Too nice to cut up and take racing, imo. A nice dilemma to have!

It needs to turn into this....

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RIP: 80 300SD
RIP: 79 450SEL
2002 E430 4matic (212,000km)
2002 ML500 'sport'

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As I remember the '69 and '70 did not have emission controls and the '71 did - which made it a bit slower. Did the Euro '71 have the emission controls (not quite sure that is the correct term)? Mine was a '70 and it was quite a car.

Yes a bit too nice to build into a racer. You don't need to use a good car for a racer ,as you would need to do a complete rebuild anyway.Body panels (EXCEPT the rear doors) can be used from any W108.

Nice project POS. My 2 cents: I've imported and owned 2 6.3's from Europe; '69 and '71. I thought the earlier car had more power than the 71 but this one had rare LSD. IMO weak link is the rear end; it will not survive drag racing style starts but will manage well once under way. Karl Middlehave? here in the U.S. has tuned the 6.3's quite a lot and even made some beautiful & efficient headers for them; I feel an engine oil cooler is a must if going racing with the 6.3 or 6.9 for that matter; recently saw a very rare M117 5.0 oil cooler in E-bay. I also had a Euro AMG engine and rear end moded 6.9 that was quite fun.
Currently have a rare Gen I 500SEL euro hot rod with an unreal torquey engine that is faster than my old AMG 6.9; this car has the factory oil cooler and 2:82 LSD plus lowered Bilstein suspension. Keep up the info on progress of your project.

Thanks, Carlos, for the advice. I'll add that data to my list.

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- Brian


1989 500SEL Euro
1966 250SE Cabriolet
1958 BMW Isetta 600

This. Way too nice for a track strip. Drive it a lot and maybe autocross it here and there.

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Whoever said there's nothing more expensive than a cheap Mercedes never had a cheap Jaguar.

83 300D Turbo with manual conversion, early W126 vented front rotors and H4 headlights 400,xxx miles
08 Suzuki GSX-R600 M4 Slip-on 22,xxx miles
88 Jaguar XJS V12 94,xxx miles. Work in progress.

So does the 6.3 NOT come with the oil cooler the 4.5 108/109 cars did? I would imagine that, if it does, the cooler is more than large enough capacity to cool it.

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Current:
2021 Charger Scat Pack Widebody "Sinabee"
2018 Durango R/T

Previous:
1972 280SE 4.5
2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee Limited "Hefe", 1992 Jeep Cherokee Laredo "Jeepy", 2006 Charger R/T "Hemi"
1999 Chrysler 300M - RIP @ 221k

All 6.3 have an oil cooler. What is really needed is a decent ignition .i use an EDIS on mine and I have been thinking of one for my 6.9.
Almost all 6.3 have the LSD,only the very early cars came without LSD and had open drive. Most of these were retrofitted with LSD by the dealer network. I rebuilt a diff for a non LSD 6.3 recently,#703 which was the only open drive equipped 6.3 i have ever seen.
As for the durability of the diffs, It must be remembered that the newest is 38 years old and all diffs need to be either in good known condition or be overhauled . The main failure point is abuse caused wear in the sliding homokintic joint. Never do burnouts in reverse as you WILL bust the joint.

You will never bust one in normal use and it has been shown to be tough enough with some seriously powerful engines ,besides M100's , running through them in racing and rallying.

Love the 300SEL 6.3. Have fun and keep a superb bit of history on the road.

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Charles Cleaver
1975 350SE + 1992 300CE-24 SportLine 5-speed + 2002 SLK320 6-speed + 1974 W114 280
1986 190E 2.3-16 (Decomm rear self-leveling suspension; Euro-code headlamps) sold
2004 Audi S4 6-spd - sold
1969 (2) and 1980 Porsche 911T, S, and SC - alas gone
1987 300SDL - Graf Spee; Euro-code headlamps; 16-inch 8-hole wheels - sold
1994 E420+(E500 suspension/E-code headlamps/PAD chip) sold
1968 250SE 4-speed (NICE car) - long gone
1962 220S 4-speed/column mount - long gone

I'd say that's a good problem to have

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1982 300GD Carmine Red (DB3535) Cabriolet Parting Out
1990 300SEL Smoke Silver (Parting out)
1991 350SDL Blackberry Metallic (481)

"The thing is Bob, its not that I'm lazy...its that I just don't care."