Advice needed.Engine Swap for a merc w123

[skmasterhian]

greetings zth'ians...im in a bit of a dilemma right now, I own a 1981 W123 e class merc..and i think its time for a new heart transplant,the current engine is in a sorry state and i dont think i want to spend any cash on it anymore..and im thinking of upgrading the engine..there are 4 choices in my head right now.. Toyota 1jzGTE,1jzGTE vvti,Rb25det, and lastly Rb20 det..any advice would be good enough for me..cheers..

 

[DanzEterna]

1jz or Rb25 bro.....
but id personally go for rb25 if u ask me....if got higher budget rb26.

 

[cheeft]

i'm driving a W124 with 1JZ... like you, my engine is not in a very good state so i decided to change it... the reason i choose 1JZ is because the engine looks much neater without cable or wiring flying all over the place... besides, standard 1JZ is more powerful than RB25 (please don't shoot me as this is base on experience!!!)... RB will comes alive with mods... if i were you, i will steer clear off RB20 as i think it is not powerful enough for our heavy car...

as for RB26, i won't go this route unless you have really deep pocket... as RB26 comes with 4wd and you will not pass JPJ or puspakom...

 

[skmasterhian]

i'm driving a W124 with 1JZ... like you, my engine is not in a very good state so i decided to change it... the reason i choose 1JZ is because the engine looks much neater without cable or wiring flying all over the place... besides, standard 1JZ is more powerful than RB25 (please don't shoot me as this is base on experience!!!)... RB will comes alive with mods... if i were you, i will steer clear off RB20 as i think it is not powerful enough for our heavy car...

as for RB26, i won't go this route unless you have really deep pocket... as RB26 comes with 4wd and you will not pass JPJ or puspakom...

thanks bro for the advice,by the way is there any difference between a normal 1jz and the vvti version apart from the variable valve timing? which one are you using now? and how much did it cost you to install and get all the problems sorted out? any mods for the suspension and brakes after swapping? and any problems since you convert? hehe sorry for the many questions..going to start this project car soon..

 

[cheeft]

thanks bro for the advice,by the way is there any difference between a normal 1jz and the vvti version apart from the variable valve timing? which one are you using now? and how much did it cost you to install and get all the problems sorted out? any mods for the suspension and brakes after swapping? and any problems since you convert? hehe sorry for the many questions..going to start this project car soon..

i'm using the normal 1JZ without vvti... the difference between these two is non vvti is twin turbo while vvti is using single turbo... power wise, vvti is a bit powerful and the delivery is more linear... fuel consumption is much better as well...

i got my engine quite cheap (RM3200) and workmanship around RM5400 for transplant... as for suspension, i'm using custom Titan adjustable while brake i change mine to 4 pot ATE brake... please make sure your mechanic put the ecu in the car... my mechanic put mine in the engine compartment (standard W124 location) and water seep inside and make the ecu faulty!!! other than that, not much problem i guess... 1JZ have weak alternator so keep an eye on it...

if you don't wish to endorse, might as well get 2JZ!!! actually i regretted not getting 2JZ...

 

[skmasterhian]

i'm using the normal 1JZ without vvti... the difference between these two is non vvti is twin turbo while vvti is using single turbo... power wise, vvti is a bit powerful and the delivery is more linear... fuel consumption is much better as well...

i got my engine quite cheap (RM3200) and workmanship around RM5400 for transplant... as for suspension, i'm using custom Titan adjustable while brake i change mine to 4 pot ATE brake... please make sure your mechanic put the ecu in the car... my mechanic put mine in the engine compartment (standard W124 location) and water seep inside and make the ecu faulty!!! other than that, not much problem i guess... 1JZ have weak alternator so keep an eye on it...

if you don't wish to endorse, might as well get 2JZ!!! actually i regretted not getting 2JZ...

this really gave me some insight on how my project will cost thanks mr cheeft,actually its amazing how cheap toyota engines can be, well power is nothing without control and i dont think my stock suspension can handle the torque produced by the 1jz btw where did you get your custom suspension done? it is near impossible to find aftermarket suspension kits for the w123,and my brakes are just gone due to warping when i came down the karak highway a few months ago lots of smoke,btw are you using the same size rotors?..

I will remind my surgeon to place the ecu in the right place,and how much did you cough out for the suspension and brakes? because im going to start out with those first before touching the engine..

too bad i want to endorse my ride, ive been looking at some 2JZ's on the market and damn they are really tempting but im sure the 1jz will be more than enough to get me to A to B and smoke some ah bengs along the way...thanks for the explanation bro,hopefully my dreams will come soon..

 

[cheeft]

this really gave me some insight on how my project will cost thanks mr cheeft,actually its amazing how cheap toyota engines can be, well power is nothing without control and i dont think my stock suspension can handle the torque produced by the 1jz btw where did you get your custom suspension done? it is near impossible to find aftermarket suspension kits for the w123,and my brakes are just gone due to warping when i came down the karak highway a few months ago lots of smoke,btw are you using the same size rotors?..

I will remind my surgeon to place the ecu in the right place,and how much did you cough out for the suspension and brakes? because im going to start out with those first before touching the engine..

too bad i want to endorse my ride, ive been looking at some 2JZ's on the market and damn they are really tempting but im sure the 1jz will be more than enough to get me to A to B and smoke some ah bengs along the way...thanks for the explanation bro,hopefully my dreams will come soon..

i believe the reason 1JZ is cheap is because not a lot of car can fit it... only a handful of RWD car benefit from it... i got my adjustable suspension from Titan... i'm not so sure about aftermarket suspension though... maybe you can try Bilstein??? i got the absorber for RM2200 and adjustable unit for RM1400... as for the brake, i change the piston and the disc together... the ATE four pot piston uses much larger disc... the same size as those Brembo found on subie or evo...

 

[skmasterhian]

Well im looking forward to getting my w123 a new heart, I looked up the titan suspension site looks like a reliable company but too bad its so far from my place right now,well so far the bilstein suspensions that i found were all standard OEM ones...thanks mr cheeft for the tips, if i have any more questions i hope you can help me answer some of them..thanks a bunch

 

[feezdya]

hi there,

if i were you, ill go for standard new version mercedes engine or upgrade to v8 mercedes etc...because the cost of conversion (other than plug and play engine) is about 5k and above..you need to custom mounting and for sure you have problem later when comes to jpj inspection, change ownership etc..unless if you dont mind to pay more to runner then go for it..fyi, my beemer running 1jz vvti engine..the main issue, idle valve always got problem and also you have to upgrade brake system..for rb engine, now im running 3 rb26 engines r33, and bnr34 and seriously i have no issue on it..but only one of my bnr34 is daily driving and the rest are weekend cars..

fyi Mr cheeft, there is no issue on 4wd as you can disable the 4wd by cutting out the front oil sum (4wd gbx)..even 1jz engine is more cheaper than RB, but bare in mind that 1jz parts is hard to get and pricey rather than RB... for smooth and daily driving ill choose 1jz engine...or else original engine is much more better...there are plenty mercs halfcuts selling in Kemuning..

btw dun only count on engine conversion etc..ive seen many project abandoned due to money issue and also you have to find very2 good workshop that only can focus on your car...if you can find one, estimate conversion will be around 1 month or else will drag to a year etc...

first you must clarify what you needs on this project i.e daily ride, power, family crusing etc..how much can you spend on it..bla bla bla..what i can say to, good luck buddy :p