Upgrading Performance on 190E 2.6

The 190E 2.6 is a great car, but it needs a little more power. Does anyone know of a way I can get an easy 15 or 20 more horsepower out of the engine. I was thinking about removing the resonator, but it will probably make the car louder and I am not sure that it will acheive any added horsepower increase.

[Lee Scheeler]

The motor in that car is not readily tuneable. You can tweak it for much more power, but only at big expense. It is usually cheaper to trade up to a faster factory car. Search the shop forum archives for performance tweaks on the M103's. Have driven a 300E with the rear muffler completely gone (road hazard, not personal taste) and it just made for more noise. You could do a camshaft but there will be driveability issues to consider. (and most of your gains will be top end only) In the meantime, just shift by hand to maximize the power you do have. What is your budget for this project? That can determine just how much "faster" is possible.

Hope this helps...Lee

I think that your idea of trading up the MB model line is the best idea. I am looking for a 93-94 400E/E420. The car has very good performance even with a very low gear ratio. I would like a 500E, but the last one i saw was 36000 for a 92' with 55k miles. As for the 400E are they reliable and what are the common repairs that you see on them.

[Lee Scheeler]

JP,
Search the shop forum archives for references to 400E's, E420's, and 500E's. I guarantee you will come up with a TON of good stuff. If you still have any questions after that I'll be more than happy to go over it with you.

Hope this helps...Lee