Just curious if anyone that did the swap on a w201 notice a big difference in power? I.e., take off from stop or when accelerating doing freeway speed?

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1990 190E 3.0L

I don’t think it’ll be substantial. It’s only a 17hp at the crank difference.

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Only diesels in this driveway.
2005 E320 CDI 243k Black/Black
2008 Chevy 3500HD Duramax 340k
2004 Chevy 2500HD Duramax 220k

I've not done the swap but have had both engines. The 300 Has more torque but still revs right up if you keep your foot down. Not the power of an 8 but nice cars to drive.

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

You can get a substantial increase is low end power by removing the OE 750K R16/1 resistor After doing this I can drop it into fifth gear at 35 MPH, and around town fuel consumption improved from high teens to low twenties.

Prior to removing the resistor fifth was unusable below about 45 MPH.

Removing the resistor increases the rate of spark advance with engine revs. It's the equivalent of installing lighter centrifugal springs in sixties vintage distributors.

For emissions testing I short the R16/1 connector (and also plug the vacuum advance hose). This slows the rate of advance, which increases EGT to keep the catalyist hotter. From being on the ragged edge of failure it now passes comfortably, but it won't get out of it's own way below about 2000 revs.

I did a bunch of temperature testing and documented the spark advance maps... easy search, threads stated by me.

Duke

What do you mean 5th gear?

I special ordered my '88 190 2.6 with a five speed manual transmission. It was only available as special order, and it took me four months to get it. I don't know how many 190E 2.6 five speeds were imported in '88, but from what evidence I was able to gather likely no more than 200.

It has the same 3.27:1 axle ratio as the automatic that has a direct drive fourth gear, but fifth in my five-speed is 0.80:1.

Revs at 60 in fifth are about 2200 and 3000 at 80, and like I said with the more aggressive spark advance map it will easily pull from about 35 MPH in fifth which is about 1500.

And as I previously said with the OE 750K R16/1 resistor the rate of advance increase with engine revs was lazy, which killed low end torque and fifth was not usable below about 45 MPH.

Read the threads I started on this subject.

Duke

I don't have all of that. I'm just swapping the motor. Not the transmission. So is your answer still relevant to the automatic regarding the resistor?

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1990 190E 3.0L

Yes, but with a torque converter trans that has about a 2000 stall speed, it won't be as noticeable.

It takes two minutes to remove the resistor, so just try it. On a W201 the resistor is plugged into a connector that's tied to the plastic divider on the inboard side of the battery compartment. Unwrap the electrical tape and remove the resistor.

Duke

I have a 1993 2.6 sportline 5 speed with 255k miles. Its a little sluggish and was thinking of the same swap. Basically no maintenance records but a 5 speed 2.6 190e's are rare, so I bought it anyways. Its a fun car to drive but it could use some more HP.

Duke -Could you post a picture where that resistor resides?

Thanks,

Dave

Sorry, I don't have any kind of digital camera. Follow my previous instructions on how to spot it. You should be able to see and access it without removing the battery, but remove it (which is easy) if you have to.

With a five speed you will no longer have that soggy feeling engine below 2000 and noticeably better around town fuel economy to boot because you can upshift at 2000.

Duke