5.6 w116 idea, input welcome

[ptoro01]

Hey everyone,

Alright, since its summer and the sun is shining I was thinking about getting myself into a new head acke. I was thinking about getting a 560SEL and putting its engine into my 450SEL. I gathered a few questions for those who may have accomplished this trick or those who know a little more than i do.

Will the engine and tranny combo bolt right up without change to the drive shaft? Will I need to wire in the double fuel pump setup or is there enough pressure from the single pump already? Will the radiator from a W126 mount up without too much hassle. If it doesnt, will I need to run the tranny lines all the way around. How much additional wiring is there to a 5.6?

Now of course I would have both cars side by side and slowly migrating one to the other but what kind of hassles could I run into.

Thanks for your input,
Peter

[Tomguy]

You'll need to use the oil pan from the 4.5, as well as the oil filter setup I believe, so that it fits into the 116 chassis. Don't quote me on that. Otherwise, you will want to change everything else that's different. If the 5.6 has 2 pumps, it's gotta be for a reason. I'd not make any changes to the fuel or ignition system if I were you, unless you wanted to get really complex and give the 5.6 EFI...

[alabbasi]

My Mechanic in Dallas kept on going on at me to do that to my w108 because the D-JET fi was giving so much problem. He said that you could make the 4 speed from the 560 fit too and then I wouldnt have to deal with the trigger points or all that stuff.

I thought it would be too expensive but considering how much I have spent on the 280 and the fact that it still runs like crap I wished I had listened.

[cth350]

If you have the double pump setup available to use, by all means do so. As for the radiator, I'd be partial to keeping the W116 one if you can get the hoses to work. If you find the radiator isn't large enough to handle the load, I'd be surprised. -CTH

[ptoro01]

Thanks for the input, but since ive never done this, how would I go about transferring the wiring harness and everything else. Relocating all the control boxes and then making them all work properly. Then I would also have to swap an oxygen sensor into my exaust wouldnt I so it operates properly.

Pete

[fahrgewehr2]

Why not find a european spec 4.5 motor? Would probably be much easier- no feedback system and such. 225hp stock, and you won't even have to change your trunk badge.

[alabbasi]

A Euro Spec 5.6 has 300hp... I am surprised its so much work. I knew a guy in England who would put 450SEL engines into 500SEL's when they went bad as a used 450SEL engine was so much cheaper. This was about 10 years ago when 500SEL's were still worth a bit of money.

[cth350]

If you start with a running car and are both patient and careful, you can extract the wire harness from the car and still have it run. Isolate out the things you don't need, like the headlight wiring, ABS and so on. Be wary of electrical components bolted to the chassis. The 4.5's ignition module is one such item. It needs that chassis contact for current flow to ground.

-CTH

[tosbt]

Oh here we go again! I just saw a 96 500 for sale on e-bay with the tranmission, that was my Calfornia dreaming post as I would really like to have such in my 109. A 560 would be a great option and somday I may do just that. I am in process of replacing all of my rubber, just about done.

[boili]

I want to do it the other way. Put a 450 into my 500sel. Does tranny etc fit? Any ideas?

[alabbasi]

See note above, it has been done before by someone I knew.