Engine Swap: C280 V6 to C32 V6

[Rey99C280]

I came across this guy in Huntington Beach, CA and he said he can do an engine swap for 7-8K. This includes Camshafts, Port & Polish, computer tuning, valve jobs & Custom Intake. He's also going to powder coat & polish the engine.

I have a 99 C280 V6 w/ 97k miles and he's using a C32 3.2 V6 engine from a 2003 c32, 30K miles.

7-8K, is that reasonable? He said that a C43 or C55 conversion will cost cost so much because he has to change everything in my car. It's better to buy a used C43 and start from there.

What do you think?

[c55m8o]

Is his name Norman? If so I bought my 5.4L engine from him, and he did knvs's swap, which is now speedybenz's car, and he's already done one of the swaps you're thinking about doing already.

Whether it's him or not, He's right about trying to do a 5.4L swap into your car.

[rollinrealbig]

from C280 to C32 ? yea that seems worth it with port n polish plus the other stuff.

[c55m8o]

Oh, another point. Make SURE this engine doesn't come out of a car that was in a fire!

The Supercharger is probably shot if it did and you'll have to buy a new one. It's a lot easier to recover an engine (cylinder and/or heads/valvetrain) then the supercharger after water or foam got into it from putting out the fire.

My engine had a lot of problems; counter to what the guy I bought it from said. The guy that both re-built my engine and did the swap was going to do a supercharged E55 engine swap into a W205 C55; however they had to cancel the plans because that engine was in a car that was in a fire and the supercharger got ruined, so it would have cost the owner of the C55 too much.

$7-8K proposed is reasonable, but it won't be that if the SC is bad. So just do your homework.

[rman]

hmmmmm......sounds like a good idea...me likey!

for a 32motor, with s/c, and built top-end, AND labor, i think it's worth it.

but remember, price is what you pay, value is what you get. if you can personally justify that price and think that it is worth what you are receiving, then it's all good.

i don't drive more than 3 miles to get cheaper gas. I'll pay the $0.10 more per gallon ($1.60 max on our tanks) and consider it a convenience charge.....catch my drift?

[htfan1]

Just a question - slightly off topic:

Will the engine swap cause the car fail California smog testing?

I was told by a California smog test station that non-standard engines will fail smog cert (even if the emissions are below required levels).

Hope this is not true! Does anyone know?

[c55m8o]

Originally posted by htfan1
Will the engine swap cause the car fail California smog testing?
I was told by a California smog test station that non-standard engines will fail smog cert (even if the emissions are below required levels).
Hope this is not true! Does anyone know? I can't answer you directly; it's different state to state. One common thing I see is the engine must be the same year or -newer- then the engine you took out, which would be the case here.

[Denlasoul]

Can a 280 even handle the power of a blown 3.2? Chances are you'll need a tranny too.

[Rey99C280]

Originally posted by Denlasoul
Can a 280 even handle the power of a blown 3.2? Chances are you'll need a tranny too.

He said that my transmission will work with the new engine. Maybe it's a good time to rebuid my transmission. I was going to ask him about that too.

BTW. If anybody wants to buy a C280 engine, 97K, let me know. It's in very good condition, very clean & no sign of leaks. I'm doing the engine swap because I want more power.

[Rey99C280]

Also, he said that I won't have any problem passing the smog. I saw the engine he was going to use and it looks identical.

[Denlasoul]

Do keep us posted. It would be great if you snapped pics and did before and after dyno runs. **hint hint**

[Rey99C280]

Right now, It's scheduled for August 21st and he'll be working on it for about 2-3 weeks depending on how fast his vendors can work. He assembles/tune/dyno everything in his shop. I can't wait!

[Rey99C280]

Originally posted by c55m8o
Is his name Norman? If so I bought my 5.4L engine from him, and he did knvs's swap, which is now speedybenz's car, and he's already done one of the swaps you're thinking about doing already.

Whether it's him or not, He's right about trying to do a 5.4L swap into your car.

Josh Richards
House of Power
17671 Metzler Lane, Unit B-3
Huntington Beach, CA 92647
http://www.hopracing.com/

[Denlasoul]

Originally posted by Rey99C280
Josh Richards
House of Power
17671 Metzler Lane, Unit B-3
Huntington Beach, CA 92647
http://www.hopracing.com/
If he's doing the swap, you're in good hands.

[Rey99C280]

Originally posted by Denlasoul
If he's doing the swap, you're in good hands.

Thanks, Denlasoul.

So you know this guy? Do you know if he did one for one of the members here in Club202?

[c55m8o]

He frequents mbworld.org. He produced and sells a custom Vortec based supercharger system that one of the guys here with a CLK430 has installed (and that I've been considering for some time). He's well respected.

[Rey99C280]

Cool! That's good to know!

[Pagz]

the project sounds awsome man,get plenty of PICS!!!...that will make some pretty serious HP,cant wait to see how it goes!
also that price seems resonable for the task at hand!...just make sure its all on paper;)

Paul

[Proven Guilty]

Originally posted by 23K
the project sounds awsome man,get plenty of PICS!!!...that will make some pretty serious HP,cant wait to see how it goes!
also that price seems resonable for the task at hand!...just make sure its all on paper;)

Paul

[htfan1]

Originally posted by Rey99C280
Also, he said that I won't have any problem passing the smog. I saw the engine he was going to use and it looks identical.

This is great news! I may be giving him a call myself in the near future.

Did he find the engine for you, or did you have to locate it first?

[Rey99C280]

He was going to do an engine swap on his wife's car complete with a vortech supercharger but he said I can have it if I wanted it. I can find my own but he said that the engine has only 30K plus miles on it. I wanted a C43 but it will cost a lot.

[SLAMMED_C]

this is a very interesting project!!.. get lots of pics!
what year of a C280 do you have? Im guessing 98 or 99.
hope all works out well.. Im a lil concerned about the trans though.. your stock trans is the manual shift throught he "gate".. and the one on the C32is a tiptronic style.. Id figure you'd be ebtter to swap the trans too.. at least you'd have a better tranny too.

[c55m8o]

I wanna know how he's going to control the SC engine with your ECU ... your car uses/has an ME 2.0 control unit and the C32 uses an ME 2.8 system. Looking forward to see what he does.

[Rey99C280]

Slammed_C, c55m80,

You guys brought up a good point. I will definitely ask him about the "trans" & "ECU". I don't want any problems down the road.

I'm still waiting for him to get back to me and put everything on paper. He knows what I want. This project is all about gaining more horsepower and it has to pass SMOG! He said no problem so let's see what happens.

rey99c280.

* * * * * * * * * * * *
My ride: http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2418392/1

[SLAMMED_C]

Originally posted by c55m8o
I wanna know how he's going to control the SC engine with your ECU ... your car uses/has an ME 2.0 control unit and the C32 uses an ME 2.8 system. Looking forward to see what he does.
yeh thats another good point.. the M112 V6 and the AMG M112 motors are different.. and of course the wire harnesses and ECU's will be different.. need to swap both out.
if he;'s good at what he does Im sure he has thought of all this already.
I guess lets see what he has to say when you meet up with him!

[c55m8o]

I wish it was as easy as swapping ECUs and harnasses; else I'd be running a supercharged 5,4L engine from a W211, not the NA engine from a W210. But, maybe the guy who did my swap was wrong, so hoping HoP can work magic. Looking forward to it.

[Nitrogenbalance]

Originally posted by Rey99C280
Josh Richards
House of Power
17671 Metzler Lane, Unit B-3
Huntington Beach, CA 92647
http://www.hopracing.com/

I knew it! I was at his shop when I visited in Cali in April. I must say that he is a really nice guy with a really clean shop. He was 90% finished installing a C32 motor swap into a C320 sports coupe when I was out there. I had a feeling it would be him. You can find pictures and info of the C320/32 swap on mbworld. It has pictures of his port/polish job which looked to be damn good. From what I hear the C32/Coupe runs the balls and makes really good power.

Not sure if he has progressed but he was working on vortech supercharging his own C280 sport with a C320 motor swap to go along. Center exhaust was also in the works. I should call him and have him post up some 202 prodjects on this site. I must say that he has always taken the time to helpfully answer my calls and questions when I bother him!!