W123
 

Really considering a 4-2-1 header system for my 102 engine. In this part of the world, I got an '86 W123 200 (carburated 102 engine 2.0). Also considering installing a 5 speed manual tranny. Need advices and views on these.

there are not a lot of gasser 123s in the states and I think most of the people on here are in the us, you may want to try the 190e forums for 102 advice..sorry

I'm not trying to rain on your parade but the exhaust is not holding back huge power in your 102. I doubt you'd be able to tell the difference at all without keeping the engine over 4kRPM and then I'd think the gains would be marginal. Hanging a huge exhaust on a small stock engine is likely to lose power in the low rpm range which is where you need it most on the street. I'm a huge gearhead tinkering with everything I can and don't want to discourage you from modding. However you could spend lots of time and money modding the 2.0 only to end up with the same power as a stock 2.3. The best advice I could give to someone wanting to mod a 200E is to save up and plan for an engine swap. Lots of motors will fit the 123 chassis, benz or otherwise and pretty much all of them will deliver more performance than the stock 2.0L 4-banger.