Mercedes M116 M117 V8 R107 560SL 420 560 SEL W126 Service Manual

Classic Jalopy's own detailed history traces this engine family's genuine lineage: introduced in 1969 with the 3.5-litre M116, followed in 1972 by the longer-stroke 4.5-litre M117 — "both engines share a SOHC design, 2 valves per cylinder, and always had fuel injection," evolving together through nearly two decades of production before the final iteration arrived between late 1985 and 1991. This shared architecture is exactly why Mercedes-Benz's own factory documentation covers both engine families together — a technician working on a 420SEL's M116 and a 560SL's M117 is fundamentally working on the same design philosophy at different displacements.

The M116 spans 3.5L through 4.2L displacement (bore x stroke growing across variants, with the block material switching from cast iron to aluminum in 1978), delivering a factory output range of 158-231 PS (156-228 hp) depending on year and market emissions requirements. The M117 stretches the same basic architecture further — 4.5L up to 5.6L (the "560" badge, technically 5.5 litres) — delivering 182-296 hp depending on variant and emissions calibration, with modified AMG-tuned 6.0L builds reaching around 380 hp in period tuning applications. Both families run continuous fuel injection managed by Bosch K(E)-Jetronic on later M117 variants, a wet-sump oil system, and water cooling throughout.

Classic Jalopy's own deep dive into the 560 engine specifically highlights a genuinely important distinction for anyone servicing an R107 560SL versus a W126 560SEL: "unlike the other 560 engines, the emissions version never had the compression ratio revisions... it was this emissions engine that was the only 560 available in the R107" — meaning the 560SL sold in the US, Japan, and Australia (engine code M117.967) runs a genuinely different, lower-power, lower-octane-tolerant tune than the W126's M117.968, despite sharing the same fundamental 5.6-litre displacement. The tradeoff: the R107's detuned engine can run on lower-octane 91 fuel, a real practical advantage for owners in markets with limited premium fuel access, at the cost of some power relative to the contemporaneous 500SL. This 639-page factory service manual specifically covers this M116/M117 family across the R107 (560SL), and W126 (420SEL, 560SEL, 560SEC) chassis, reflecting how much shared engine architecture, timing chain design, cam oil tube routing, and fuel system plumbing carries across these otherwise distinct body styles.

This factory service manual covers the procedures, torque specs, and diagrams needed to keep a Mercedes-Benz M116/M117 4.2/5.6-litre V8 (as fitted to the R107 560SL, W126 420SEL/560SEL/560SEC) running the way it was built to.