Diametrical, Yes the car is definetely more sprightly. It has more hill climbing ability. I have made a trip with the Benz to Utah and through the California Sierra Nevadas and the car was extremely drivable. Seattle hills are not a problem for this configuration. This does not change the top end of the car, so 88mph is about as fast as it goes unless you are to change the rear end (pumpkin, 3rd Member) and this will only get you to ~95mph. The speedo is matched to the rear end BTW.

What I wanted to impart is that with the subtle differences with the interface of the 240D and the 300D is that to overcome some of the problems (ie Gorilla knob, vacuum shut-off, length) you will either have to have some sort of kluge or be very creative in how you overcome the difficulty. The easy part is stuffing the engine and tranny into the car, the hard part is getting it all to operate safely from the driver's seat.

I proposed this job to two local and highly respected european mechanics. Both flatly declined to accept the job.

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1975 240D 4-Spd
Converted to 3.0l (617)