I just came across a 1984 Euro 500SEL for sale. The owner said that the transmission works well, but won't let the car go faster than 65miles/hour. I wonder if this is really a transmission problem, but I'm assuming it is, as he said he was told so by a mechanic.

Anyway, all he wants for the car is $1000. Given the low price, I won't even bother getting a pre-purchase inspection done since everything else in the car works from what he said, but I'm yet to see it. It has only 155K miles and I have an oppointment with the owner later this week to take it for a test drive.

Also, I just came across a used, but working transmission from a W123 300D Turbodiesel. Now the question is: will the W123 transmission work well in the 500SEL? I know the SEL has much more power and torque. I was informed by a questionable source that both cars use the exact same transmission. However, I thought I'd ask the pros on this board.

Also, what are the names/numbers used to identify the respective transmissions? Thanks for your help.