What driveshaft for W124 manual transmission swap into W201 2.6

[w123fanman]

I am looking into getting a manual transmission from an 89 260E to put into my 190E 2.6 when I put in a 3.0L M103. Is the front section of a manual W124 driveshaft goign to work on a W201 or will I need to have mine modified to fit? I know the driveshaft has a different yoke for the larger 6 cylinder engines versus the 4 cylinder and finding a front section from a manual 190E 2.6 is going to be next to impossible.

The other question is will this screw up my speedometer or is that tied to the rear diff versus the transmission? I'm not sure if this chart is correct for the US but it says the rear diff for a 2.6 manual transmission is 3.27 and the automatic is 3.07. This seems to be the same for W124.



If this information is correct, I could use the instrument cluster and rear diff out of a 190E 2.3, I already have both in a parts car.

[ThatOne]

Originally Posted by w123fanman

I am looking into getting a manual transmission from an 89 260E to put into my 190E 2.6 when I put in a 3.0L M103. Is the front section of a manual W124 driveshaft goign to work on a W201 or will I need to have mine modified to fit? I know the driveshaft has a different yoke for the larger 6 cylinder engines versus the 4 cylinder and finding a front section from a manual 190E 2.6 is going to be next to impossible.

The other question is will this screw up my speedometer or is that tied to the rear diff versus the transmission? I'm not sure if this chart is correct for the US but it says the rear diff for a 2.6 manual transmission is 3.27 and the automatic is 3.07. This seems to be the same for W124.



If this information is correct, I could use the instrument cluster and rear diff out of a 190E 2.3, I already have both in a parts car.

If you are swapping differentials in addition to installing a manual transmission you would need a speedo appropriate for the replacement dif.

Swapping the dif from a 3.07 to a 3.27 might not be as necessary as you think, may want to consider getting the tranny straightened out first and then do the differential after driving it a bit.

From the sounds of it ultimately you are adding some HP and torque to a lighter chassis so the disadvantages of the shorter gear might not be as significant in the real world conditions.

If you've got other reasons to change the dif yeah you'll need a matched speedo.