OWNER Anderzen (E420 with 6-speed manual)

[anderzen]

Hello All,

My name is Brooks, I run a YouTube Channel called ANDERZÉN where I focus on modifications and maintenance of my W203 C55 AMG, W163 ML55 AMG and now W124 E420.. The channel is probably most known for my Manual swap of the C55, but in general I've tried to share any and all information I can during my ownership of these fun machines...

Wanted to make this post just to formally introduce myself and the reason for joining this forum, the 94' E420.
The car is overall in good running shape at a healthy 177K, but needs some love throughout to get it up to proper spec. Big priority is the lower wiring harness, thankfully upper has been replaced. Has a few nice upgrades, H&R springs + Bilstein shocks, metallic cat, MOMO steering wheel and came with an aftermarket set of C36 style front bumper, AMG style sideskirts and rear bumper which I may install down the line.
My plan for the build is keep it relatively simple with a few styling changes + mechanical upgrades. Get it running properly and use it as a fun driver so that the C55 can be more of a fun/track use only option.

Anyway, won't blabber on.. if you are interested in following along the journey, would love to have the expertise of this forum involved! Recommendations, tips, tricks always welcome as I am no expert, especially to this new platform! I will do my best to document and share as much as possible of all the things I learn along the way.

Thank you to all of those who have offered help already in my W124 chapter and thanks in advance to all that will help in the time to come!
ANDERZÉN

 

[anderzen]

Hello All,

Figured I should probably update as it has been quite a while since the last post...

The car has been phenomenal since I acquired it last summer. It has shared daily driving duties with my manual swapped C55 throughout the work week and has barely had a hiccup besides ASR light coming on a few times when it was really cold, once it was driven to temp and turned off then restarted the light goes away. My guess is my ETA needs a rebuild at some point... Besides that though, I have replaced a lot of the front suspension, got new wheels and tires, alignment, gone over the pcv and vacuum system of the car, upgraded LH module, new thermostat and I have a TON of parts ready to be thrown at it when the time presents itself.

The biggest thing I will be going after this year is manual swapping in a Mercedes 6 speed gearbox, 90% of the parts have been collected, just getting the few last bits and bobs. Currently the car's auto has no second gear but it drives like it could care less lol... it shifts great, downshifts great but just won't catch second and because I knew I would be manual swapping it, I abandoned plans to diagnose. Very well could be clogged valve body, or could just be no more second gear...

If you would like to see the process of the manual swap, everything will be documented and I will definitely create a detailed DIY thread here covering all you need, no secrets, no hidden agenda, just all the info I can provide. I hesitate to put an exact due date on the project completion as I just picked up another vehicle that is currently getting some attention, BUT I have late February-early March in mind with time to spend.

Here is the video covering some of the manual swap info thus far:

Thx,
ANDERZÉN

 

[anderzen]

Another update.. Been working on a mixed bag of things getting prepped for the manual swap. This week I threw in a new expansion tank, undid the janky HID headlamps that the car had for factory halogens and bypassed the neutral safety switch since it had stopped starting in P a while back and I will need to do this anyway for the manual.

Today I started pulling the throttle bottle to clean it up and replace the pcv line with silicone hose like I did the other breather hoses. I now know the secret sauce of removing the throttle body on an m119, that was fun. Will share that in a video later....

We're planning to pull the auto soon and I have confirmed through measurement I will need a custom length front half drive shaft or a one piece. Glad I am doing this soon since I just saw my auto's flex disc is about to crumble... ooof.

Thx,
ANDERZÉN

 

[dionphaneuf]

Nice - I'd love to see the PCV replace vid!

 

[anderzen]

Checking back in... I was able to fit silicone line for the bigger PCV hose section that runs from passenger valve cover down to throttle body. HIGHLY recommended as it will make things much easier to maintain/work on. The rubber hoses were completely stiff and had been leaking on the intake runners probably for years... I was also able to find a silicone coupler to replace the rubber throttle body/MAF connector (mine was absolutely toast). Throttle body was very grimey and the gasket had seen better days so I took care of that also. AND... the yellow vacuum line had a crack in it so I patched it up with silicone vacuum line. All in all a fun project and very worthwhile for future serviceability. Next thing up is finding an intake filter that has a 3.75in flange but is not too tall.... OH and one last thing I tried my best to show how to you can get the throttle body out and put it back. Anyway video is live

 

[anderzen]

Finishing up this project with a new air filter setup, last step will be ducting airflow towards it!

 

[anderzen]

Update!

Manual swap is well under way (sneak peak in this video), auto is out and we're moving through the following steps accordingly... A planned "while you're in there" component to the project was a lower harness rebuild as mine was a sight for the sorest of eyes and potentially a fire starter in waiting...
This video covers the gist of it, the interwebs had led me to believe it was a bear of a job... honestly, it was a breeze even for the simplest of DIY'ers... and cost nothing besides $10-15 in materials I already had laying around.

Thx,
ANDERZÉN

 

[anderzen]

Used marine grade wiring and re-soldered everything. I was even able to peel off the original sticker and re-use it for the purist in me…
Luckily the battery cable portion for starter and alternator was still in good shape and didn’t need much tending to…Here are some photos of the rebuilt harness:









*Just FYI, I realized I had two of these positions flipped in the harness... what I was calling the oil 'pressure' sensor (Actually level sensor I think?) was the black wire and the ring terminal for the alternator was actually the blue... luckily an easy fix in my case, just switching the two yellows terminals inside of the connector... Anyway Apologies for any confusion!

 

[anderzen]

Alright peeps, more progress has been made. We have a working shifter, the adapter plate, flywheel and clutch are in along with the trans. Clutch pedals and line is done. Driveshaft was picked up this morning. Lots of little things button up and starter needs to go in but overall we’re looking good! Couple pictures to hold things down for now:

 

[anderzen]

Quick pic of how the shifter looks with center console put back together. Had to trim shifter opening in the back about 3/4in

 

[anderzen]

Ok lovely peoples, these are about as compressed as I could make them to satisfy the site's video file size capacities
We had our first drive this Sunday, after 6 weekends of work, it was exciting and surreal but as expected is not the end of the journey of getting this completely dialed as a one off gear rowing V8 machine... It starts, goes into every gear, clutch engagement is spot on and overall feel is great BUT about 5-10min into the drive, the idle became stumbly and 1st and 2nd gear are intermittently bogging down at low rpm. The current setup is basically just Neutral safety lockout jumped on the trans harness and the exhaust is cutoff right after the o2... chances are the ECU is very mad at one or many things going on. First thing we'll do is put exhaust back on to see if that helps if the ecu is having trouble compensating for AFR? if nothing changes then I will start to mess with transmission harness and experimenting with different selector positions with the NSS plugged back in, then go from there.... If anyone has any ideas I am ALL EARS! I thought it was vacuum at first the way it was stumbling but this doesn;t make sense being that it happened 5-10min into the drive, but just to be sure how many vacuum lines came off the Automatic, two? I capped one on the intake manifold and the upshift valve on the driver's side by brake fluid reservoir.
BUT hey! We kind of did it! I mean we did, but, more to go haha! Cheers!
And yes, all of the 3+ hours of footage will be released soon in a playlist on my YouTube channel of probably 8-10 videos, once we get it as sorted as we can...

 

[Jlaa]

@anderzen I am sorry I cannot help with the technical issues, but I loooooooove that suuuuper sounding first gear pull. Even if the speedo says 0mph. Such a lovely sound in a v8, and I admire your creativity and persistence!

 

[anderzen]

No worries at all! I think with a little more time on it I can get it to be happy enough
The sound is definitely awesome, the startup is incredible as well when it roars to life, won't stay like this but sounds great for the time being and has definitely given me ideas for exhaust down the road. Thank you for the support and kind words @Jlaa ! The Speedo will hopefully be handled soon via GPS sender but I was too excited to drive it to worry about hooking it up first haha!

 

[anderzen]

A little more time and a little more progress! The ECU is much happier after plugging in the NSS and setting it to D. Full revs in all gears and no more weird bogging or hesitation. I have the GPS sender all hooked up but haven't got to drive it to test if it will send signal needed for cluster, will update once I do! Here is a video showing the new capabilities of rev range and the toned down exhaust with stock system reinstalled (still a leak in middle where the temp connection is made, need to take it to muffler shop this weekend):


View attachment Sequence 08 (1) (1) (1).mp4

 

[gsxr]

Sweet! When is the 5.0L swap commencing?

 

[anderzen]

It’s more and more tempting! If anyone finds a sweet deal on one or I can find a good one locally at pick n pull I’d be all for it!

 

[gsxr]

It’s more and more tempting! If anyone finds a sweet deal on one or I can find a good one locally at pick n pull I’d be all for it!

Depends where you are located, but in PNW it should be easy to find. Especially if you don't mind the extra work of converting a V140 engine (swap oil pans / exhaust manifolds). You'd need a 93-95 R129 to be 100% plug & play and those usually cost a bit more.

 

[anderzen]

Oil pan and exhaust manifolds wouldn’t be a problem at all, would like to sort through any motor I picked up with a refresh before going in anyway. There was a subscriber on my channel who offered a low mile r129 5.0l for shipping cost but never followed up after I said yes

 

[gsxr]

Just make sure the R129 donor is 129.067, not the 129.066... can't use the early tall-deck CIS-E motors.

 

[anderzen]

Yep!

 

[anderzen]

Something to build a little excitement for the manual swap playlist release this Friday…

THE BEST VIDEO I'VE EVER MADE... W124 E420 MANUAL SWAP SERIES PREVIEW (STRANGER THINGS)

 

[anderzen]

Hello All! Just wanted to let you know we are finally LIVE! I promise to make a detailed write up down the road, but the E420 Manual Swap Playlist should suffice for now
E420 Manual Swap

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLBa7z-TFPIpEPlMgcZ1qrtvLjIfV2KQlS

Also, I’ve launched my first merch site if anyone would like to check it out! I have a couple W124/M119 inspired designs I made I think you guys will like. As always anything earned goes right back into the projects, along with the absurd amount I’ve already poured into all of them that you fellow car people will relate to…

anderzen.co

Anyway! Thank you!
ANDERZÉN

 

[anderzen]

Lower wiring harness diagram for 034, figured I would share here, feel free to move to anywhere it may help mods.

 

[anderzen]

Hello! got my E420 running again after rebuilding the wiring on my ETA... however it developed a noticeable tick in the driver bank after sitting for 4 weeks or so through snow and issues being resolved. It dissipated quite a bit after just warming up, so I threw a bottle of rislone engine treatment after some reccomendations and decided to see if it would do the trick. It felt damn good to row the gears in this car, missed it big time!

Also, there is an exciting upgrade otw soon to help make this 034 a little more...036....

 

[anderzen]

Hi Guys! Not a 034 or 036 but I wanted to share here versus any other forum as this is really the only I enjoy now-a-days

I know there are many knowledgeable of these platforms on here as well, I am pretty brand new to M104 ownership but this is my second W202. The other was my first Mercedes nearly 12 years ago now, a 99' kompressor.

 

[anderzen]

First video diving in and making a list of things to tackle.. Not too long of a list thankfully but enough to keep me busy getting it prepped for a lot of driving this Spring/Summer!

Also the 5.0 swap is still happening on the E420, getting things collected and sorted for that!

 

[yao500e]

Hello All,

My name is Brooks, I run a YouTube Channel called ANDERZÉN where I focus on modifications and maintenance of my W203 C55 AMG, W163 ML55 AMG and now W124 E420.. The channel is probably most known for my Manual swap of the C55, but in general I've tried to share any and all information I can during my ownership of these fun machines...

Wanted to make this post just to formally introduce myself and the reason for joining this forum, the 94' E420.
The car is overall in good running shape at a healthy 177K, but needs some love throughout to get it up to proper spec. Big priority is the lower wiring harness, thankfully upper has been replaced. Has a few nice upgrades, H&R springs + Bilstein shocks, metallic cat, MOMO steering wheel and came with an aftermarket set of C36 style front bumper, AMG style sideskirts and rear bumper which I may install down the line.
My plan for the build is keep it relatively simple with a few styling changes + mechanical upgrades. Get it running properly and use it as a fun driver so that the C55 can be more of a fun/track use only option.

Anyway, won't blabber on.. if you are interested in following along the journey, would love to have the expertise of this forum involved! Recommendations, tips, tricks always welcome as I am no expert, especially to this new platform! I will do my best to document and share as much as possible of all the things I learn along the way.

Thank you to all of those who have offered help already in my W124 chapter and thanks in advance to all that will help in the time to come!
ANDERZÉN

You have an amazing channel. been watching it latey for your C36 work and mods. keep the videos coming.
I hope you get a e500 or 500e one day and do videos on that car!

 

[yao500e]

Hi Guys! Not a 034 or 036 but I wanted to share here versus any other forum as this is really the only I enjoy now-a-days

I know there are many knowledgeable of these platforms on here as well, I am pretty brand new to M104 ownership but this is my second W202. The other was my first Mercedes nearly 12 years ago now, a 99' kompressor.

1995 C36 is special. Keep it forever! 722.3 tranmission is wonderful.

 

[anderzen]

appreciate it! Definitely is a Lifer car for me, took a long time to get one worth buying. The auto is definitely good but I'd be lying if i don't think about rowing gears every time I drive, it's so original though that if i ever do swap it I will make everything 100% reversible.

E500E is definitely on the list! Hopefully someday!

 

[yao500e]

appreciate it! Definitely is a Lifer car for me, took a long time to get one worth buying. The auto is definitely good but I'd be lying if i don't think about rowing gears every time I drive, it's so original though that if i ever do swap it I will make everything 100% reversible.

E500E is definitely on the list! Hopefully someday!

Great to be communicating with you! seriously love your AMG car content.

Yes. i also had thoughts of 6 speed manual swap but then i saw a video where a skilled 722.3 tranmission guy really rebuilt his 722.3 and the thing was so buttery smooth. fast shifts and super duper comfortable, it made me rethink it and keep the 722.3. Then the thought of keeping the C36 as ORIGINAL as possible is appealing to me as well. So much amazing content for you to consider!

 

[anderzen]

Likewise! Indeed, luckily mine feels so fresh and shifts amazing for an old vacuum controlled 4 speed. You can really feel the snappiness of it and the beefed up internals they threw into them for the C36 are an added bonus. I daily it as of now so it's pretty good as is, but I've got no problem dailying a manual either

 

[yao500e]

Likewise! Indeed, luckily mine feels so fresh and shifts amazing for an old vacuum controlled 4 speed. You can really feel the snappiness of it and the beefed up internals they threw into them for the C36 are an added bonus. I daily it as of now so it's pretty good as is, but I've got no problem dailying a manual either

that is awesome. Yes. our '95 C36 has the 722.328 transmission. I am researching if the SL600 V12 722.362 tranmission has even better beefed up internals, valve body and torque converter and if these parts can be installed in our xxx.328 transmission and make it even better. Would be good to find out

 

[gsxr]

If the 3.6L motor doesn't have forced induction, there's no need to beef up the internals beyond new / factory spec. It simply doesn't make enough torque.