My 300 E lacks torque or power when going uphill or starting out. It feels very weak untill it hits 2000 rpm, then you feel the power. In order to get power of the engine I need to shift the Transmission maually into the lower gears. Please help me find a possible solution to this problem. Thank you.

Well german cars are like that. They were built for the autobahn=high RPM driving. My 420 doesn't get up on its cams until about 3000RPM. The only think I can think of is to put a lower geared rear end in it but that costs big bucks. It would probably be more cost effective and worthwhile to sell the 300 and get a 400. Just a thought.

__________________
'86 420SE Euro
904 Midnight Blue, Gray Velour
Dad bought it new, now I own it.

"A Mercedes-Benz is like a fine wine, it only gets better with age."

Xio

Your 300 feels weak because like all Mercs of that age, including my 190e, they pull away in second gear rather than first as standard.

There are a couple of ways of getting round this. With the S/E switch in the S position, when you want to pull away quickly, push the throttle down hard to the stop, it will then kickdown into 1st to pull off.

Or when stationary in D, pull the shifter back to 2 then forward into D again. This will default the box to pull away in 1st nomatter what throttle is given. You are gonna have to do this everytime you want to pull away in 1st though.

What you will find though is first is very very low geared, and it will quickly shift into second with a light throttle. Floor it in 1st though, and you will be pleasently surprised!

hmm... I don't think even first gear will give you want you want. My 300E has first gear starts, but there is absolutely no torque below 2000 rpm, its just the way the engine was designed and how the car ended up getting geared. The only solutions are getting a new car, a turbo/supercharger, or some type of engine strokker application, all of which cost big money... sorry... I wish these cars had more torque, but I guess thats just the way things go...

When I drove a 5-speed 300E Sportline, I thought it was a beast! I guess I've been driving slow cars.

I have a 230E that is just as 'fast' as my 300 Turbodiesel......

search this site for a resistor trick for these M103 engines.

Badinfo,

Have you ever driven a 2.0 liter SOHC 8-valve Saab 900S, from the eighties?

Or a Volvo 240 series car, in 2.1 or 2.3 liter non turbo form?

Or a 1991 Toyota Camry 4-cylinder automatic?

Or a new Hyundai Santa Fe SUV, (even with V-6?)

Or a 1st gen Honda CR-V?

Or a Land-Rover Discovery?

A 300E will absolutely slaughter those cars.

I'm sure your car is even faster than my non-stock S-class, too (I've got plenty 'o torque down low, though).

My point is, you shouldn't complain about a car that does 8.3 seconds 0-60 and tops out at 137 mph. That's a quick car, ok?

-Sam

Ya don't have to be so rough with the guy there Sam! And what are you talkin about your 3.8 has plenty o' torque down low? My 420 doesn't do jack until it hits 3 grand and then it acts like it got shot from a sling shot. My 4.2 has more power (HP and torque) than your does. The euro 3.8s had as much power as the 4.2s until MY88, but the american ones were severely detuned. Not that this matters, but just sayin.

__________________
'86 420SE Euro
904 Midnight Blue, Gray Velour
Dad bought it new, now I own it.

"A Mercedes-Benz is like a fine wine, it only gets better with age."

I had a 300e. They're slow IMHO (it's all realative, no?). First gear starts are good tip. Another tip? Buy a faster car. Sorry, I don't mean to be facetious. I just test drove a '94 E320 the other day. What a difference. That extra 45 ponies (172 vs. 217 if I recall) really make a difference. I think it is as faster or faster than my 560sl. Well, maybe not above 60. The 279ft/lbs of tourque in the 560 gives some umph!!!

With all that said the 300e was one of my favorite cars ever. Maybe the finest sedan design ever...IMHO.

__________________
Thanks,

Joey

'88 560SL Pearl Black/Java 152K
'94 E320 Anthracite/Grey 89K


Previously:
'94 E420 Black/Bamboo
'90 300E
'71 280SEL 4.5

My car has a custom exhaust system that pretty much approximates the European car's exhaust system, seems to add around 25 hp or so (american 3.8 and 5.0 cars have incredibly restrictive monolithic cat-cons). I guess torque is relative, but my car can easily pull up a steep back-road hill at 2,000 in 3rd without having to hit second for a higher position on the torque curve.

Btw, my car's stock peak torque was 195 hp @ 2750 rpms. I imagine that it makes its peak torque at a lower rpm than the I-6, thus, it has a torquey "feel" to it.

And doesn't your euro W126 have different cams than the US version? That would make sense, too.

-Sam

So you have euro manifolds with true dual exhaust? Yeah, all US Spec cars had crappy bottle neck exhausts, not just yours and the 500s. ALL of them! Yeah, mine may have a little "bigger" cam, but not enough to make a real difference. In the 420s, the 86s and 87s were almost the same in power output between euro and US. Then in 88, they bumped the compression a point to 10:1 (to compete with BMW) and that gave it about a 20 HP boost for KAT models. All US cars always had and always remained at 9:1 compression all the way to their demise in 91...which always kept the US HP levels to pre-88 euro numbers. Another reason mine may not feel as torquey down low is because I may have a high high rear end for high speed driving, whereas the USs may have had a lower geared rear end to meet the needs of most US roads. I'm not sure if the diffs are different, but there's a good chance.

__________________
'86 420SE Euro
904 Midnight Blue, Gray Velour
Dad bought it new, now I own it.

"A Mercedes-Benz is like a fine wine, it only gets better with age."

hrmm... I have driven a land rover discover, but I have also driven a 500E, many firebird ws6s, camaro ss, covettes, porsches, and even a 360 modena (once... for like 3 seconds....) and yes, compared to those cars, the 300E sucks big time. But you are right, compared to the old 80s econo trash, the 300E absolutely flys down the road, however, since its 2002 and fuel economy doesn't count for much, I find that my benz can't hold a candle to anything on the road, I mean... you got sentra se-rs, civics, integras, and even SUVs that go faster 0-60 than the benz.... lets just face it, the 300E is slow by modern standards.... and just about everything on the road outpowers it....