OWNER TimL

[TerryA]

Dropped my car of at Mercedes in Lynnwood earlier this week to get another MB replacement gearbox installed. Steve is running all the lines required for the E/S functionality but won't hook anything up just yet, so as to avoid any potential conflict with any warranty claim in case this one turns out to be faulty too (hopefully not very likely).

The car should be ready tomorrow, so I'll drive it for a bit and see if everything is well before the E/S system is hooked up. The good thing is that the gearbox won't have to be removed for that E/S functionality with the way Steve set everything up now, so it should be a fairly easy thing to do.

I also dropped off an early generation lower dashboard for the driver side that I found after trying for quite some time (the one without the bulge) and I'm looking forward to that being installed. While there, the car will also get its scheduled maintenance so that everything is good to go. Next thing up is getting the headliner replaced, something I have been pushing off way too long now.

@TimL, That’s nice and shiny looking new trans.

As for the headliner, I think 28 to 30 years must be the life expectancy for the 124s. It seems like a lot of our cars are getting them replaced lately. Mine fell down while parked in the garage for the last 3 years.

lol

 

[TimL]

@TimL, That’s nice and shiny looking new trans.

As for the headliner, I think 28 to 30 years must be the life expectancy for the 124s. It seems like a lot of our cars are getting them replaced lately. Mine fell down while parked in the garage for the last 3 years.

lol

Oh man, @TerryA, while parked is even rougher!

I don’t know what it is about this headliner replacement, but I’ve been dragging my feet on that one for more than 18 months. I already got the material from the headliner place in Florida lying around unopened for more than a year and I just can’t seem to get myself to schedule an appointment with the upholstery place. For some reason I feel like the bang for the buck/satisfaction per $ ratio on that repair will be super low for me

I have every confidence you will be much more diligent than me and get your headliner fixed way quicker, Terry!

 

[TimL]

Picked my car up from MB yesterday. The second MB replacement transmission luckily seems to be significantly better than their first replacement transmission. No flaring when cold and overall everything just seems quite a bit tighter with this tranny, so I am quite happy with that. Will drive it for another week to see if everything stays that way and if it does I will bring the car back to MB the week after to have them finish the E/S switch install.

The first gen lower dashboard install turned out ok. Unfortunately the unit I bought did not have as neat a gap consistency as the original bulky unit that came off the car, but I still prefer the slimmer dash over the original bulky style. Maintenance wise, it was just an oil and filter change and a break flush that was needed, so nothing to write home about.

Contrary to my plan, I won't be doing the headliner next, as I got sidetracked and instead spent my headliner budget on a NOS part that I hope will come in handy at some point next year. I blame the news of the latest NLA crisis (zoom tubes) on that unplanned purchase decision
At this rate the headliner will never get done

 

[kegmankipp]

Wow the lower dashboard/ knee bolster looks so different

 

[Jlaa]

Picked my car up from MB yesterday. The second MB replacement transmission luckily seems to be significantly better than their first replacement transmission. No flaring when cold and overall everything just seems quite a bit tighter with this tranny, so I am quite happy with that. Will drive it for another week to see if everything stays that way and if it does I will bring the car back to MB the week after to have them finish the E/S switch install.

The first gen lower dashboard install turned out ok. Unfortunately the unit I bought did not have as neat a gap consistency as the original bulky unit that came off the car, but I still prefer the slimmer dash over the original bulky style. Maintenance wise, it was just an oil and filter change and a break flush that was needed, so nothing to write home about.

Contrary to my plan, I won't be doing the headliner next, as I got sidetracked and instead spent my headliner budget on a NOS part that I hope will come in handy at some point next year. I blame the news of the latest NLA crisis (zoom tubes) on that unplanned purchase decision
At this rate the headliner will never get done

@TimL,

I love the lower dash but the fit is wonky. Were the people that worked out on more "rough framing carpentry" kind of mechanics, or were they "fine finish carpentry" kind of guys? I use this analog because in residential construction, you don't use a finish carpentry guy to do rough framing, and vice versa.

Anyways see here ---- the fit of the plastic looks all wonky.



The plastic bezel should have two plastic feet that go inside the holes behind it --- see here:




If those feet are not lined up with the holes then the plastic bezel does not seat properly. I bet it is some minor issue like that. Pull off the headlight knob, then undo the nut behind the knob, and you should be able to finesse the black bezel out and investigate. Easy Peasy.

(picture of nut behind knob below)

 

[TimL]

@Jlaa, It was Steve Geyer who worked on it - he'll forget more about these cars than others will ever know about them

The way he explained it to me that the panel itself is not straight and with that, the plastic that hooks into the panel isn't fitting well. I nevertheless like it more than the bulky piece, so I'm willing to accept the imperfections in the gaps

 

[Jlaa]

@Jlaa, It was Steve Geyer who worked on it - he'll forget more about these cars than others will ever know about them

The way he explained it to me that the panel itself is not straight and with that, the plastic that hooks into the panel isn't fitting well. I nevertheless like it more than the bulky piece, so I'm willing to accept the imperfections in the gaps

Ah I understand. If the knee panel is warped then you could take off the black plastic bezel and use a multi-tool with a plunge cutter blade to do some minor surgery then to make that black plastic bezel sit flush. I bet with some minor surgery / trimming away material you could get it looking excellent.

Anyways you own a house now, you need this tool in your repertoire.

 

[TimL]

It's not plug+play, but it's possible to do the coversion. You'll have to swap the intake, front head covers + distributors, valve covers, all 4 cam sprockets, ETA/MAF... and the flywheel... and probably some other things I'm forgetting.

Someone else on the forum did this conversion, I think on an AMG W210 E50 engine into a W124. Roger/TaxiDriver? If you can get the engine cheap enough, and don't mind swapping a bunch of parts, I'd be all over this.

@gsxr, thank you, as always, for the wealth of knowledge you provide to all of us on this forum- I really appreciate it!

It took me 3 years to decide, but I finally took the plunge and bought the 6 Liter engine I asked your advice on. It is located in Germany and I will have it shipped to my brother’s place in Germany where it will sit until sometime next year when it will undergo a complete conversion (to make it work in the 036) and revision by Stern Garage. I already bought a set of NOS AMG head gaskets from Bernhard to support their complete teardown and I am pretty excited about the prospect of getting my hands on a fully refurbished AMG engine.


It will be a longish journey though as it will have to make its way stateside once Stern Garage is done with it and then it will take some time for Steve Geyer to put it into the car. I guess it will be 2024 until everything is said and done. But that’s ok. I’m in no particular rush as long as it’s done right.

 

[744Brillantsilber]

@gsxr, thank you, as always, for the wealth of knowledge you provide to all of us on this forum- I really appreciate it!

It took me 3 years to decide, but I finally took the plunge and bought the 6 Liter engine I asked your advice on. It is located in Germany and I will have it shipped to my brother’s place in Germany where it will sit until sometime next year when it will undergo a complete conversion (to make it work in the 036) and revision by Stern Garage. I already bought a set of NOS AMG head gaskets from Bernhard to support their complete teardown and I am pretty excited about the prospect of getting my hands on a fully refurbished AMG engine.


It will be a longish journey though as it will have to make its way stateside once Stern Garage is done with it and then it will take some time for Steve Geyer to put it into the car. I guess it will be 2024 until everything is said and done. But that’s ok. I’m in no particular rush as long as it’s done right.

Thats so awesome Tim! Looking forward your joy once its done and you can drive it!

 

[TimL]

Thats so awesome Tim! Looking forward your joy once its done and you can drive it!

Thank you Merlin! I am sure it will be a bit of a road of discovery with many unplanned expenses, but I will take my time and shoulder it at a pace I feel financially comfortable with. I was a dumbass for not purchasing this car SOLD - SOLD: 1993 500E 6.0L AMG Conversion, 040 Black/Black, 94kmi, $49k (North Carolina) | Cars for Sale - 500E / E500 ONLY

It would have been cheaper but hey, live and learn

 

[Jlaa]

It took me 3 years to decide, but I finally took the plunge and bought the 6 Liter engine I asked your advice on. It is located in Germany and I will have it shipped to my brother’s place in Germany where it will sit until sometime next year when it will undergo a complete conversion (to make it work in the 036) and revision by Stern Garage. I already bought a set of NOS AMG head gaskets from Bernhard to support their complete teardown and I am pretty excited about the prospect of getting my hands on a fully refurbished AMG engine.

WOW!!!! I will be following your travails with keen interest!

 

[TimL]

A little update on this. The seller was in two minds about executing the sale, as he was considering hanging on to the engine after all. So we went back and forth for the last three days and today he thankfully nixed the idea of keeping it. Don't know what it is these days, but it seems that folks are not shy to walk back on agreements that have been made (FOR SALE - NIB/NOS Facelift E500 Euro headlights, $3k/pair (Marietta, GA) | Parts for Sale). Must be in the water.....Hope this doesn't become the new norm though, as this was added stress for no good reason.

Within the next two weeks the engine will ship from seller in Munich to Schwaebisch Hall where a good friend of mine lives. He has large workshop where he keeps his old MB and BMW and he has the space to store the engine in this dry and heated environment (preferred over my brother's unheated garage), so the engine will be safe and sound over there until I saved up again to have Stern Garage do the conversion and tear down. Assuming this will be sometime in the latter half of 2023.

By the way, @xfadmin, can this thread be merged with my owner thread? That way it's all in one spot. Thanks!

 

[744Brillantsilber]

Tim,

sorry to hear about your troubles! Glad it worked out.

If you by Chance come to the Schwäbisch Hall area again feel free to let me know. I am not far and would like to invite you for a beer if you want

 

[TimL]

Tim,

sorry to hear about your troubles! Glad it worked out.

If you by Chance come to the Schwäbisch Hall area again feel free to let me know. I am not far and would like to invite you for a beer if you want

Very cool, Merlin! I used to live in SHA for 3 years when I worked for Recaro. Will for sure let you know. Of course the same applies if you are ever in the Seattle area!

 

[kegmankipp]

Congratulations Tim!
That’s awesome news. I can’t wait
until I’m in your shoes doing the same swap.

 

[TimL]

Congratulations Tim!
That’s awesome news. I can’t wait
until I’m in your shoes doing the same swap.

Thank you Kipp. I just hope it all ends up working out as intended/planned. We'll see. Just glad that I got the engine secured and the rest will have to follow/fall in place. One step at a time.

If you do the transplant on your car then you'll have to name your car Phoenix. Really sad to read that you had a fire issue with your car so I'm very much hoping you restore it back to its former glory and then some! Let me know if I can keep an eye out for parts

 

[a777fan]

Way to go tim!! This should be pretty awesome when all said and done. Not that your car needed any improvement

Btw- I’ve got a nice ‘storage’ spot for your 5.0L when it comes out. Its silver, has 4 wheels… and looks kinda like, well… you know…

 

[TimL]

Way to go tim!! This should be pretty awesome when all said and done. Not that your car needed any improvement

Btw- I’ve got a nice ‘storage’ spot for your 5.0L when it comes out. Its silver, has 4 wheels… and looks kinda like, well… you know…

@a777fan, you bring up a very good point Jon! Stern Garage is going to provide the parts that are needed to make an SL engine work in the 036, so my current engine will be intact and unmolested. So if you are serious, then I'd be happy to sell the engine to a new, silver home.

Currently the engine has 108k miles on it and it's had all the maintenance done on it that is listed in my owners thread. Should not need anything and be ready to go

 

[a777fan]

We should definetley chat. I need more car projects like I need a hole in the head, but…

 

[gsxr]

FWIW, the 119.972 R129 engine should need zero modifications to fit in the 500E. I'm not aware of any physical differences except wiring harnesses and possibly accessories (AC compressor, tandem pump, etc).

 

[TimL]

FWIW, the 119.972 R129 engine should need zero modifications to fit in the 500E. I'm not aware of any physical differences except wiring harnesses and possibly accessories (AC compressor, tandem pump, etc).

Alas, it is a 119.982

 

[gsxr]

Alas, it is a 119.982

OH! Well, that does complicate things a bit, lol! Will SG be able to provide all the .97x components required? The intake manifold is the only item I'd be concerned about; the .98x lacks provision for the temp sensors and EGR. Not sure if it can be modified to work, if not, then the donor .97x manifold (upper must be from a 5.0L engine, not 4.2L) will need port-matching to replicate the AMG machining. Everything else is a bolt-on... cam sprockets, head covers, distributors, etc.

 

[TimL]

OH! Well, that does complicate things a bit, lol! Will SG be able to provide all the .97x components required? The intake manifold is the only item I'd be concerned about; the .98x lacks provision for the temp sensors and EGR. Not sure if it can be modified to work, if not, then the donor .97x manifold (upper must be from a 5.0L engine, not 4.2L) will need port-matching to replicate the AMG machining. Everything else is a bolt-on... cam sprockets, head covers, distributors, etc.

Yep, Stern Garage stated they can do the entire conversion required. We'll see if that is true or not, but considering that they are offering full builds I would assume they are telling me the truth. We'll see what happens

 

[Rouven036]

Congrats and welcome to the exclusive "6L owners but not installed" club!

 

[duuder]

I hope Stern Garage sends you pics when they start

 

[744Brillantsilber]

Very cool, Merlin! I used to live in SHA for 3 years when I worked for Recaro. Will for sure let you know. Of course the same applies if you are ever in the Seattle area!

Tim, thank you very much for your offer!

That's cool, SHA is a nice area for sure!

Sometimes the world is small indeed.

 

[TimL]

Congrats and welcome to the exclusive "6L owners but not installed" club!

Thanks @Rouven036, but that is a very questionable kind of exclusivity- hoping that neither of us will be members for a long time and instead can join the peeps with engines installed in cars

How long have you had your engine sitting around waiting for installation?

 

[Rouven036]

It's a exclusive but also transitional membership... It's around 5 years now as I have got it to Germany, I have to put the heads back on and drop it in...

 

[gsxr]

It's a exclusive but also transitional membership... It's around 5 years now as I have got it to Germany, I have to put the heads back on and drop it in...

Just curious, why did the heads come off? Are you using HWA- head gaskets, or the less-crazytown-priced aftermarket gaskets?

 

[Rouven036]

I just stripped it down and rebuild it before installing it to have a "new" motor. It's partially documented in my owners thread.
Also retrofitted the Euro oil filter housing as it was a Japanese version...
MB/HWA parts only.

 

[TimL]

The AMG head gaskets I recently bought for the 6 liter engine got delivered and I am excited that things are slowly but surely coming together. The NOS Euro oil cooler kit I just purchased a few days ago on the forum couldn’t have come up for sale at a better time, as I was about to embark on a long, tedious and likely unsuccessful search for all the parts required. Steve Geyer confirmed that he can install the oil cooler kit when the AMG engine goes in, so that’s encouraging.

The seller of the engine confirmed he is in the process of getting it ready for transportation to my friend’s warehouse in Germany, so with a bit of luck that piece should be complete within the next few days.

Now I will see if I can get my hands on the right airbox

 

[TimL]

The seller just let me know that the engine is all boxed up and being shipped tomorrow

 

[gsxr]

Wow. James Bond's six-point oh engine.

 

[TerryA]

The seller just let me know that the engine is all boxed up and being shipped tomorrow

@TimL, Way to go Tim!
That is

lol

 

[TimL]

Thank you Terry- really appreciate it! Fingers crossed it all actually works out

 

[Jlaa]

[September 7, 2021]

Hi,

I’m considering selling my car, as it is proving too impractical as my daily driver........If you are interested in the car then just PM me and I will get back to you.

Thanks for looking!

[August 13, 2022]

It took me 3 years to decide, but I finally took the plunge and bought the 6 Liter engine I asked your advice on.....

[September 11, 2022]

The seller just let me know that the [6L] engine is all boxed up and being shipped tomorrow

What a stunning reversal in the course of one year!!!

 

[TimL]

Yes @Jlaa, moving to the ‘burbs with its safe street parking and buying a beater car has been the best decision. It allowed me to keep the 036 without having to subject it to the daily grind of commuting and day care runs. So now I can keep dinking with the car

 

[TimL]

Today the oil cooler and associated install kit I bought on the forum arrived. Happily it was all as advertised, so thanks to @500eforme who sold the kit to me. Unfortunately the whole thing will go into storage for quite some time, because the actual install will only happen when the 6 liter engine goes in. Patience is a virtue, as they say

 

[TimL]

The engine made its way from the seller in Bavaria to my friend in Schwaebisch Hall where it will sit in his climate controlled building until sometime in 2023. The shipping company never updated the tracking information so thus far it had shown that the engine hadn't yet been picked up from the seller, which made me increasingly nervous, as I parted with the money quite some time ago, so not having the engine in return wasn't the greatest situation. Accordingly I was quite glad when my friend confirmed this morning that it arrived

 

[744Brillantsilber]

Oh yes, lovely!

 

[TimL]

I’m currently in Germany and am bringing back a few parts I had bought on Kleinanzeigen a while ago. Amongst them two AMG badges and one of the two AMG engine stickers. One of the badges is supposedly a NOS OEM piece and the other one is a used original badge that came off a C36. There is a size difference between the two badges, as well as a coating difference- the used badge is longer and all chrome while the NOS badge has painted sportline stripes (matte grey). Not sure if they changed the badge design or if the NOS unit is fake which would be very difficult to believe because the material and quality is identical to the used original badge. In either case, good to have one, but not sure if I will end up putting one of them on the car once the 6 Liter engine is installed. I like the idea of complete badge removal right now…

The AMG airbox is in transit from Russia right now and should arrive within the next week or so. We’ll see.

 

[Steve119]

Very cool project!

Small detail: the stickers have the newer AMG logo with the "A" instead of the period correct "A"

 

[Draginev]

Received my Compomotive wheels (18x8 ET35) earlier than expected and just put them on the car. Attached a few initial snapshots. I will have the center caps painted silver and plan to add old school DTM-style OZ stickers to it a bit later. Maybe spacers for the front, but will decide that once they've been on the car for a bit.

These wheels are definitely added on my modelling list! Thanks Tim, and great work to take care of this baby!

 

[TimL]

Very cool project!

Small detail: the stickers have the newer AMG logo with the "A" instead of the period correct "A"

Thank you @Steve119 ! Excellent catch that I hadn’t noticed myself! So my stickers aren’t period correct. Will keep looking for correct ones.

 

[TimL]

These wheels are definitely added on my modelling list! Thanks Tim, and great work to take care of this baby!

Thank you Draginev- much appreciated and I admire the work that you put into the models you have generated! Excited to see the structure that you decide upon for marketing/selling the data. Hope it enables some 3D printing of parts!

 

[duuder]

The AMG head gaskets I recently bought for the 6 liter engine got delivered and I am excited that things are slowly but surely coming together. The NOS Euro oil cooler kit I just purchased a few days ago on the forum couldn’t have come up for sale at a better time, as I was about to embark on a long, tedious and likely unsuccessful search for all the parts required. Steve Geyer confirmed that he can install the oil cooler kit when the AMG engine goes in, so that’s encouraging.

The seller of the engine confirmed he is in the process of getting it ready for transportation to my friend’s warehouse in Germany, so with a bit of luck that piece should be complete within the next few days.

Now I will see if I can get my hands on the right airbox

This is the most beautiful pieces of art I've ever seen

 

[TimL]

Bit of a quick update. Been buying a couple of parts recently, some of it to stockpile to counter the increasingly worrisome NLA situation and some of it to go in when the new engine is put in the car. Found the NLA engine bay insulation on the left hand side that is discolored on my car, as well as the anodized rear window stay bars. I've been looking for both items for very long time, so I'm happy to have found those.


Along the way I also bought a NOS EZL (thanks to @Jlaa for making me aware of the article) and a rear muffler (while they are still available from MB).

Only the insulation and the EZL will be installed when the engine gets put in, the rest will go into storage for now, as the existing muffler is in great shape and as I had the rear window stay bars wrapped, matching the color of the new anodized trim on the rest of the car really nicely.

Still waiting for the two NOS E60 springs to arrive here in the U.S., as shipping internationally during Xmas time always seems so much slower than usual. Will look into getting the missing two springs made sometime next year and then they will go on the car when the engine gets here

 

[kegmankipp]

Bit of a quick update. Been buying a couple of parts recently, some of it to stockpile to counter the increasingly worrisome NLA situation and some of it to go in when the new engine is put in the car. Found the NLA engine bay insulation on the left hand side that is discolored on my car, as well as the anodized rear window stay bars. Ive been looking for both items for very long time, so Im happy to have found those.
View attachment 158397 View attachment 158398

Along the way I also bought a NOS EZL (thanks to @Jlaa for making me aware of the article) and a rear muffler (while they are still available from MB).
View attachment 158399
Only the insulation and the EZL will be installed when the engine gets put in, the rest will go into storage for now, as the existing muffler is in great shape and as I had the rear window stay bars wrapped, matching the color of the new anodized trim on the rest of the car really nicely

I predict you going to have a completely NOS car in 2.1 years !

Tim do you know the name and color/model of the wrap you used on the trim? Thanks

 

[sheward]

I used 3M series 1080

Very pleased with the match and results. Curious what you used as well.

 

[TimL]

Tim do you know the name and color/model of the wrap you used on the trim? Thanks

Hi Kipp, I had that done at a car wrap shop here in Bellevue and unfortunately don't recall the name of the color they used. But it's close by my house, so I will swing by there with my car and ask them