Quote:
Originally Posted by sixto
Good question. To keep 4Matic, plop the 603 in place of the 103. There's a good chance it'll work since they use the same or very similar oil pan gasket. And IIRC 300D/TD 4Matics were available outside the US. To go RWD, hopefully the front suspension mounting points are the same between 4Matic and RWD so you can swap in a non-4Matic front suspension.
Sixto
87 300D
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Hmm... So are you saying that to do this swap (manual transmission + diesel into a 300TE 4-matic), it would be necessary to swap out the front suspension as well? I'm curious - what is the reason for this? Is it not possible to just disconnect the 4-matic front axle shafts and leave the suspension alone (even thought it's a little weird)? The manuals I have for the W124 are missing the 4-matic section so I haven't been able to look it up in detail.
There is a beautiful '91 300TE 4-matic for sale nearby, anthracite gray with immaculate black leather interior. Tempting. But I refuse to drive an automatic, and I couldn't handle the fuel economy of the gas engine.
I test drove a gray-market '89 250TD (non-turbo 602) with 5-speed about 8 years ago; that combination was sufficiently fast for my needs, so I've always wanted to find the same engine / transmission (e.g. from a 190D) and put it in a 300TE. My thought was that since the early 602 engines are fairly low-tech and non-electronic, it might be possible.
But, after reading this thread, I'm getting the impression that swapping in a diesel + 5-speed is basically too impractical, unless I win the lottery.