Update info for Nuts4Benz

[etmerritt33]

I haven't posted for a while and wanted to share some successful projects I have done on my 85 Euro 280E 5 spd.

I have had a droning noise appearing to come in and out at 65 mph and from the left front fender area. I have spent a bunch trying to diagnose and correct it. We replaced both flex joints, center support bearing, had the driveshaft removed and rebuilt, changed the tires to Pirelli P6000's, and lastly replaced both rear axles last week. I knew my car had taken a side impact to the right rear and I suspect some bearings in the diff may have been damaged. Anyway, if I can't quiet this noise with diff lubricants and additives I will have to replace the diff with one from MBCC.

I bit the bullet and had a used front swaybar from an 85 W123 wagon installed along with new bushings. That made a very nice improvement in taking a lot of the wallowing and roll out of the car. I also had a pair of Bilstein HD front shocks installed to replace the new Meyle shocks we installed about a year ago. Again, a nice and not subtle improvement.

Forgot to mention, we also pulled the Getrag 5 spd and replaced the clutch disc, pressure plate and thrown out bearing. Shifting is much better, smoother, and easier now.

Lastly, I had thought based on my master sorting list for the car that we had replaced the dist cap and rotor but found out that was not the case. So, we replaced them and installed a new Bosch coil and also a new set of Karlyn STI ignition wires. http://www.karlynsti.com/Folders/Karlyn_STI_Ignition_Wire_Sets.htm. I found these when trying to locate modern wires that would adhere to the original specs and be high quality. This company manufactures very high quality ignition wires to original German specs and installs different resistors in each plug connector to insure the resistance is equal between wires despite the differences in length. Price was only about $ 100 per set.

Took the car out yesterday for a long run in the country and I could not believe the improvement in how strong the engine ran. Revs much quicker and easier and is a terror in 3rd gear. The engine and drive train are 100% euro with no emissions control equipment so I have pretty close to what the factory intended. Didn't realize that my ignition system was weak until we did this. I suspect the coil was original.

I think I finally have a legitimate taste of what you W123 guys call living the dream. I have learned with this car and my 6.9 that these cars were meticulously engineered beyond what we think sometimes. When they are put back to close to new running condition you can feel the engineering while driving.

Hope this may motivate some of you to do some of the things I have done with your 280E's. Wish I could find specific specs for what AMG did with the 280E to achieve 210 hp. 25 additional horsepower would really make the car fly.

Opinions, impressions, and questions welcomed.

- Tom 

[Squabble]

this sounds absolutely incredible, what a great description!  i spent a couple weekends replacing huge amounts of old and worn original parts in my recently sold 280CE and i remember the feeling of what felt like driving a completely different car.

just picked up an '84 Euro 280E and can't wait to get to work getting her in top shape.  she won't need much but i've just gotten started on my master list as well!

thanks for the inspiration!

[etmerritt33]

Please see my other posts on what I have done to this car. I have a master sorting list which I would post again.

I've done a bunch of sorting including taking the entire induction system back to 100% euro. That made a huge difference.

I was also really shocked at how much easier and faster the engine rev'd after we did a simple coil, rotor, and cap with the Karyln ignition wires. I did not realize that the ignition system was not up to snuff. Just one of those really nice deals where you get a big improvement for not much money.

I have a pretty rare and unusual car but I really did this because I thought a pure euro 280E 5spd should be an enjoyable car to drive with everything working as the MB factory intended. I know I have spent way too much and the car will never be worth all that much but I am close to proving the point. It is almost on the edge of being a quick car.

Best,

Tom

[nutz4benz]

Good stuff Tom.

AMG M110 stuff

[etmerritt33]

Thanks for that excellent info! I had some but not all of it. I can not help but wonder if any of these parts still exist anywhere? The price aside for a second, wouldn't it be nice if you could purchase one of these AMG kits new today?

I still think there may be a little unclaimed hp left in my engine. I think the ignition is now 100% but we have pulled any of the injectors or tested the fuel distributor. I have a great resource to do that but just haven't felt the need with other problems to address.

I say all that to say that with a 100% healthy and calibrated euro 280E and adding this AMG kit you could really have a sweet running engine that would be fun to drive. 210 hp would be sweet. I would rather take that route than turbo charge or super charge.

[nutz4benz]

Bigger valves and custom camshafts would do wonders for an M110.

I have myself an Euro spec M110 almost ready to go into my 280E. However, I'm going to rebuild my US spec M110 with the lower compression ratio to accept a twin charge setup (supercharger and turbocharger) hopefully taking me up to 300+hp.

I wanted to bore, but the walls look so thin on the M110. Stroking is the other option.