BMW E21, meet 550bhp M-B diesel...

Jeezus. Am I wrong for wanting to put one of those in a SWB Sprinter? LOL

That makes me smile, a lot. We've probably all seen the videos on here of Finns doing silly things with Mercedes diesels but this is the first time I've seen one swapped into something else. And a really leftfield swap for an E21; nice to see something other than an M20/30/50 six cylinder (not that there's anything wrong with them either )

Cracking find, looking forward to future updates.



Brian Damaged's Next-Day Hour Delivery

Excellent! Tell me more about the engine. Is it a relative of the ones in the '270 CDI' models?


I bet there are some bimmer enthusiasts squirming in the seats

It's the little brother to the 24v 6 cylinder holy grail of merc diesels, om606.
These can be found in w210 and w140's and as non-turbo, with lesser internals in w124's. All in 3-litre form. So I guess about the same goes for om605's, with the addition of w202's. All in 2.5-form.

The 603, which is the predecessor to the 606, with half the valves is very capable too, and much cheaper. the 602 is the 5-cylinder version and while it's absolutely not worthless it's often neglected in favour for it's big brother.


P1rate - often the mileage is very liveable-with, and with a pump from the leading company in diesel pump tuning it is actually increased!
And i'm pretty sure you'll get enough power to ruin a few gearboxes with the 602

I also love the fact he's started with a 315, surely the turdiest of all E21s... I think I like everything about this car. All that dieseley torquey goodness in a lovely clean '70s-designed body, and what does one of these weigh, 1200kg? Ooooh....