Transmission 250SL USA / European

[Maurice]

Hi guys, I'm new here! I own a 1967 250SL which I imported from Raleigh NC to the Netherlands.

I didn't drive it in the States, so when it arrived I noticed the car making a lot of RPM. Then I heard in the USA models different gearboxes where mounted. I once found a story about changing the gearbox to solve that, but do I also have to change something about the ratio in the axle? Your help would be appreciated!



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[JimVillers]

Maurice ... The Technical data manual indicates that USA vehicles had a 4.08 rear differential.  That may be the source of your high RPMs. The ratio should be marked on a machined boss on the bottom rear of the differential.

[Shvegel]

The late 60's were a time of the American "Muscle" cars. We were obsessed with straight line performance so I would assume Mercedes fitted our cars with lower rear end ratios so they were faster from a standing stop at the expense of lower RPM's at the top end.

[Peter van Es]

Maurice,

nice car. Can you define what you mean by "high"? Note that these cars are designed to be driven with high revs, and do not compare, even after axle ratio changes, with modern cars with less than 2000 rpm at 100 km/hour.

Be prepared to run your Pagoda at revs of 4000-5000 when driving it fast!

Peter

[Maurice]

hi guys,

thanks for responding.

Ok, I guess i'll have to live with it.

I never drove another Pagode, so I can't compare.

If I would really want to, could I just change the rear axle? Or isn't it that easy?

Best regards,

Maurice

[thelews]

quote:Originally posted by Maurice

If I would really want to, could I just change the rear axle? Or isn't it that easy?

Not as easy as leaving it the way Mercedes engineers designed the car.  The former owner of my 250 SL drove it fast and far.  Liked to talk about his 375 mile trips in 4 hours.  Without any real problems, he decided to rebuild the engine at 100k miles.  It was beautiful inside and he had to decide whether or not to go to the first oversize (he did).  Car now has 150k miles on it, runs like a dream.  At 85, I think I'm doing about 4500 rpm.  Drove it that way to Chicago and back, 200 miles.  Car ran smoother after the trip, really doesn't like the puttering around stuff.  Think autobahn!