Hey guys I scored myself a 1991 300E today for scrap price. Garage kept and Sunday driven.

Body is near mint with a single rust spot on the driver door, interior is spotless, plastics are all great.

...and the owner's kid over-revved it and put a rod through the side of the block. Claim was the transmission failed to complete a shift and it ended up in neutral, but who knows.

So the obvious thing to do is drop a new motor in, probably paired with a transmission if the claim of shift failure is true, and IMO that motor should be an OM602/603. To me it looks like the engine bay would readily accept one - it looks identical to my 300D engine bay without the extra little firewall on the passenger side.

Is this a feasible swap or are there some other motors I should also be looking for? I feel like tracking down an OM602 donor might be tricky in my area.

__________________
1993 300D 2.5L Turbo

You should try to find a good, used 606 turbodiesel from 98/99 to install in it.

__________________
Jim

606 looks like a solid motor, will the intercooler fit in the W124 bay?

__________________
1993 300D 2.5L Turbo

I'm sure one could be plumbed in.

__________________
Jim

I recall a member doing that, I was going to put one in my '87 300D.
It should fit under the radiator, would require a different entrance to the intake manifold than the existing one. So I got a intercooler from a W210 and the hoses but never did anything towards that goal. It would help the OM603 a lot.
see this thread:
https://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/diesel-discussion/99215-someone-finally-intercooled-om603.html

__________________
'95 E320 Wagon my favorite road car. '99 E300D wolf in sheeps body, '87 300D Sportline suspension, '79 300TD w/ 617.952 engine at 367,750 and counting!

Vstech is currently undertaking a OM606 swap into his 87 300TD, probably a good source for info on that route.
There was another forum member that listed a couple of om603s. 3.0L and 3.5L for sale, I believe one or both are fully rebuilt. Posted approx 2 months ago in this sub forum. Maybe close to you and a source for parts. All of this engines will fit the w124.

That intercooler mod is insane! Thanks for the info guys. Nobody is ever close to me (Saskatchewan is basically the middle of nowhere) but I'll keep an eye out for anything with one of these engines that turns up nearby.

__________________
1993 300D 2.5L Turbo

Get a sprinter 647 5 cyl if you want power.

__________________
92 e300d2.5t
01 e320
05 cdi
85 chev c10

OMG!
I wonder at the conversion needs of THAT swap!

I own 3 647 sprinters, and a 612 sprinter.
A LARGE intercooler would definitely be required, also, the computer, the accelerator assembly... the security system... idk, hard to imagine what is needed...

But yeah, no comparison of power.

That motor MOVES with myb10,000 pound loaded trucks.

In a 3000ish pound vehicle it should fly.
I doubt the stock rear end would handle that kind of power... maybe if ya pulled the rear assembly from an E450 or something...

__________________
John HAUL AWAY, OR CRUSHED CARS!!! HELP ME keep the cars out of the crusher! A/C Thread
"as I ride with my a/c on... I have fond memories of sweaty oily saturdays and spewing R12 into the air. THANKS for all you do!

My drivers:
1987 190D 2.5Turbo
1987 560SL convertible
1987 190D 2.5-5SPEED!!!

1987 300TD
2005 Dodge Sprinter 2500 158"WB
1994GMC 2500 6.5Turbo truck... I had to put the ladder somewhere!

OM615

__________________
With best regards

Al

Heh, maybe the Sprinter engine is a bit much? This car was going to be for the wife to drive around town and look classy in, she doesn't need to break the tires free around every corner

__________________
1993 300D 2.5L Turbo