Hi all,

I have a 1988 300E Automatic, with the 2.6L I believe.

It was passed down to me, with existing oil and transmission leaks and 200k on the odo. Amazingly the car ran fine, for a few months with regular topping off of the fluids.

That lasted for a short time.

The car has developed a number of symptoms...Rough start, rough idle, loss of power at all RPMS but mainly lower. It runs really bad. The economy gauge is always in red even at the lightest of gas taps.

I bought a replacement engine with 120k on in for $150, in which the seller told me it ran perfectly fine when it came out of his 89 300e.

My question is how difficult is this swap? is it a direct plug and play type set up?

I've dropped engines out of honda, and acuras. Did my own maintanence on my e36 bmw. but I've never touched MB's.

Any write ups, or how-to's would be appreciated. I want to tackle this myself since i dont have the $800 to replace it at a shop.

Is the 89 a 2.6 as well?

I recently swapped a 3.0l engine into a 2.6.
The transmsisions for the 2.6 engine cars is the 722.4 - really meant for a four cylinder.

The 3.0l engined cars came equipped with the much stronger 722.3 transmissions.

The 722.4 transmission will suffice for the 3.0l engine however you should drive the car with a a bit more conservatively .

The engine changeout job is not that hard - especially when you remove the transmission with it. As long as you can wield the spanners effectively the job is relatively straight forward. You will need an engine crane and adjustable leveler.
I managed to change the engines without losing the AC gas.

Change the front engine mounts out when you do this job.

However I.M.H.O. ..........an engine change out may not fix your problem symptoms as described. Depends on how complete the spare engine is......Plugs, leads, distributor, rotor, injectors, IACV, etc, etc, etc.

Old fuel filters can give the symptoms you describe.

The real reason I would change out an engine is that the head requires a rebuild.

Check the inlet ports of your spare engine and make sure they are not carboned up.

Sounds like a big 'ol honkin air leak somewhere.

I'd try to fix it and keep that motor for a spare or resell for $$$.

rjp

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03 540I (GAK!!)
81 280E (W123)
70 LeMans Sport with pissed off Poncho 462"
1989 Silverado Step Side (under the knife- complete restomod)