X204 Mercedes-Benz GLK 350 Manual Swap

In reply to Godspeed11 :

Hey shoot me an email (click my profile > contact). I've figured out quite a bit more about manual swapping these cars since I did the E550 so it still needs work to be completed. 

In reply to peanutpckrupper :

I'll need to wait a few days or contact an admin to do so since this is a brand new account and I don't have access to contact other members yet. If you are ok with it I could get your name from the selling dealer and reach out to you on Facebook if you're on there. Otherwise it might be a bit before I can reach out without sharing contact details privately haha. 

In other news I'll be picking the car up tomorrow morning. I'm already aware of the Rev limiter and cruise control not working. A good friend of mine is a Mercedes master tech and manual swapped his C55, he mentioned the MB swap guy in California for the computer reprogram. I saw (way) earlier in this thread that he didn't have any solutions for your GLK but if I recall that was a few years ago, and I don't know if the issues are the same with the E550 swap. Looking forward to talking with you either way! 

In reply to Godspeed11 :

I sent you an email through the contact form. 

shoot me a number:

anthony.taglienti@outook.com 

My wife says I'm not allowed to manual swap this one

In reply to peanutpckrupper :

but that might be the best one yet to manual swap!

In reply to budget_bandit :

Pretty sure it would be the first manual E63 too. 

One of these days maybe. 

My friend just finished an M156/manual W124 and it sounds pretty sweet. I think you should take this on!

In reply to buzzboy :

I need to make sure I like this car before I go and destroy the resale value on it, but so far I definitely don't like the automatic so I'm leaning towards doing the swap. 

Did your friend need to modify the ECU for the clutch pedal switch or did they just ignore it?

peanutpckrupper said:

Did your friend need to modify the ECU for the clutch pedal switch or did they just ignore it?

It's his business so he's been a little secretive about this car as it's his test mule for m156 swaps. 

buzzboy said:

peanutpckrupper said:

Did your friend need to modify the ECU for the clutch pedal switch or did they just ignore it?

It's his business so he's been a little secretive about this car as it's his test mule for m156 swaps. 

You can tell him I already documented how to manual swap V8 ME9.7 ECUs for free on grassroots motorsports lmao

In reply to peanutpckrupper :

Its the video I sent you of the 6.3 swapped 500e

Man... if you could figure out manual swapping that 212 I'd have to snag myself a wagon and follow suite.

I've finally started my own swap in my '98 Durango; can't wait for that to be done. Driveshaft and shift tower for the NV3500 are the last bits I need. In my case it helps that the 5.9 came with standard options in the HD Ram trucks.

Old enough that the PCM shouldn't be angry about it either.

For years I wanted to grab a 204, and manual ones did pop up here from time to time, but I've spent enough time in 204s as loaners that I grew to dislike the overall feel of those cars. Still, the AMG versions are nothing to scoff at in terms of performance.

In reply to Azryael :

A manual Durango would be sweet! I had a ram 2500 with the 5.9 and 5 speed a few years ago.

In reply to peanutpckrupper :

I am excited, to say the least. It's been in the family since new. The auto is finally on its way out after about 130,000 miles, so I'd rather make it the way I want it rather than doing a built 46RE.

Lord knows I've been going back and forth with ideas for my 500SE to swap in a later MB motor and go manual. So far an M113 seems the easiest route as baseline tunings exist for standalone fuel injection, but the allure of something even newer seems fun, too.

Shame about the subframe debacle, but it seems you've got it all figured out one way or another. Will be loads of fun to drive, I'm sure.

In reply to Azryael :

M113 definitely seems to be the go to engine for the older Mercedes out there, lots of info and aftermarket support. 

It is loads of fun! I have almost 9000 miles on the v8/manual swap and it's a blast.

For anyone that manual swaps an M273: use the thin flexplate spacer to space the flywheel out from the crank, not the thick one. 

I accidentally put the thick one on and had no clutch. Had to pull the transmission back out so I could put the smaller spacer on. Dropping the trans takes less than an hour but still is a bit of a pain in the ass. 

Issue #2 that is really my own fault for not knowing better: The donor engine came from a car that had "speed sensitive power steering". Basically it's two solenoids that control the flow of power steering fluid from the pump to the rack and pinion, one on each side. My GLK doesn't have this option so none of the wiring is in place for this and my steering rack doens't have the solenoid, and I figured I'd just hook my harness up to the solenoid on the power steering pump and see what happens. 

No power steering is what happens. 

So I cut the connector off the donor harness for the pump solenoid and wired it up to a switched 12v source on the GLK so the solenoid is always open and allowing all fluid when the key is on, and that fixed my issue. 

If that didn't work I think I would have had to pull the engine to replace the power steering pump with my old one since there's so little room in the engine bay...

just curious, you might have already covered it but why are you putting another engine in it? also i have a question for you, i personally was thinking about mods for my m273, i want to port the heads and get the stronger springs from the high output sl350 m272 and drop it in the engine and then raise the rpm to 7k as well as reground the cams but i dont know anyone who can reground mercedes cams, do you know who can do that?

keep up the project i actually get excited watching you build this thing more and more!!!

In reply to Xanderscrib :

When I put the v8 in originally I bought one from a RWD CLS because my GLK is RWD, well turns out all GLKs use the 4matic subframe and the RWD oil pan interferes with that. In the short term I just cut out the interfering part of the subframe and called it a day, but I'm prepping to sell the car now so I needed to  fix that. So new engine + new subframe time. 

No idea on the cams, I know the Buildityourself guys had a hell of a time finding someone to do their cams maybe reach out to them. If I were you I would just find a supercharger (maybe the JLR v8 one would work well) to adapt on and send it.

Might want to check if Oregon Cams can do a regrind; they work on all sorts of niche applications.

In reply to MadScientistMatt :

im definitely keeping them in mind Lol, yeah not a lot of places does niche stuff, really sucks that the companies that made cams for the m273 no longer make them.

If you search "Hillbilly Hammer" on you tube, you'll find a guy who had custom m113 cams made for his carbied M113 powered W124, I forget who did them, but they may be a lead.

In reply to MadScientistMatt :

They said they can't grind them :(

Going up for sale on Cars and Bids soon so I had some pictures taken, I think it looks great.