Fitting a merc 6-speed Manual box to a W124 E300?????
 

Guys, been want to switch to a manual box for a while now, but ever since the twin turbo was installed on my w124 m103 300 that wanting has become somewhat a need. I know I can always go with the dog leg 5 speed from the 2.5 -16 or the m104 300-24 (thou I have heard that this engine uses a smaller bell housing than the m103). Any way I am more interested in installing one of the new 6-speed boxes merc is making now, and I am willing to go through with the custom fitting required. What I need is a few heads up pointers to what I am expected to run into with this plan, and I appreciate your input on this matter.

merc manual boxes are relatively average as far as shift quality and speed goes,
put a heavier clutch than standard in tho

That i know, but the best was the dog-leg 5 speeder, too bad its hard to find a good one these days, whereas the 6er i bet i can find a few second hand here in Lebanon.
And i dont have that much power anyways, i doubt i am making over 290hp

yep true, you wil just need to get a custom bell housing made up to fit your car, but if your going to this length, have you thought about something like the toyota supra boxes

I second that thought. The Supra transmissions were Getrag, as are the Mercedes transmissions I believe. Mercedes isn't actually making them. And of course the Supra's transmissions are likely to handle more power, just a little added durability.
The driveshaft will need to be custom fabricated. Depending on size, the tunnel might need some hammering. Pedals, all kinds of options. You can hook up a stock pedal set from a 300e manual trans, or get some "racing" pedals and have more control over pressures and placement. I think the transmission input shaft may also come into play. It has to be proper length and diameter. Not necessarily impossible. This site might have a little useful information on the topic:
http://1800philes.com/t5.html

dont mess with the housings just get a supra tranny, make an adapter plate, tie up all the vaccum lines and bolt it on. Me and my buddies made a adapter out of 1/4" steel to fit a 240sx transmission to a Q45 motor during a motor swap. It doesnt take long to measureout, cut and drill and its by far the easiest and most accepted option.

we only have 3 supras in lebanon.:( 2 auto and one manual. Finding a used box is close to impossible

Could you have it shipped From another place?

how many people live in lebanon? 20?

Man we r around 3.5 million in lebanon, but alot more around the world; looool

well we have lots of mercs and bmws, i mean i have 4 mercs at home, goin down any streach of highway you will easily run into atleast 15 merc in the space of 1 km, same for bmws, those little french cars. But what we dont have is Jap performance cars other than subarus and evos (evos i guess no more than a 50 in total; i personally have met at least half the owners of Mitsubishi evos).
Bas we dont have many supras, maybe 5 NSX hondas, not one skyline R34 and below ( thou we have like 8 new ones 2008/ models).
Mind you we are not short on lambos, Ferrari, and especially Porsches of all sorts, those we have tons of.
Keep in mind that Lebanon had a severe civil war from 1979 till 1990 and then we were under occupation and economic instability till early 2000. this and the fact that we have a rule prohibiting import of second hand cars that are older than 8 yrs combined to make us miss a huge part of the motoring world’s best yrs :S

man that was a country life story, i am now more educated about lebanon, but it was interesting,
what about a bmw 5 speed box, there ment to be stronger and more common, with a better shift and lots of aftermarket upgrades

LOOOOl, well i meant it as a factoid abt Lebanon :)

any ways iam shopping around now

I believe the 6-speed from the M111 powered C-Class should bolt right up...same bell housing bolt pattern as all M102, M103, M104 engines.

Glen, how do you know this or where did you hear/read about this?
Is there someone who has done this already? and have they posted somewhere?

I have access to a m111 and have a 16V gearbox. I can check next week if nobody gets to it before me.

Whats the best way to make a template of the bellhouse pattern?