W126 engine swap question

Christopher113

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May 9, 2018
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W126
Soo, hello everyone, i'm new here, and wanted to ask a question, since i recently bought a Mercedes Benz SE380 and wanted to make a engine swap for it from 3.8 V8 to 5.0 V8 (m117), that way getting more power. But i'm not sure if it is worth it, considering fuel consumption, reliability and how hard it would be to swap them.
 

dbanbery

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Your Mercedes
1995 R129 SL500
Best bet is to buy a donor car with a good engine - the gearbox, wiring harness, ancillaries etc will all be different.


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LostKiwi

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Midlands / Charente-Maritime
Your Mercedes
'93 500SL-32, '01 W210 Estate E240 (RIP), 02 R230 SL500, 04 Smart Roadster Coupe, 11 R350CDi
Keep to am m117/119 and it should be pretty straightforward I would think.
You may even find economy not as bad as you expect
 

brianbrian

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cockney in the West Country
Your Mercedes
w124 250D, SL129-deisel
Gen dobre. Put a diesel in for economy,I did it to my 129sl eight years ago, and get 40mpg, still enjoy it.
 
OP
C

Christopher113

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W126
  • Thread Starter
  • Thread starter
  • #5
I am going for a stanced Mercedes, changing rims and putting it on bags (Air suspension). Soo mainly doing it for more power, but not sure if there will be a hude difference between 3.8 and 5.0.

If I'm getting 15-20L/100km on m117, then it's not that awful.
 

LostKiwi

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Your Mercedes
'93 500SL-32, '01 W210 Estate E240 (RIP), 02 R230 SL500, 04 Smart Roadster Coupe, 11 R350CDi
The 3.8 is an m116 and has 155hp.
The m119 5 litre has 326hp. I think you'd notice the difference...
 


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