280SE W116 exhaust system

The final things preventing me from turning the 280SE from a garage queen to a rolling restoration was getting the exhaust sorted out. It really was a mess. The rear muffler had been changed about 20 years ago (I have the receipt), but the rest was original. It really showed. Not only that, but the 280SE W116 exhaust for right hand drive cars is a poor design. It was shared with the early W123 M110 cars, and later corrected for the W126. At that point the W126 design was applied to the W123 too.

There are two exhaust manifolds, one […]

560SEC performance exhaust

Last year I had the exhaust replaced on my 560SEL. At the time the exhaust was rubbing on the drive shaft and had a few holes. I had a custom stainless system built that I am really happy with. This year I saved up to do the same thing on the 560SEC. While the SEC’s exhaust wasn’t rubbing, it was starting to get a few rust holes. It was also sometimes scraping on the ground even after replacing some hangers. In addition, somebody had previously removed the back box and welded in an oval tip I didn’t think suited the […]

560SEL Stainless steel exhaust system

I hadn’t planned on doing anything to the 560SEL’s exhaust system. However, when I was checking on the possibility of reinstating the self leveling suspension I noticed that the current system was rubbing quite badly on the drive shaft. In addition, it did not fit well and the hangers could not align. It was being held up with wire in places. I have now replaced it with a new 560SEL stainless steel exhaust.

The diagram below shows the factory system. While the Australian version of the 560 is quite similar to the USA version in many ways, it uses the […]