I have recently purchased 1993 190E 2.3 w/ 109k. It is in very good condition. This is the first Mercedes I have owned. The care seams to run fine compared with 4 cylinder cars I have owned. A little sluggish at low rpms (under 3000) but absolutely no power going up hill. You have to run at 4500 to 4500rpm just to pull it. I am just wondering is the 190E 2.3 (8 valves) shy on low end power are is there something wrong with my car? Any input would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

This is atypical behavior.

Check the usual suspects, such as a plugged air filter, low fuel pressure, etc.


Does car sputter, miss, smoke, not much to go on with your limited desription.

Jim

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14 E250 BlueTEC black. 45k miles
95 E320 Cabriolet Emerald green 66k miles
94 E320 Cabriolet Emerald green 152k miles
85 300TD 4 spd man, euro bumpers and lights, 15" Pentas dark blue 274k miles

No the car drives fine compared to other 4 cylinders I have driven. Not the fastest one of the bunch. I have been curious about the performance with what I have read about this car and mine is not that strong at low rpms and going up a hill this car has no power. I have never driven Mercedes and I have nothing to compare to. It has a new air filter and new plugs. I’ve ran some fuel injector cleaner though it but it didn’t seam to change any thing. I don’t know how to check the fuel pressure. I just bought the Haynes repair manual and I will look for it when I get home. From what I have read so for the manual doesn’t cover as much as I had hoped it would. Thank you for your post.

...

I wonder if your transmission is not downshifting. If the engine is smooth, try:

Manually dropping into a lower gear, and see if the performance doesn't improve.

If it does, might be a bad kickdown switch or misadjusted linkage.

If your used to a Stage 1 GS, this car will "feel" slow. Compared to my 83 turbodiesel, they feel "ok"......

Jim

__________________
14 E250 BlueTEC black. 45k miles
95 E320 Cabriolet Emerald green 66k miles
94 E320 Cabriolet Emerald green 152k miles
85 300TD 4 spd man, euro bumpers and lights, 15" Pentas dark blue 274k miles

As basic guesses, if you are describing a profound lack of power under load, then obvious suspects I think are fuel filter and clogged cat. Could be other things of course but you should verify those two.

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1998 C230 330,000 miles (currently dead of second failed EIS, yours will fail too, turning you into the dealer's personal human cash machine)
1988 F150 144,000 miles (leaks all the colors of the rainbow)
Previous stars: 1981 Brava 210,000 miles, 1978 128 150,000 miles, 1977 B200 Van 175,000 miles, 1972 Vega (great, if rusty, car), 1972 Celica, 1986.5 Supra

The transmission is working properly, I will try the fuel filter. The catalytic converter may be suspect as not knowing what type of fuel the previous owners used. Thank you for your help.