the exact number but it is around 3800 rpm or something like that.
Again there is info out there on doing this. I have a friend that did all factory stuff in a 190e with an 3.6 AMG.
So you are going to have to come up with an ABS sensor setup of some kind to feed the modules since a 450sl does not have ABS. I do not remember how picky they are or even if it cares to much what the value is or just that it sees something.
But then you have to find or buy a good HFM harness that is not rotten.
Then you have to figure out your gauges just the same as an aftermarket ECU.
Just more stuff is all and more requirements.

I would not be worried about the speedo or tach with this arangement as it would not be long term. There are plenty of wrecked w124s in the junkyard I can pull a harness and parts from. Its really not that hard to find them.

Do the non asr cars need the abs sensor? My w124 had the rev limit issue caused by a wheel speed sensor but that had asr.

__________________
Follow the team at:
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Current:
'74 450SLC
'89 190E
'95 E420

Previous:
'94 E320
'87 300E
'73 350SL
'75 450SL
'95 C36
'99 C43 55 swap

Yes, They have the same isssue.

Ok so that is a bit of a pain. I'll see what I can do about that. Ideally I would have wheel speed on the car eventually anyway. So if I need to work that out now I can handle that.

__________________
Follow the team at:
http://www.forthesakeof.racing/
https://www.facebook.com/ForTheSakeOfRacing/

Current:
'74 450SLC
'89 190E
'95 E420

Previous:
'94 E320
'87 300E
'73 350SL
'75 450SL
'95 C36
'99 C43 55 swap

A few things.

Having a ME 2.0 - ME 2.1 / M104 / 722.6 powered 97 C280 and 97 SL320 ( + E320 parts car ) I've heavily researched making a swap into a 91 300SL body. I've also got 40+ years in and around the car business across many makes coupled with 20 in industrial controls / robots / PLC and other automated equipment. There are not any difficult problems to solve if the FI / trans system is used in it's _entirety_.

What is inherently wrong with the ME 2.0 / ME 2.1 system? ( See also 97 - 99 S320 and sort of similar era SLK though 4 cyl ) The cars seem to drive just fine in stock form.

The only real input a ME / TCU needs from the "car" is a manufactured wheel speed at the proper ratio to drive shaft speed, everything else is internal to the ME / TCU system. If there is another input needed, what is it? It makes no difference what rear mechanical gear ratio he is running as long as the TCU sees what it is expecting.

His target car will have a tone wheel at least on the differential pinion if he has non ASR / 3 channel ABS. If ASR / 4 channel ABS there will be a tone wheel at each rear wheel. The signal from one of these tone wheels could be run through a speedo fooler then into the ABS / ASR computer.

Think about this for a minute. Our guy would need to wire from scratch if going aftermarket FI. He could start out with all stock parts, drive the car then, if he wants to tune, gut a ME case to install aftermarket FI inside or use the ME case as a wiring adapter.

The chip key on a DAS X system is a 100% _non issue_ if all the parts are gotten from one VIN. If you have a DAS box that matches the ECU but no key, buy this sub $ 100 reader and some $ 3 chips and make make your own. It is possible to get a ME unlocked but that is $ 200 that I'd rather put towards hardware.

Reader
2013obdfactory

Key Programmer For Mercedes Benz

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Key chip
Car Key TPH1 Chip,Blank Transponder Chip PCF7935AA(PCF7935AS Update version) | eBay

Its 20+ year old tech that isn't exactly known for reliability and requires a bunch of (absolutely unnecessary in your application) supporting tech that's also 20+ years old. In my mind I could not justify doing all this work to add all of this expensive marginally engineered hardware just to be able to run an outdated engine management that is meh at best.

Ditch the ETA. Bolt the engine, build a harness and run it to a standalone, connect the laptop and tune. Bam! Done. No ****** around with a VSS on a car never equipped for it. No throttle actuator to fail. No immobilizer BS to deal with. No jumble**** of wires and modules to make fit and hope works. No pulling your hair out when it doesn't.

Do you want to drive the thing or become an expert in decades old engineering pre-dating CAN bus?

__________________

90 300TE 4-M
Turbo 103, T3/T04E 50 trim
T04B cover .60 AR
Stage 3 turbine .63 AR
A2W I/C, 40 LB/HR
MS2E, 60-2 Direct Coil Control
3" Exh, AEM W/B O2
Underdrive Alt. and P/S Pulleys,
Vented Rear Discs, .034 Booster.
3.07 diffs 1st Gear Start

90 300CE 104.980
Milled & ported head, 10.3:1 compression
197° intake cam w/20° advancer
Tuned CIS ECU
4° ignition advance
PCS TCM2000, built 722.6
600W networked suction fan
Sportline sway bars
V8 rear subframe, Quaife ATB 3.06 diff

The real difference tone rings and sensor mounts. It also will require a diff rebuild if you need to change a ratio. If your going to have someone do this figure $1000 for the tone rings and sensor mounts and $3000 for someone to build you diff with a gear change (with used gears) and Quaif carrier.

In my case it was a little more blurry. I did the sensors then found I needed a gear change and elected to use the 2.65 129 diff I had lying around. So I did elect to bite the bullet and do the man hours to change the diff. But remember wives have alot to do with this. They are much more comfortable with you spending 2000 man hours that they are with you spending $500.00. For me at that point the cost was about $100 in steel and hardware and many hours doing the job.

But with all that I now know the straight path to the job and am still electing to go with the OE system.

__________________
To see my 129 parts for sale visit:
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John Roncallo

Still not talking about the 100hrs or so removing the wiring and stripping what you did not need and installing it in your car. So far I see you saying that you spent a few thousand dollars on a donor car. A few thousand dollars making parts to adapt said parts and sensors and then you spent a few thousand hours making it all fit. So say it was really a month of full time work. So now you have spent at min wage somewhere around 1600-2000 dollars in labor. So at the most conservative numbers imaginable you are in at least 5-6 thousand. Really more like 10k. And I would guess more in reality.
But to each his own.
I just always say taking into account your time. You could just as easily go get a job at a fast food restaurant and go buy a new Ferrari with your time.

Some what true. I purchased a 129 for $8000. Striped it down kept the engine , trans, differential brakes and wheels and sold $16K in parts. So you can say the wiring just fell out of the car. But I did not make or strip down any harnesses. I used them as is. The only wire I made was an 8ga wire going from the 107 under hood battery terminal to the interior 129 terminal block and about 2 or three wires on the ignition switch. The aftermarket options don't come without making harnesses or sensor brackets. This all only becomes economically feasible if you work with a running donor car.

In fact if you already have the correct gear ratio in the car it can be argued that it is cheaper an more time effective go OE. But either method has a learning curve and I did pay that learning curve on the OE system. You paid that learning curve with aftermarket system. Perhaps more incrementally in such a way that it didn't seem painful but you didn't get your knowledge overnight.

It is certainly advantageous to have a forum of many people who have done aftermarket systems. That to me is the main plus for aftermarket. For me I was on my own but in the end very successful.

__________________
To see my 129 parts for sale visit:
http://stores.ebay.com/The-Mercedes-SL-Store
John Roncallo

Oh.
Wiring and install of the PCS control unit i about 6-10 wires depending on setup. All hardware included int he price. And an aftermarket ecu could be done for a couple of hundred dollars if you were paying someone to do it. I have built the ecu harness several times from scratch for mine as I keep changing things. It takes about 3-4 hours to do. There are 3 coil plugs and 6 injector plugs and cam advance, intake resonance, clt, crank and cam sensor. That is about 28 wires. But honestly it is cheaper to have someone else do it for you sometimes because they buy the wire in bulk. Connectors in bulk etc. Huge price savings in connectors in bulk. I just bought some for instance for my trans brake kit that I could buy around 500 for less than 10. Not less per but actually less than.

Whether to go PCS or OE only becomes and issue if the user decides to go OE on the main computers. Once you bite that bullet the two of them become viable options and if you happen to have a donor car with the right gear ratio (I did not) the OE is more than likely the easier and less expensive solution. at that point it comes down to either purchasing or making wheel speed sensor mounts and tone rings and plugging them in or purchasing a PCS unit, an MB trans wire harness, a 722.6 shifter and making some other wiring and you still need wheel speed from something.

If you do not go OE then the aftermarket transmission controllers are the only realistic solution.

__________________
To see my 129 parts for sale visit:
http://stores.ebay.com/The-Mercedes-SL-Store
John Roncallo

http://https://www.facebook.com/213743525471191/photos/a.241331969379013.1073741831.213743525471191/815761218602749/?type=3

The system I sell from PCS comes with a tone ring for measuring transmission output speed in the kit. Wiring is included as well. You need a shifter regardless of which system you need. The valve body show here is extra.

The PCS system 'Whip sells includes an output speed sensor solution on the output flange from which the VSS is derived. Once you tell the PCS what your rear ratio is you can then program a speedo output by inputting the pulses per mile expected by your speedo. PCS handles the math and you have a rock solid dead nuts accurate speedo. You can also do outputs v/s vss too.

Its a really sweet system and I don't even have the newer fancier one.


Beat me to it....LOL

__________________

90 300TE 4-M
Turbo 103, T3/T04E 50 trim
T04B cover .60 AR
Stage 3 turbine .63 AR
A2W I/C, 40 LB/HR
MS2E, 60-2 Direct Coil Control
3" Exh, AEM W/B O2
Underdrive Alt. and P/S Pulleys,
Vented Rear Discs, .034 Booster.
3.07 diffs 1st Gear Start

90 300CE 104.980
Milled & ported head, 10.3:1 compression
197° intake cam w/20° advancer
Tuned CIS ECU
4° ignition advance
PCS TCM2000, built 722.6
600W networked suction fan
Sportline sway bars
V8 rear subframe, Quaife ATB 3.06 diff

Nice system. Yes I am aware of your kit's. But you don't throw those extra parts in for free. And you don't need to buy a shiftier when using an OE system assuming your OE system came from a donor car. That is why I recommended to the OP to get rid of all his parts and buy a donor car if he wanted to go the OE route.

Once you have the donor car and have installed an OE engine management if your gear ratio is right then the OE trans controller and wiring and shiftier which you already have will be cheaper and easier to install that your system.

__________________
To see my 129 parts for sale visit:
http://stores.ebay.com/The-Mercedes-SL-Store
John Roncallo