Will a ~73 350SL transmission work in a 79 450SL?

[heydeeley]

Greetings!

I have an early 350SL parts condition car w/ good transmission - I have a nice 1979 450SL with a bad one, will they swap? Thanks in advance!

[Frank Reiner]

On the right side transmission pan rail, just above the pan-to-case joint, there are stamped a series of numbers.
For both transmissions: what are those numbers?

[alabbasi]

Depends on the 350SL. Very early Euro (real) 350SLs had a 4 speed transmission that was used in the W109's.

[cth350]

that early trans has a solenoid in very different location compared to the later one. The later ones are interchangable, so eyeball the two units on the side of the trans away from the shifter and look for those solenoids.

Other differences will be apparent with careful study, but that's the obvious one.

-CTH

[alabbasi]

Probably the easiest thing to look for is the 722.0 stamping on the housing and the shifter which will either show 4 speeds or 3 speeds.