Hi guys.been a while off the forum.I have an 87 190e 2.6 auto.and seen where it is stated this car tops out about 130mph.I have never seen this figure,always on the down side of 85.is something not right with my car?its pulls strong up to red line and then in high it barely makes 4000rpm.

My first inclination would be that throttle (on the engine now, not the pedal) is not going to wide open throttle. There can be various reasons for that, someone in the past might have just screwed around with it not knowing what they were doing, or hell maybe they let "junior" drive the car and the guy knew damn well what he was doing! Trying to keep "junior" from running into a phone pole! Well, no guarantee this would keep junior safe, is it any better to run in to a phone pole at 85 vs 130? I suppose. But I digress.
Another possibility is a bushing on the end of the throttle cable has been tampered with, there were originally rubber and are known to fail due to high heat, and someone may have done a, mmmm, "unauthorized" repair which is keeping the throttle from going wide open.
At any rate, I am guessing if you remove the air cleaner and have someone step down all the way on the throttle (engine off), you might be able to see the throttle is not going all the way open and that's why the car isn't as fast as it should be.

__________________
Click here to see the items I have up for auction at EBay

Click here to see a photo album of my '62 Sprite Project Moneypit (Now Sold)

Thanks gilly. I will definitely check on this throttle cable thing as sometime ago I saw some odd looking thing at the end of the throttle cable where it connects to the lever on the intake system.

Interestingly enough if you want to know true speed, you can use a Tom Tom. It shows MPH and you can compare to your speedometer.

Fuel filter is a good possibility as well

__________________
MERCEDES Benz Master Guild Technician (6 TIMES)
ASE Master Technician
Mercedes Benz Star Technician (2 times)
44 years foreign automotive repair
27 Years M.B. Shop foreman (dealer)
MB technical information Specialist (15 years)
190E 2.3 16V ITS SCCA race car (sold)
1986 190E 2.3 16V 2.5 (sold)
Retired Moderator

I don't think the speedo accuracy is being question, if he is only indicating "south" of 85 obviously there is a problem.

You do see "cobbled" attempts at repairing a failed throttle bushing, on the old rubber ones especially. There was that recall which replaced the rubber with plastic. If the rubber ones fail you see reapirs using such odd items as metal washers, wiring, cotter pins, I even saw a wooden thread spool used once, again using various items to secure it. These will often lead to a throttle not fully opening. The pedal might go to the floor but the lever is not being fully pulled to wide open throttle.

__________________
Click here to see the items I have up for auction at EBay

Click here to see a photo album of my '62 Sprite Project Moneypit (Now Sold)