1994 Mercedes E320 wagon transmission tunnel replacement?
 

Hi, my 1994 Mercedes E320 wagon was so much damaged due to flex disc failures that caused a chain reaction of other nearby parts to be replace and/or repair that I had to tow the wagon to a reputable Mercedes Repair center in Nashville.

After diagnosing the issues, the shop foreman recommended to a mercedes certified body shop repair to replace the transmission tunnel or any other name by welding. I never heard of this transmission tunnel replacement. This is way out of my league when it comes to knowledge and skill level. I tried to research this issue and so far nothing really stands out. Does anyone out there knows about this kind of thing? What kind of steps does this involve? What is the approximate total cost of this particular repair and replace the transmission tunnel? Comments, feedback, advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks to all for reading.

Offhand, I'd say that the cost to return this car to the road greatly exceeds it's value.

The tunnel is the central part of the floorpan. First thought is that this may be cosmetic, there might be alternatives that are more cost effective. For example, if the sheetmetal is damaged, can a small replacement panel be riveted in to replace damaged section.

If replacement is desired, consider that the entire interior may need to be removed (A pillar to B pillar). Certainly seats, carpet, console, and probably underdash HVAC and accelerator pedal. Lots of labor here.

Unless there is a great emotional tie to the car, I'd be inclined to let this one go.

Jim

Could you post pictures of the damaged tunnel? We may be able to offer suggestions.

Good luck!!!

the good thing about your situation is that this area of the car is not really visible so you can just cut out the "twisted" metal and weld new metal in there or find a shop that would do it.

dmorgan, for a failed flex disc to cause substantial damage in a brief amount of time I would suspect the transmission tunnel is heavily rusted. Therefore, it would not warrant spending a considerable amount of money to repair your 1994 E320 wagon.

Pictures would help us give informed opinions.

Pure speculation on my part, but it could be that the area where the driveshaft carrier bearing mounts to the floor pan was damaged and the bearing is now misaligned; agreed that photos would be very helpful - it could be that all you need is a carefully calibrated sledgehammer.

Best Regards,
Rob

This is what I am thinking.

JimFreeh, Sugar Bear, christuna, Ferdman, t walgamuth and RobertFini, thank you for all of your excellent comments, advice and feedback. As for those who asked for pictures of the location of the undercarriage on my 1994 Mercedes E320 wagon, I was unabled to do so due to the fact the Mercedes is now in the shop.

I wanted to get to the bottom of the issue with a clear cut understanding and exactly what is going on. So I was abled to contact the shop foreman and asked him explain specifically and tell me exactly what needs to be done on the transmission tunnel repair? His response was the tunnel above the transmission at the end of the tail shaft above where the front drive shaft attaches to the transmission. The tunnel can be replaced separately, the backing of the carpet is visible through the grooves cut in the tunnel. It does also house the muffler hanger support as well, with the tunnel being damaged to the point of being able to see the backing of the carpet it needs to be replaced. It can be cut out and a new one welded in.

In addition, I asked for further details on the subject matter. His response to that was the transmission tunnel is a separate piece that can be cut out and the new one welded in, the part number for the tunnel is 124 610 06 71. The tunnel covers the entire area over the transmission from the bulk head (fire wall) to right where the drive shaft attaches to the transmission output shaft yoke.


Does this above explanation of the issue make any sense at all?

Any comments, feedback and/or advice on the latest development is greatly appreciated. Thanks to all for reading.

Thanks for explaining, dmorgan; it sounds like the front end of the driveshaft at the transmission output came loose and was flailing about wildly within the tunnel.

Genuine Mercedes Parts dot Com (discount online parts outlet for Mercedes-Benz of Alpharetta, GA) shows this part number for the tunnel at $248 brand new, but the real expense is going to be in the labor to get the old one exposed and cut out and then the new one welded in, painted and then reassembled.

I'd recommend that you take it to a proper body shop for a cost estimate unless you "know a guy." There are those who will say the cost isn't worth it, but that decision is up to you - best of luck with it.

Best Regards,
Rob

RobertFini, thank you for your last post. Now the bad news.

The Service Manager got in touch with me.

He basically said it looks like they have hit a dead end on repairs. They were not able to locate the transmission tunnel replacement part for the body shop to replace and he heard from them this afternoon that they are not able to locate the part either. All sources say the part is either no longer available or on backorder with no ETA. Without the availability of the part to weld into place, the car is not structurally sound and can not be repaired. Even if the part was available, the cost to repair was going to well exceed the value of the car deeming the repair not advisable.

I am exploring what available options I have now.

Sell individual parts and junk the car?

Hang on the car and do little by little doing the work myself?

At least, the service manager also indicated the repairs alone will exceed the value of the Mercedes. Basically, this mercedes is a money pit. Putting more money into mercedes is more than its worth.

I do have another Mercedes e320 wagon same year model that is fully functional but needs body paint and interior restoration.

Any other ideas out there now that I know where I stand on this situation? Anyone out there need parts or suggestions as to what for me to do as advise? Thanks to all for reading.

If the car is clean and you like it, get a second opinion from a welder/fabricator. Just because the part is no longer available does not mean it cannot be cut from a parts car. A welder fabricator may not even need a new tunnel but can make a repair panel instead.

Your insurance may cover it. I'd think you could get a panel from the junkyard too.

dmorgan, I recommend having a body shop evaluate the damage and give you an estimate to repair the transmission tunnel. Realize that most likely the seats and carpet need to be removed to avoid damage during the repair, possibly some wiring too. A thorough undercoating of the repaired area will be necessary to ensure the newly welded areas do not rust … and that is easier said, than done properly. Think the repair through before throwing good money after bad. Anything is possible, given enough time and money; however, it may not be cost-effective to repair your beloved 1994 E320 wagon as other costly repairs may soon follow.

Sugar Bear, t walgamuth and Ferdman, thanks for your latest posts. Much appreciated.



I had the Mercedes towed back to my home again without any repairs at this time. Still exploring my options as to what to do next.

I spent some time on searching the transmission tunnel replacement part. Quite a few websites have the transmission tunnel available for sale. The problem is the transmission tunnel part is not available in real time for sale and, only to find out some of the websites don't have the transmission tunnel part. Why the websites advertise transmission tunnel for sale when it is not there and/or discontinued? These mercedes parts websites needs to be updated on parts availability or not. Some websites have ridiculously high shipping charges that cost more than the actual transmission tunnel part price.

Anyway, I submitted a wanted part on this forum to see if I can get any response. I am going to leave it at that for now.


I just need to explore and pursue choices/options are available that is right for me. Thanks to all for reading.

Stated above is the practical solution.
As an example: The damaged tunnel area is 7 inches long, and extends laterally into the flat portion of the floor for about 2 inches on each side of the tunnel.
From a car in a wrecking yard a matching piece would be cut that is about 9 inches long, and 3-4 inches out on each side.
After trimming to give an overlap of about 1 inch all around, the piece can be attached on the inside of the tunnel/floor via riveting and bonding with structural adhesive.

That is a repair that a lot of fairly common people can do with the car on jack stands.

Update:

The problem is this transmission tunnel removal requires a lot of parts to be set aside to gain access to the transmission tunnel. In fact, the mbz parts website gave me some excellent pointers. Here is her response:

I would try searching Car-Part.com and ask if anyone has a W124 shell. That's the key. We have two W124 cars but they have all their interior
parts still in them, so you want to find someone who has already stripped the interiors out and can inspect the transmission tunnel without having to pull seats and carpeting and the console.

This is where I am right now. So far, I tried this car-parts.com and I am still not sure what category to use to find this transmission tunnel part. So I used transmission category and contact through live chat and sending emails. Some replied and others did not. All said the same thing , meaning they don't have a w124 shell by itself and/or not willing to remove parts to gain access to the transmission tunnel. In addition, possible sources of locating this part is in salvage yards, even though most salvage yards refuse to separate the transmission tunnel from the chassis and basically scrapped it.

I think the bottom line is this: Unless I get a w124 shell access alone by itself/transmission tunnel, I would probably have to go to pull a part junk yard. That means having pull seats, carpeting and console to gain access to the transmission tunnel. After that, I probably have to use a lithium battery powered 5" angle grinder with a couple cutoff disks.

I am trying to avoid going to a junk yard that is 60 miles away from home.

Any comments, feedback/advice is greatly appreciated.

Go to a chassis builder or fabricator/welder, they will make and install what is needed. You could do much of the prep work by removing seats, console and carpet.

Unless this is a show car, searching out an OE replacement part is respectfully a little "over-the-top" and could make the difference of whether or not the car gets back on the road.

Good luck!!!

Do you have any pictures of the tunnel damage you can share?

Hirnbeiss, . I do not have pictures of the damaged areas.

Sugar Bear, your suggestions is greatly appreciated. Stay tune.

cutting out and welding in a replacement transmission tunnel is a monumental task as its a stressed member of the body. A full replacement would get very expensive rather quickly.

How bad is yours damaged? - have you visited any other body repair shops? Repair of the current one in place is quite easily possible unless yours is buckled to the point of the car being scrapped.

Zulfiqar, thank you for your post. I don't know or can't tell how badly damaged in regards to the center floor pan/transmission tunnel. All I know is that I need a complete replacement according to the shop foreman and I agreed with his assessment. At this time, I am still researching this replacement transmission tunnel. Stay tune.

This is turning out to be more complicated and drama filled than it needs to be.

Post pictures of the damage. To get this fixed, pull all seats / rug , reinstall driver seat, take to body shop for an estimate.

They will either tell you that they can weld patches over the torn area or that you need to get a piece cut out of another car.

Patching from the interior side then sealing both sides with body seam sealer is the most direct route to repairs. This might take 3 hr including some sort of paint on both sides if they start with a bare interior.

Also, the salvage yard search is car-part.com ( not partS ) others are not the same.

In your place, I'd remove the center console and carpet and take a good look. I'll bet the damaged parts can be beaten down back into position, and then the cuts welded closed. With the interior parts out of the way, it should be obvious if this will really require new metal to replace old, or a more basic repair.

Check your local used car listings to see if anyone is selling a 124 for parts, maybe leave your contact info in case it is purchased locally and then you can make a deal with the new owner to cut out the tranny tunnel after they remove the interior or whatever. Have a stripping party, invite your friends and help the new owner take the car apart down to the shell, there are many ways to skin this cat they just take some time.

The post is useless without pics.