I just ran across this thread...

Heck I'd like to do the opposite.

Since my, (91 300TE), 4MATIC has a TC leak and I now have to replace a front CV joint, I'd rather convert it to 2WD.

Found some nice 2006 C230 Sport 17" offset rims for it.

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91 MBZ 300TE 4M 91 Jag XJS V12 94 Alfa Romeo 164 LS 80 BMW 320i 85 BMW 528e 86 BMW 325e 88 BMW 325e 88 BMW 325i 89 BMW 325ix 95 BMW 525i 96 BMW M3 78 Fiat Spyder 124 98 Land Rover D1 LSE 98 Range Rover HSE 4.6 93 MBZ 190E 2.6 96 MBZ C280 93 MBZ 400E 90 MBZ 300ce 71 MGB-GT 91 VW Corrado G60 97 328i 99 E320 Wagon 97 E320

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-t...r+sig+copy.jpg

At one time I was considering converting my 190E to 4-matic using w124 parts (that would solve my traction issues :-) ), but after seeing what was involved in such a conversion I dropped that idea. I especially like the picture of the front springs on a w124 4-matic :-D

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190E 3.0-24v (M104 980) turbo @ 0.8 bar
1/4 mile: 2.483 / 13.540 / 175.17 km/h (street tires)

The floor board of the 4-matic is totally different to that of the 2wd. The difference is in the transmission tunnel. It's so much wider it eats into the foot well on both sides of the cabin.

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Jay,
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-1995 Blue W202 C36 AMG (M) SOLD ;(
-1995 Black W140 S500 (Lady)
-1992 Black W124 E300 (Dima) (Ex-Mosselman
Twin turbo Kit).
-1988 Black W124 300 E 4-Matic.(Nadeen)
-1983 Brown W126 500SEL.(Old Lady)(Sold)
-1981 Gold W123 280CE.(Dareen)(Sold)
http://www.youtube.com/user/jayrasheed

A few years ago, I managed to track down a manual 4-matic transmission on ebay.de

SO much so that even the front seat frames are different.

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90 300TE 4-M
Turbo 103, T3/T04E 50 trim
T04B cover .60 AR
Stage 3 turbine .63 AR
A2W I/C, 40 LB/HR
MS2E, 60-2 Direct Coil Control
3" Exh, AEM W/B O2
Underdrive Alt. and P/S Pulleys,
Vented Rear Discs, .034 Booster.
3.07 diffs 1st Gear Start

90 300CE 104.980
Milled & ported head, 10.3:1 compression
197° intake cam w/20° advancer
Tuned CIS ECU
4° ignition advance
PCS TCM2000, built 722.6
600W networked suction fan
Sportline sway bars
V8 rear subframe, Quaife ATB 3.06 diff

And since the coupe has different seats (and tracks?) . . . Did Mercedes ever make a 4Matic coupe (whether exported or not)? If they didn't, then the seats would have to be modified along with everything else. Sounds like it became a Frankenstein's monster a long time ago (in 2004 when the thread started) but wasn't recognized.

Jeremy

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"Buster" in the '95

Our all-Diesel family
1996 E300D (W210) . .338,000 miles Wife's car
2005 E320 CDI . . 113,000 miles My car
Santa Rosa population 176,762 (2022)
Total. . . . . . . . . . . . 627,762
"Oh lord won't you buy me a Mercedes Benz."
-- Janis Joplin, October 1, 1970

How about using the front end of an AMC Eagle? The cars are over-engineered and quite heavy, so you'd have a lot of metal to work with. It is an independent front suspension vehicle, sits at the height of a normal car and they usually stuffed I6 engines in them in a standard orientation (not transverse like most front wheel drive cars) so there must be some room up there to transfer the power from the transmission to a transfer case to the front differential.
Another thing is that the Eagle is almost free in some parts of the US. People just don't want them because they were't too good on gas and were downright ugly. They are tanks but they are often abandoned tanks. I'm willing to bet that I could find a working Eagle for less than $500 within a 5 mile radius of me (east of Albuquerque, NM so there would be no rust!) In the case of a donor drivetrain, the car wouldn't even have to be working either, so you might be able to just drag a chassis off a lot for free.

Phil Forrest

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1972 220D "Trudy," named by a friend.

"The 220D sounds good... I suspect it is the only car that you need a calendar for, rather than a stopwatch, when doing acceleration tests."
Tom Abrahamsson

Not that difficult. Just transfer springs/shocks, knuckles, brakes, hubs from a 300E.
Or
if your 4M front CV axles are shot you can take apart the outter CV so your wheel stays mounted on the hub.
Remove the axles and front drive line.

I'm not sure if the tail housing is transferable from a 2WD tranny. If not a 2WD tranny would have to be transferred in order to lose the TC.

But if you really need a AWD or 4x4,
Jeep Cherokees sell at a low cost and are plentiful.
The 4wd system is rock solid and the 4.0 straight six is a great engine.

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91 MBZ 300TE 4M 91 Jag XJS V12 94 Alfa Romeo 164 LS 80 BMW 320i 85 BMW 528e 86 BMW 325e 88 BMW 325e 88 BMW 325i 89 BMW 325ix 95 BMW 525i 96 BMW M3 78 Fiat Spyder 124 98 Land Rover D1 LSE 98 Range Rover HSE 4.6 93 MBZ 190E 2.6 96 MBZ C280 93 MBZ 400E 90 MBZ 300ce 71 MGB-GT 91 VW Corrado G60 97 328i 99 E320 Wagon 97 E320

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-t...r+sig+copy.jpg