converting 1972 fuel pump
 

Anyone ever changed over their fuel pump on a 1972 450 SL from the expensive original style to the 1973 and later version which is less costly to replace? What would be involved? Also, anyone know what makes the early version so costly to replace?

I don't know but am interested just in case I need one one of these days. George Murphy at MBCA rebuilds those pumps - he may know.

I saw a post the other day, but can't find it, about someone finding an identical pump off a different type of car at a much lower price. Maybe we could find that using the Bosch number?

I found out that the 1978 Datsun 280Z uses the same fuel pump. While there are no alternatives to the bosch pump from MB, a few parts suppliers supply alternatives for the Datsuns. As the original Bosch pumps were the same, i suspect the Datsun pumps will have the same flow and pressure but no guarantee.

I think I have that Datsun pump
 

The PO of my 1974 SL got a replacement pump from an E-bay supplier in the middle east (Dubai I think)
He said it was marked "made in japan".Was supposed to be a "copy" of the bosch unit.Maybe it was the datsun specified pump?
He was quoted about 700-800$ from a mercedes supplier and paid maybe 150$ for the japanese pump.It's still in place and working fine!