duxthe, thanks for the info, I'll look into the gear and chain.

Jay, I'm 99% positive it's from the age of the gasket , you can see in the pictures that it looks like it's started to decompose, coming from the fact that the engine was not driven for a long time before I installed it in my car. The injectors are new and checked. Just for record, AFR was ~ 11.5 and the ignition timing was 24 degs. @ 0.5 . Anyway, hope to change the guide rail Saturday and then do some g-tech timed runs (1/4 mile and hp) on Sunday.

__________________
190E 3.0-24v (M104 980) turbo @ 0.8 bar
1/4 mile: 2.483 / 13.540 / 175.17 km/h (street tires)