R129 SL with AMG 55 Engine Conversion for Sale

[BTB 500]

they sound fantastic though

Absolutely, although still pretty refined compared to many other cars in stock form. As standard mine had virtually no exhaust note unless you floored it, which wasn't ideal! MB dropped the centre muffler (resonator) in 1998 anyway.

 

[jasmine]

yer had a few 500s in my time , all standard cars . got one at the right money a while back and have had a play with it .
its got a lovely low rumble at every day speeds

 

[alabbasi]

I have a 98 SL500 with the M119 engine and a 2002 E55. The E55 is faster by an order of magnitude. The 320+ M119 motors were mated to a 722.3 4 speed auto with a 2nd gear start and pretty tall gearing as the 722.3 was not an overdrive gearbox. I expect that whatever extra power it made was blunted by the gearbox.

If the OP kept the SL280 final drive ratio of 3.67 vs the standard 2.65 in in the V8 R129's. This thing will be quicker than the E55.

 

[pioneercollector]

Very nice indeed, I actually purchased my SL500 from Gloucestershire new years day 18 months ago - I would have had yours sat on my drive now if i was still debating about buying one!

Good luck with your sale, very fair price and lovely looking car

 

[jasmine]

I have a 98 SL500 with the M119 engine and a 2002 E55. The E55 is faster by an order of magnitude. The 320+ M119 motors were mated to a 722.3 4 speed auto with a 2nd gear start and pretty tall gearing as the 722.3 was not an overdrive gearbox. I expect that whatever extra power it made was blunted by the gearbox.

If the OP kept the SL280 final drive ratio of 3.67 vs the standard 2.65 in in the V8 R129's. This thing will be quicker than the E55.

actually thought about a diff change on my 500 as it very rarely gets on a motorway ,
i assume it would be much quicker
not sure if it would affect the esp etc though

 

[BTB 500]

actually thought about a diff change on my 500 as it very rarely gets on a motorway ,
i assume it would be much quicker
not sure if it would affect the esp etc though

On an '80s design like the R129 I'd guess the speedo and odometer would be based on a gearbox sensor, so they could well be out.

 

[fast28]

On an '80s design like the R129 I'd guess the speedo and odometer would be based on a gearbox sensor, so they could well be out.

With any rear diff ratio change you need to have the transmission module coded to that same ratio or else the gearbox will not go into drive. I remember all this when I replaced the rear diff. I had to find a transmission module of the same selector type used by the R129 and also used by a car that had the same final drive ratio as the AMG diff; I think I used a transmission module from an E420 in the end, worked perfectly! The speedo used the ABS wheel sensors for speed and odometer.