{"id":2242347,"date":"2026-11-06T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-11-05T21:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2242347"},"modified":"2026-11-06T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-11-05T21:00:00","slug":"mechatronik-m-sec-review-a-great-reason-to-stick-a-kidney-on-ebay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2242347","title":{"rendered":"Mechatronik M SEC review: a great reason to stick a kidney on eBay"},"content":{"rendered":"
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What\u2019s that?<\/h3>\n

Something that will make you want to alter the wording on an ailing relative\u2019s will, buy too many lottery tickets, or do a light bit of bank robbery. In less felonious musings, a restomod Mercedes Benz SEC by German meisters Mechatronik<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The basic blueprint? A C126 SEC re-made entirely and then equipped with the 6.2-litre M156 naturally-aspirated V8 from 2007-2015 and the 7G-Tronic auto. Two of Mercedes\u2019 best ingredients in one delicious meal. And yes, the M156 was badged \u20186.3\u2019 in honour of the M100 motor, but because the capacity is 6,208cc, it\u2019s a 6.2 in reality. Sorry, nerd here.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Yet another restomod? Yawn.\u00a0<\/h3>\n

Stop. Right. There. Yes, it\u2019s another re-work, but when restomods are done right, they really do stir the emotions like nothing else. And this one is done right. With respect and thought and a really boring attention to detail. It\u2019s the kind of car you want to drive every day, in every condition \u2013 not some glazed special that\u2019s only effective in one per cent of situations, or a track refugee that can\u2019t be used on the street. There are very few cars I genuinely lust after, this is one of them.<\/p>\n

Okay, okay, I get it \u2013 you like it. But what\u2019s actually gone on here?<\/h3>\n

Right. The meat of it is a Bruno Sacco-designed C126 SEC from back in the day, the two-door coupe based on the 126-series S-Class<\/a>. So that\u2019s big-body \u2018Benz era, pillarless, big presence even in standard format. Understated, but not necessarily under-the-radar. One of these, you must take to Mechatronik in Pleidelsheim, north of Stuttgart. At which point, it all kicks off.<\/p>\n

Run me through the basics?<\/h3>\n

It\u2019ll have to be basic, because you probably want to spend less than the rest of today reading this. But the first step is complete disassembly, down to component parts. Keeping as much of the original car as possible. The body is completely paint and grime chemical stripped to a naked shell, then cathodic dipped \u2013 basically electro-chemical \u00fcber rust-proofing and anti-corrosion that doesn\u2019t miss bits.<\/p>\n

Then reassembled with new bolts, screws and panel gaps. There are no major mods to the body apart from correction, simply because these cars don\u2019t really need it. So no extra welds or subbed-in bracing. Which brings us to\u2026<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\u2026 the widebody.<\/h3>\n

Do a light bit of search-engine sleuthing and you\u2019ll find an AMG 500 SEC. Full wide-arch monster. The Mechatronik is somewhere in between. So there\u2019s a bodykit made entirely from carbon fiber. Front and rear bumpers, wings, side skirts, side cladding and slim rear spoiler are all melded, leading to a car that\u2019s very slightly more aerodynamic than the original. Which goes to show how precise the Mechatronik car actually is. And it also looks excellent \u2013 sort of stock in-period.<\/p>\n

The assembled chassis is then painted, which is to undersell the gloss. Customers can have basically any shade, and you can leave the carbon bits unpainted, completely covered up or kind of ghost-tinted, where you can see the carbon trim peeking through whatever bits of bodywork you find most aesthetic. Personal preference would see it covered, but you can have what you want. One Mechatronik employee follows each car through the build process to ensure continuity and quality control. Imagine that for mass production.<\/p>\n

One side note: the headlights come with two options \u2013 the original lights with a warm candle-esque glow and brighter main beams, or a full LED system with slim daytime running lights. If you want a more technical (and obvious) style, then the LEDs make the M SEC look more modern. We\u2019d go with the original look. Similarly, Mechatronik also doesn\u2019t supply the grille with the Mercedes star in the middle. The suggestion is that it would be easily replaced\u2026<\/p>\n

It\u2019s a good base, then. But what about the good bits?<\/h3>\n

SECs always had big V8s. So the natural choice for an OEM+ restomod had to be the M156 produced between about 2007 and 2015. Plenty available (E63 AMG<\/a> etc), powerful and naturally-aspirated.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Interestingly, it\u2019s not tuned in this application, just blueprinted and refreshed. With 500bhp and 465lb ft in a car that weighs around 1,700kg, that\u2019s enough \u2013 and reliability and ease-of-use were more important here than internet headlines.<\/p>\n

Mate that to the rear-wheel drive architecture and accompanying 7G-Tronic auto and you\u2019ve got a stellar engine\/transmission package nestled in one of Merc\u2019s most iconic bodyshells. That exhales through a classic stainless steel exhaust with a classic dual tailpipe, which you can have tuned to your personal preference of loud.<\/p>\n

Power is nothing without control though, no?<\/h3>\n

Absolutely, so you\u2019re looking at \u00d6hlins suspension based on the \u2018Road and Track\u2019 spec stuff, though not coilover, but designed with this SEC in mind. Dual-flow valving, set up how the customer desires, but with a definite bent towards fast GT rather than track car.<\/p>\n

<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Interesting here that Mechatronik does a more comfy version of the M SEC with classic style and interior, and a \u2018GT Package\u2019 (the silver car above) without back seats, front buckets and a nearly 100kg weight loss. That car gets the same powertrain (although a fruitier tune for that exhaust), but can have more aggressive suspension set up as well as a bigger brake kit. The standard Brembos are 360mm\/front, 330mm\/rear; the GT Package 390mm on the front with braided steel brake lines. Both are powerful and mightily regular \u2013 and easy to modulate even on slippery surfaces.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Wheels come in two distinct styles, both aping 1980s retro designs, all 19 inches. There\u2019s a classic monoblock, which can be colour-coded for extra scene points, or a machined cross-spoke. Both look fantastic, and are wrapped in modern Michelin Pilot Sport 4Ss. There\u2019s a Cup2 option tyre for the GT Package, but again, that feels a bit wrong for an SEC, even with the racy bits.<\/p>\n

What about the inside?<\/h3>\n

Ah, yes. Here\u2019s where it gets even better. Seating options? Four. Original seats restored, big squashy, sausagey electric classic seats, sports comfort seats or sports buckets. The GT Package comes with the sports buckets, which are fine, but the correct decision here is the classics \u2013 complete with the original electric push buttons for lumbar support and heating.<\/p>\n

The architecture is as it was \u2013 no changes \u2013 but you can have modern woods and inlays, whatever leather you require. And Mechatronik keeps all the big-button and original vent goodness; the knobs and switches feel like they should. This isn\u2019t an old SEC doing cosplay \u2013 it\u2019s an old car with bionic bits.<\/p>\n

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This isn\u2019t an old SEC doing cosplay \u2013 it\u2019s an old car with bionic bits<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

So the headliner, door cards, carpeting\u2026 it\u2019s all new, and in any colour or combination you can think of. The only big change being a dialset that has three gauges \u2013 analogue on the right-hand side pair, a round digital display tucked into the left-hand side porthole. That contains all the usual \u2018modern\u2019 info like gear position, mode, mpg \u2013 all of that.<\/p>\n

And yep, all the Sport and Comfort modes from the original gearbox work. You can option paddle shifters behind the wheel if you prefer, or delete them for an OG look \u2013 though worth noting that Merc did very small paddles at this point, so they\u2019re not particularly intrusive to the vibe.<\/p>\n

Radio and hifi is a Blaupunkt classic \u2013 so behind the \u2018tape deck\u2019 is a USB and aux port for streaming, and you can have ten speakers and three subs for a total of 1,560 watts of \u201880s hits. It\u2019s all essentially 120mph of autobahn cruising heaven.<\/p>\n

So it\u2019s an art piece just sitting there. But how does it drive?<\/h3>\n

Spectacularly well, if you\u2019ve ever driven an original SEC \u2013 or even an older S-Class. The noise is pure Merc V8, including the classic \u2018BRAAA\u2019 on start-up, which mellows to a muscular woofle. The GT Package car has a louder note throughout, but can get a bit boomy in this development car, and we\u2019d avoid \u2013 the SEC is better sampled without the boy racer in attendance.\u00a0<\/p>\n

But on the road, there\u2019s so much to like, it\u2019s hard to get your head around. The steering is relatively slow compared to modern cars, but be positive through the first five degrees of turn and the M SEC whips neatly into corners, controlling the body perfectly. It\u2019s not set up to be flat \u2013 there\u2019s body roll \u2013 but it just lets you know what\u2019s going on with the tyres and grip.<\/p>\n

And it sucks up bumps and road imperfections like a champ \u2013 then cruises on a derestricted autobahn at 120mph with only a bit of flutter from 1980s aero. Safe, stable and stupendous. But always, always a GT.<\/p>\n

That slight ease from the rack at the wheel makes it relaxing on A-roads, the first eighth of an inch of softness at the top of the brake pedal making for soft stops in town without conscious effort. It\u2019s comfortable, and swoopy and marvellous \u2013 an SEC with plenty of bite and modern manners, without losing the essential nature of the thing.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s the verdict then?<\/h3>\n

You have two kidneys, do you really need them both?<\/p>\n

Photography: <\/strong>Alex Tapley<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

What\u2019s that? Something that will make you want to alter the wording on an ailing relative\u2019s will, buy too many lottery tickets, or do a light bit of bank robbery. In less felonious musings, a restomod Mercedes Benz SEC by German meisters Mechatronik. The basic blueprint? A C126 SEC re-made entirely and then equipped with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,237],"class_list":["post-2242347","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-topgear-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2242347","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2242347"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2242347\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2242347"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2242347"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2242347"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}