I'm curious has anyone here done this swap ? There is a company in England doing a 6.1L V8 engine swap in the crossfire. I'll try to locate the site again but from what i do know is it's a mercedes engine with 425 hp. I guess what I am wondering is if there is an AMG engine that would be best suited for this vehicle, I've asked AMG with little result and going to try the local mercedes dealership next.

 

Brabus did/does a 5.8l V8 swap for the SLK...

 

See http://www.startech.de/homee.htm

 

Thanks, Startech was exactly what I was looking for. Does anyone have info and possibly pics on the slk swap?

 

Here you go, I posted this link a while ago. You will need seriously deep pockets though!

http://www.seriouswheels.com/top-200...-Crossfire.htm

Here's the original thread:
https://www.crossfireforum.org/forum...ad.php?t=10111

EDIT:
There was another discussion that touched on the V8 here too:
https://www.crossfireforum.org/forum...t=10041&page=2

 

I'll buy a Ferrari 348TB be for i spend that on my xfire ! my next question is what engine also uses our 6sp transmission ? building adapter plates can be a real pain in the *** i've found out from years of building off-road jeeps and drag cars. i'm looking to try and keep the cost under 15 grand an that includes new wheels so if i can find a decent MB wreck with a desirable engine its a go. i figured if i gotta put twin turbos and pull the engine to lower compression anyhow why not just swap it. I'm currently in the middle of building a 1999 35th anniversary edition. Ford mustang with a bored and stroked 351 to 427 cu in with 850 hp and 2 stage nitrous to boot.

 

Good Luck if you decide to do it. I'm not sure which other MB's use the 6 speed, I'm not even sure any of the US or UK V8's do. The block is basically the same as the V6 so it should mate up OK as long as the input shaft/flywheel setup is similar.
I think bolting in the V8 lump and mating it to the trans, then fabbing up the exhaust and ancillary mounts etc. is the 'easy' bit. The fun will start when you try and get the rest of the car to be happy when you pull the ECU and other modules. Even assuming you completely transplant the electrics from the V8 you may get problems with the rest of the integrated CAN systems scattered around the car. Just ask HDDP what happens when you start disconnecting things. You could just rip the whole lot out and make up a new loom and go for a custom management system. But its all time and money. It also depends on what you are trying to achieve - a sophisticated and refined road car with a 'factory' feel, or a no compromise racer. The latter is easier, the former is very difficult indeed.

I would relish the challenge but I just don't have the time or financial resources to contemplate it. So I wish you the Best of Luck if you go ahead.

 

if i decide to go ahead i'm going the custom ecu/management route. then i can plug my laptop in and really dial in the settings which best suit my driving style whether it be solo 2 road course racing, drag or just the weekend drive in the mountains.

 

from what i hear wiring a stand alone is a pain in the ***. i'm interested to see you do this, i've wanted to either put in a hemi (which would be the most trick but sick) the 4.2 liter benz or the 5 liter benz, but i hate doing things first after my rx7...

 

I think I may try a V8 swap in a few years when I can get used parts at more reasonable prices.

 

That 6.1L would be bad-*** for sure, but check this out. I detailed an 88' M-B 420 SEL 2 weeks ago and when detailing the engine bay I noticed the cam covers for the engine looked just like ours, although they were longer, duh. The V8 in the car made the 2 ton+ full sized M-B MOVE! So I thought to myself, when is someone on the Crossfire forum going to do this mod to their car. Over on the other forum I've been a part of www.contour.org it took sometime for them to start dropping in 3.0L Taurus motors into the CSVT's, so this M-B 4.2L V8 drop in should be a snap, given the larger pockets of this forum.

 

Why not make it easy and install a small block Ford, with 4 speed auto behind it. or a vortec 350 and a 4 speed auto behind it. Parts are plentiful and reasonably priced. Shorty headers are avail for both engines, as are FI changeover harnesses.

Make some mounts, weld a driveshaft, custom some pipes and such... Bam a 300+ HP engine under the hood (granted it might be some heavier).

 

speaking for myself, the reason why i wouldn't do that is because 1. i want to stay true to the brand, and 2. want to stay manual.

 

It could work but...
For me it is about the smoothness and driving characteristics also, not just brute force and hp#'s.
The drivability of this car is great and I don't want to ruin that.
I was thinking a V8 like in the SLK55 so you have an idea as to what to expect from the project.
Obviously a chevy 350 would be much cheaper but not necessasarilly better.
Just my misspelled .02

 

Some of us already have more than 300+ HP.

 

I still think a ford 4.6 or even a 5.0 with aluminum twisted wedge heads and if desired, a tremec 5 speed behind it would be the bomb. You couldn’t ask for a better driving car.

True to the brand..? gimmy a break... the brand is Chrysler. Most people dont even know its a Benz, and very few associate Benz with performance. (in the real world). Maybe a chrysler engine would be better, but somewhat more expensive and more difficult to find conversion harnesses and exhaust system parts. It would certainly be cool tho to have one of those chrome HEMI emblems on the back.

When people ask what kind of car that is... and i know you can relate, as they ask me every day, what do you say.? Does it hurt you inside to say its a Chrysler ? Do you almost always throw in at the end of the statement "its really a benz underneath" ?? Just curious... no offense intended.

 

It’s also realistic to think that most any engine swap will be involving some sort of electrical mastermind on hand. With the way the engine/transmission control computer is entangled with the body computer, and with indicators on the dash and gauges, you would effectively loose most all electronic items on the car. Traction control, antilock brakes, and so on... The benz engine upgrade might be easiest to wire into the other systems on the car… but i don’t know of even one person on here that’s swapped a SRT engine in yet and quoted success. Loosing antilock and traction control is no big deal, and fitting in a whole new dash/gauge panel with some different more modification friendly components would not be too hard. This is sounding more like an SEMA job show you would see on the Discovery channel.

 

actually when i said i wanted to stay true to the brand i meant daimler chrysler, merc/chrysler, you know, the company that makes the car. and a hemi would be ideal, but like i said, most people want to stay manual and the hemi is auto only, at least as of now. the challenger r/t is supposed to be manual, and 6.1 liters.

 

I have thought of the ford V8 and tranny swap as well as sum others but i also like the drivability of the car now and really don't want to change the weight with a cast iron block thats why the mercedes V8 is nice. Yes a bit heavier buy not bad compared to an american engine. The hemi can be bought as a crate engine from your local dealer i just don't really care for it and i'm sure the new 6.1L will be available soon enough. I've owned a few of european cars from a 300 hp VW GTI to a BMW 540i and the Crossfire is by far my favorite and all thanks to Mercedes. I cant wait to see if dodge will make the move and start putting mercedes diesels in their trucks but thats another topic.

 

The Ram 2500 Hemi is available with a 5-speed manual.