'84 Mercedes-Benz 500SE

Truth be told, if we actually got the 212/213 E-class with manuals here in the US like we did in Germany, I'd have been into one of those YEARS ago. I cannot stress just how much I hate automatics. I don't care that they "win races" or whatever meme material is out there.

Reliability wise, this car has been perfect since resealing the intake and ridding myself of any vacuum leaks, even before then it always ran and drove. All the reliability in the world won't prevent tool operator error, which is exactly what happened here. There's a reason Germans hammer on torquing to spec, no more, no less.

My aversion to modern anything is really the lack of gearbox choices, but I understand, as Americans, it's our duty to drive with one hand holding a burger, the other holding a drink, and the other holding a phone.

I have a w213 E400 and I have to say that the programming on the 9 speed is excellent, changing the modes makes big changes in the shifting, and when shifting with the paddles it does so quickly.  Modern automatics are so much better than old ones.  

In reply to Azryael :

Plenty of newer Honda Accords came with manuals. Even w204 manuals if you want to stay Mercedes. As well as Mazda6's lol. All would be a fair bit safer all while being just as easy (if not easier) to dd and work on than your beloved 500SE. Then you could do you a m113+ 716.667 6 speed swap.

If I were to concede on the transmission aspect, I'd look at a CPO W222 S-Class, may as well get all the bells and whistles, and the cost for most are reasonable.

I'm strongly leaning on the LS route. The more I've pulled apart, the more I've had to consider replacing. I will probably put this euro motor back together, get it running, and pass it on to someone who wants a "Euro" M117. Family duties have passed to the Escape which has to be one of the worst and most boring cars, ever. So I'm looking at late '10s M5s, since it's the only 5er in recent years that's almost guaranteed to come with a stick.

Gen2 CTS-V?

OR

Get an e63 and 6spd swap it. 

Don't care for the look of the CTS, but I would love the CT5-V.

Manual swapping an E63 just wouldn't be worth the effort. I'd rather try my luck doing that to a 212 wagon instead, which are damn near impossible to find.

I've never had a motor fight me so much. The few seconds I ran the motor after I resolved the distributor timing issue, resulted in some glittery oil. Despite turning the motor over by hand several times, and then via starter, never developed oil pressure. Repacked the pump with vaseline, again, and we'll see what happens. Who knows, maybe little damage was done.

And to think this was all caused by updated the AC compressor, and the front cover cracking due to the use of an air tool and the fact that the early motors don't have a section drilled and tapped for the later bracket so it puts the holes off-center from one another. All could have been avoided with patience.

I want to drive my damn car. After studying the M113, there's no way in hell I want to deal with any MB motor again if I don't have to. The "purists" can trash talk American motors all the want, but a pushrod design motor is SO MUCH SIMPLER to work on. You have ONE cam, and replacing the timing chain is a BREEZE. I realize there are pros and cons to both OHC and OHV designs, but in my personal experience, working with OHV (at least for V-motors) has been a night and day difference compared to OHC counterparts.

One step forward, a million back.

Just randomly stalls out. The CIS system is a complete mess, trying to time the motor solo is an absolute pain in the ass.

The nonsensical journey continues. Give a car the love it needs, and it rewards you by being a shiny happy person.

In reply to Azryael :

Want me to build you a megasquirt system for it?

In reply to yupididit :

The only reason I haven't gone MS, is that I don't want to spend the money on a motor I'm going to dump in the future anyway. I was just hoping to get it running and driving for a little while longer.

Pretty sure the last 6 months or so it sat didn't do the fuel pump any good. It's obnoxiously loud, and might be the cause of the several times I stalled out driving it around yesterday. Hard to test for spark in broad daylight on your own on the side of the road, so when I jumped the relay and heard the pump, I assumed it was spark. The new-in-box relay didn't make a difference either. If I've got two bad relays, I may need to go buy a lottery ticket. Hard to test control and system pressures when I don't have a gauge to test it. But that's on its way.

Oh yeah the pumps def need occasional flow or they get pissy. 

In reply to yupididit :

E36 M3's loud as hell. I'm confused now, because I know the CIS-E in the 190E will have the pump purge with the key turned to ON, but apparently regular CIS, K-jet doesn't. It's been so damn long and after a while you kind of tune out sounds. I can't remember if the pump made noise or not with the key turned to ON.