How hard / expensive would an engine swap in a W210 be from the E300 Diesel into the E320 - that is putting a diesel enging into an E320? The diesel is only minimally heavier, so I suspect there would be no reason to change the suspension. I thought the transmissions between the two cars might be the same, so that could save some money too. What I've been able to come up with, that would require changing is:

engine mounts
fuel pump
engine management electronics
transmission electronics
ignition

Does anyone know of other things that would need changing / modifying? I know engine swaps have been discussed a number of times on the board, but most of them have been for older cars, or vastly different engines in terms of size, shape, etc. I wasn't able to find anything on this, so I thought I'd see what you all can come up with.

Reason for asking? Just idle curiosity. I think the current W210s have a number of features that I wish existed back in 1999 when MB last made a diesel in this category.

Thoughts?

Thanks,
-Vlad

Ah, you want to swap an OM606 diesel engine into which
year W210 chassis?

Recall that the W210 was facelifted for the 2000 model
year. I recall reading that the OM606 would not fit
under the (lowered) hood of the facelifted W210 chassis.
That's one of the reasons we stopped receiving the E300
in the 2000 model year. So if I understand your question,
the answer is it cannot be done.

Ah! Lowered hood!
 

Well,

That explains a technical reason why the diesel was discontinued. Everyone I talked to told me it was lack of demand.

Anyway, I had not realized that the hood had been lowered that much.

Thanks!!

-Vlad

I think that it doesn't matter whether the engine would or would not fit under the hood...
Vlad, as you already wrote yourself: you have seen discussions about engine swaps in the older models and that is just the key-word: older.
If you want to change a current petrol Benz into a diesel, you need to change a lot such as the wire harness, the computer system, the dash cluster, probably the cruise control, your AC will become a pain in the a$$, your automatic transmission will get communication problems, your ABS may become inoperative...
Mercedes has changed their cars too much to even consider an engine change like that!

I think that it will be a LOT cheaper to import an E200CDI, E220CDI, E270CDI or E320CDI. Importing a car like that with the help of a RI will be expensive as well, but will end up a lot cheaper in time...

...just my opinion...

greetingz,