Okay, after living with my car for a few days, experiencing how raw it really is, I'm curious to know, how robust are these little 16-Valvers? In theory, can they rev into the 8s? I read somewhere on e-bay that they could. I'm curious as to what the racers have to say...

8G's? not recommended for a street 16v motor without beefed up valve train and improved oiling.

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'94 W124.036 249/040 leder; 8.25x17 EvoIIs
'93 W124.036 199/040 leder; 8.25x17 EvoIIs, up in flames...LITERALLY!
'93 W124.036 481/040 leder; euro delivery; 8.25x17 EvoIIs
'88 R107.048 441/409 leder; Euro lights
'87 W201.034 199/040 leder; Euro lights; EvoII brakes; 8x16 EvoIs - soon: 500E rear brakes
'70 R113.044 050/526; factory alloys; Euro lights

I am led to believe the basic mechanicals are pretty robust.. even though if not looked after, the injection etc can be a nightmare to try to get them running well.

Don't know about 8,000 rpm - the Evo I and II used a shorter stroke to allow higher revs.. but that was aimed at being useful for the race car..

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190E's:
2.5-16v 1990 90,000m Astral Silver
2.0E 8v 1986 107,000m Black 2nd owner
http://www.maylane.demon.co.uk/190esmall.jpghttp://www.maylane.demon.co.uk/190esmall2.jpg

Randall Kress,

I also can't say much about the rpm range over 7,000 (US units have a red line at 6,500 but Euro's have the red line at 7,000), but my general opinion is they are pretty tough. My Euro model has encountered the rev limiter (a kind of hard limit that shuts off the ignition at about 7,200 rpm on my car, then lets it come back on at something over 6,500 rpm) quite a few times and has been driven at over 3500 rpm for most of its accumulated mileage. No signs of any adverse affects for the car (a few tickets for me until I got a Valentine One). I think with reasonable care, meaning valve adjustments and regular oil changes (mine ran on Mobil 1, RedLine Synthetic, and finally it is on Delvac 1 now) mostly, they can run hard for a long time.

Mine is having the body restored after my son was hit hard in the rear on I-91 last November 14th. Had a nearly 4 months of negotiations with the insurance company and finally they agreed to pay to fix it and not give me a salvage title (initial offer was $1400 to have it declared a total, final negotiations were over $6K and all of it going into the car). That car has over 215,000 miles now and it gets regular exercise at the high end of the rpm band. Had to remove and rebuild the head (actually done by a local mechanic with a well deserved great reputation for first class work) because I did not stay on the valve adjustment cycle, but with the head off the inside of the engine still looked near new. My son is looking forward to another couple hundred thousand miles.

If anyone here can make a statement about the robustness of this engine at other than factory "street" configuration limits, it would be Benzmac. Hopefully he will pipe up on the subject. Jim

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Own:
1986 Euro 190E 2.3-16 (291,000 miles),
1998 E300D TurboDiesel, 231,000 miles -purchased with 45,000,
1988 300E 5-speed 252,000 miles,
1983 240D 4-speed, purchased w/136,000, now with 222,000 miles.
2009 ML320CDI Bluetec, 89,000 miles

Owned:
1971 220D (250,000 miles plus, sold to father-in-law),
1975 240D (245,000 miles - died of body rot),
1991 350SD (176,560 miles, weakest Benz I have owned),
1999 C230 Sport (45,400 miles),
1982 240D (321,000 miles, put to sleep)

the question isn't whether it can do it, but why would you want to? Unless you plan on changing out valvetrain, you won't be making hardly any power up there. I definately wouldn't try it without upgrading valve springs/retainers etc. Does anyone know what the r/s ratio of this engine is?

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83 300SD.......sold
96 integra SE....sold
99 a4 quattro....sold
2001 IS300.......sold
2002 330i.........current.
2004 highlander limited....current.