[W126 Coupe] 380 to 500 Euro?

[Steve Lemberg]

Hi all,

It has been a very long time since I have posted here and I have not even 
seen the list for over a year.    Magically last week I started receiving 
posts to my new e-mail address.

Regarding using a 500 engine in a 380 it is a bolt in swap for all intents 
and purposes.     If you are just going to throw a used 500 in the car and 
call it a day great, even if you were to pull the heads, heli=coil the block 
and do a valve job I suppose that would be OK.   Now if you are going to the 
time and expense of going through a 5.0 M117 engine in a car that is neither 
fish nor foul at this point one has to ask why?

I have considered many engine conversions in an SEC and a 124 CE from a M119 
and M120 to a Ford DOHC and Chevy early small block and Gen III LS-1. 
For many reasons I think the LS-1 style engine shows great promises, first 
the engine is light weight and well designed.     The build quality is what 
you would expect from a world class engine and the overall longevity is 
close to a Mercedes V-8.     The size and construction of the systems are 
workable in a Mercedes chassis that is a big plus and the engine management 
is much less complex then say an LH M119 or M120.

Would I put a M119 or M120 in my car yes under the right conditions, if I 
had a very low mile well documented engine I would do either in a heart 
beat.    Under any other circumstance I would pass, reason being you are 
buying an unknown.      Some are great some are ready to be overhauled at a 
hundred thousand and unless you know the provenance on the engine and the 
car you are gambling on a very major expense.

 I did a M119 conversion with a very low mileage engine and transmission, 
and it is a wonderful car but, it is not a fire breathing monster.     In 
order to see real gains in performance you need to double the horsepower in 
a car this size.     That means doing a V-12 conversion, built M117 or 119, 
without a blower very hard to hit the numbers or, another engine that has 
the power you need.     The Ford DOHC engines are small displacement and 
don't make the numbers stock, you can tune them up but without a blower they 
are about on par with a M119.    A V-12 is 390 HP stock but a good running 
M120 and all the trimmings are going to cost as much as a nice SEC.    That 
leaves the small block Chevy and the later Vortec design engines.     You 
can buy an LS-1 brand new from Chevrolet with everything for less then a 
quality rebuild on a M117 will set you back.

I hear the masses saying blasphemy; you can't put a Chevy engine in a 
Mercedes.     That is only an opinion; put ANY other engine in your car and 
it is not original, I don't care if it's a Mercedes engine or not.     Your 
car would be a modified or in some circles a bastard car.    If your car is 
a 10000 mile original perfect in every way all stock SEC keep it that way, 
in who knows how many years it will be worth what it sold for new!     For 
everyone else that likes their car but wants to get more power out of it a 
Chevy is the best route to take.     The cost are very reasonable, support 
is on just about every corner and there are thousand of mods that come with 
emission certs up to and including blowers and turbo kits at a fraction of 
the cost of Mercedes parts.     I know most of you have heard that Mercedes 
raised the prices on parts many by over 100% since last year.     An EZL for 
a V-8 engine is now about 2800.00.     These engines are getting on in years 
and things are going to start failing.

I love my SEC and I plan on driving it for a long time to come however, I 
may not have a Mercedes engine in it very much longer.     I am going to 
work with Mike Ramay on installing an LS-6 in his car and perhaps my car at 
the same time.     We have every intention to develop a kit that will allow 
anyone with basic tools and skills to do one of these installations rather 
painlessly.    All ready to go to the DMV and get your states blessing and 
seal of approval.   The engine is a big plus however like the late night 
infomercials that's not all!!     You also get a 4L60 electronic overdrive 4 
speed automatic transmission.    With a low ratio first gear and overdrive 
for tooling down the highway.     I would expect the LS-1 to get 18-20 MPG 
city and 24-28 MPG highway.    If you do a lot of driving that may be enough 
to justify doing the conversion.

Steve

 



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