W210 Rear Axle Swap

[StephenSJason]

I'm mad but I've just taken in a W210 E320 Avantgarde with a broken rear axle, snapped totally.

The lure of the car was that the rest of it is a peach, every inch including the engine. We all know how these love to rot but this has nothing on the body, not an ounce and from getting underneath it looks very good due to low mileage. Anyway, my Dad has the same car presently but it's worth FA due to the rust his has, albeit immaculate interior and engine. He loves it and although he's gearing up for an E55K soon, he won't get rid of the 210.

So, what I want to do, as a project for us both is to mash the best of his interior (it's nicer), rear axle and any other damaged suspension items into the car with the snapped axle as overall that's less likely to blow away as rust coloured dust in the wind.

Both cars have the lovely AMG wheels of the period so, we'll either have a spare set for Winter or sell them to recoup any costs, seeing as we'll break what's left of my Dad's car and scrap whatever is left after that.

Any tips for the axle job? I haven't changed one before so any pointers are much appreciated.

 

[a111r]

Nice to see I'm not alone in making one good 210 E320 from two.
My project is mainly a two body panel swap, plus a few electrical pieces.

Yours has a snapped drive shaft then? They don't look beefy on these, I've noticed.

I've not changed one before but imagine the same steps will apply as for most other rwd Mercs.
The alternative would be to swap the whole sub frame and axle assembly if your Dad's is known to be all good.

Good luck with it.

 

[W210Virgin]

I'd consider a subframe swap too, as then you'll get to the rusty bits on the body, brake pipes etc, that are otherwise inaccessible! Assuming both cars have same diff obviously. If it's a keeper, worth looking in there as it will surprise you. It's a total dirt, ergo rust, trap up in there.