W124 5speed

[wlevansiii]

I have had a 1986 300E for a little over twenty years. It's never been primary transportation, and has just turned over 100K miles. The feature that makes this old 300E so attractive to me is the manual transmission. I've never even had to replace the clutch. All the synchronizers work perfectly, and driving the 300E with the manual transmission is always a real joy. But over time, the shift linkage has become very loose. There's a lot of free play in the shift lever, and lots of motion in the gearchange itself. It feels to me (absolute speculation here) that the bushings/bearings in the shift linkage need to be replaced. Anybody out there had experience with manual transmission linkage in the W124?

[lorainfurniture]

It is probably just bushings. When I removed my 5 speed, it only had 1 bushing left.

[Hit Man X]

https://epc.startekinfo.com/epc/welcome.jsp

Join the EPC and get to searching for the bushings. I rebuilt the shifter assembly in my 735i and the difference was more vast than night versus day. Seriously. Combined with a good syn manual gear box oil, the thing shifts great now... it too is from Getrag.

[POS]

It really is a do-it-yourself thing if you'd like. I suggest putting the bushings in water and then in the microwave for three minutes prior to install; it helps to loosen them up a bit. If you don't want to do it yourself, most garages can knock the job out in about ten minutes - and the bushings are only a couple of bucks.

[tjts1]

Originally Posted by wlevansiii

I have had a 1986 300E for a little over twenty years. It's never been primary transportation, and has just turned over 100K miles. The feature that makes this old 300E so attractive to me is the manual transmission. I've never even had to replace the clutch. All the synchronizers work perfectly, and driving the 300E with the manual transmission is always a real joy. But over time, the shift linkage has become very loose. There's a lot of free play in the shift lever, and lots of motion in the gearchange itself. It feels to me (absolute speculation here) that the bushings/bearings in the shift linkage need to be replaced. Anybody out there had experience with manual transmission linkage in the W124?

Don't waste your time with stock bushings. Contact 16V4NRBRGR on 190rev.net. He put together an excellent group buy for delrin shifter bushings for the W201. The W124 bushings are identical. I have these in my 2.6 and they completely transformed the shifter. That group buy is over but if enough people sign up he'll do another.

[POS]

So he's supposed to just drive a car with busted shifter bushings until he's fortunate enough to get into a group buy someday? Just get it fixed.

[Hit Man X]

Originally Posted by POS

So he's supposed to just drive a car with busted shifter bushings until he's fortunate enough to get into a group buy someday? Just get it fixed.

My thoughts exactly. If the group buy does occur, then get in on the tighter bushings.

[S124300]

New shift linkage bushes won't be that much from Benz, but fit them on with something like moly grease and it will feel smooth again.