Sorry to revive an old thread but I thought I'd add mine to the list. :) I have a 1993 190E 2.3 5-speed :D

Regards,

Don

I don't think you have to apologise:D

My Mercedes, that I bought last July in Mississauga, is a white, blue interior, 1982 Euro 300D non-turbo with a Getrag 5 speed transmission. It is very simple, no AC, cloth seats with vinyl edges. The strange thing is that it has a speedometer in miles per hour yet everything else is Euro, bumpers, headlights (including vacuum adjusters), trailer hitch, trailer lighting connector, rear fog light.

The only history that I know is that it was first registered in Ontario in 1992. Does anyone know where this car originated?

5 speed
 

1984 190e with 200k+ 5-speed works great @ 27+ mpg... what gas nileage are you 300e's getting with 5-speeds?

yet another 190
 

gotta love the throw of the 190e 5spd!!!
after removing the factory knob i noticed the shifter is extremely short, i then replaced the knob with a tastful chrome ball. it made the through extremely quicker when pushing my car up to redline. like everyelse on this post "i would not have but it if it wasnt a 5 spd"

OK, now I know where all the 5 spd's are. I'm still looking for a W124 with 5 spd. donor car to convert my existing automatic. I have a 190D2.5 w/5 spd and want (need) the 300E to have the same. I want to buy a beater/wreck/flood car or all parts to convert (trans, flywheel, pedals, linkages, trim, etc.). I'm offering a finder's fee of $50 if your information leads to purchase. Mid-atlantic states preferred. Thanks, Hanno

I don't understand. Are you converting a 201 or a 124 car to a 5 speed?

Have a great day,

Mine is a Euro 190D 2.5 5-speed. Great car. And I'm looking for another 190D 2.5 5-speed (since my wife has claimed this one as her own). If anyone sees one for sale, let me know.

Larry, I'm looking to convert a W124 from automatic to manual 5 spd. and want to have a donor car for all the bits and pieces.

I've got a 190D2.5 w/5 spd. and love it. Have driven euro 250S(W109?) and 280S (W116) w/manual and they were a breed apart from the automatics. Hanno

My 1984 307d 2.4 liter has a 5 speed. Top speed in 1st has to be around 8mph.

My '86 300E is 5-speed manual. A pleasure to drive.

Ok, summer project has begun. There will soon be another 300E with a 5 spd. I purchased all parts to convert my existing automatic. Progress reports will follow. Hanno:)

Re: wishful thinking
 

New to the forum in the last day - '88 five-speed 190E 2.6 Signal Red/Palomino Tex, 73K miles. The following story might be of interest to some.

In August '86 I special ordered an '87 190E 2.6 with a five-speed manual transmission to replace my '84 2.3 five-speed. About a month later I read in Autoweek that MBNA decided to WITHDRAW the five-speed six cylinder models. I called my dealer with the report, and they said they had heard nothing. I suggested that they check. (Duh!!!). Sure enough, they called the next day and said no five speed and immediately offered me a five-speed 16V they had in stock at a substantial discount. I demurred. I wanted a six. I told them I'd wait until the '88 model year before I went BMW shopping. The '87 no five speed deal applied to the 260E and 300E, too, so if you ever run across a '87 M103 five-speed, it's probably gray market.

In August '87 they called and said a five speed 2.6 would be available, so I placed my order, but the next available slot wasn't until October. The car was built in December and delivered to me in February.

Five-speed 2.3s were delivered to dealers on "allocation". In other words, dealers had to accept, say 5 percent of their orders as five-speeds whether they wanted them or not. In general, dealers didn't like them because they were slow sellers, however, MBZ had gone to the trouble of certifying M103 five-speed models to US and CA emission specs, so a compromise was worked out to make them available on a special order basis. Thus, customers had the option. Of course, a dealer could also order one for stock, but that was probably unlikely. If you found one in stock it was probably a customer special order who later backed out of the deal. Im not sure if the special order deal applied to 2.3s in '88. I had to special order my '84 2.3 because I could not find a red/palo five-speed when they first came out, so I just ordered one and waited the four or five months for delivery. In '84 five-speed 2.3s were on a five percent allocation as I recall.

I'm not sure if '86 300E five-speeds were on allocation or required a special order, but the special order requirments is why '88 and later five speed sixes are very rare. If you bought one used, '88 or later, it was probably special ordered by the original owner, and being as how it takes about four months to get a special order delivered, only the lunatic fringe die hard shifter enthusiasts were willing to wait that long. ;)

An acquintence of mine was also in on the '87 deal as three of us got together and ground on the dealer for a $100K three car deal - five speed 190E 2.6, five-speed 260E, and a 300E automatic. Only the 300E buyer got his car in '87.

My salesman was so jazzed about five-speeds that about the time my car was delivered he was talking about getting one out of Texas on a dealer trade where the customer had backed out, but I don't recall if that ever came to pass.

Duke

5 spd. 300E conversion (summer project done)
 

Its alive!..... I have just finished converting my 87 300E to a 5 spd. manual. What a sweet car! 4th gear is about the same as previous automatic top gear. Go to 5th and its got legs. Conversion was very straight forward. I purchased all parts from European Connection (shamless plug) in KY. contact is Bernard at 800-395-8636. Bernard provided all parts I asked for, some I didn't and others found to be needed 2 months after first shipment. I would purchase again from him in a heartbeat. I received transmission, shifter, console wood, flywheel, clutch, prresure plate, release and throw-out bearings, linkages (and retainers), pedal assy., clutch master and slave cylinders plus lines, complete driveshaft, crossmember, rubber grommets, etc. If anyone is interested in details, let me know.:D

I, for one, admire your tenacity!