I've never understood what guys were trying to accomplish with aftermarket springs and shocks. Back in the day I made fairly frequent trips between southern and northern California. If I was in a hurry I drove I-5 and my '88 190E 2.6 special order five-speed rode like and S-class an got 30 MPG.

If I had some time I would go up CA highway 1 or halfway up US 101 or I-5, then across 198 to north on the 25 and back to 101 south of San Jose. On the southbound trip I would sometimes continue south on 25 south of 198, which is a paved one lane bumpy, twisty roller coaster, and with the soft OE springs, long suspension travel, and perfect damping I could run that road at near rally car speeds.

Like all cars I have owned it was not perfect, but needed little to be near so. The OE 185/65VR-15 tires weren't that grippy, so I bought a set of 6.5" take-off 300E wheels (same offset as the OE 6" wide wheels) and mounted a set of 205/60VR-15 Michelin XGTV, which definitely improved grip while giving the car an very aggressive look.

With about 57 percent front weight, understeer can be a problem, but dialing in as much negative camber and positive caster, equal on both sides, available within the adjustment range (negative 3/4 degree camber, plus 10.5 degrees caster) it is somewhat mitigated. The less front heavy W124 should be even better.

The only thing I never got around to was installing a 3.27 LSD axle from a 16-valve to eliminate the inside wheel spin on tight second gear corners and also further mitigate understeer.

All and all it's a superb freeway cruiser while at the same time being a pretty damned good back road athlete. The one task it definately failed at was hot lapping the big Willow Springs track... too much understeer, too soft springs, and not enough damping, but I bought it for road use and had two other competent street/track cars that could not come close matching the 190 on a long road trip. The trip to Willow was just a lark to see how she'd do.

My suggestion: Unless you're trying to turn it into a race car, take the springs and shocks back to OE spec.

I run cold tire pressure of 40/36. Maximum cold placarded pressure on the current 205/55ZR-15 Dunlop Sport 8000s is 44 psi.

Duke

I never understood what I was trying to accomplish either. Seriously, back then I guess I thought it'd give my Merc a more sporting character or something.



When I took delivery back in 2010 from a used dealer after buying sight unseen it needed the (as I now know, usual) slew of jobs: the wiring harness, head gasket, suspension arms/bushes, even a trans overhaul as second slipped. The springs and shocks were no good either so never really got to trial good condition OE spec. If I do as you suggest I wonder how my existing rims will look with the higher ride height. I imagine original spec springs and shocks also call for original wheels and tyres so the fatter tyre gives the illusion of filling up the arches. My indy mechanic just sources the stock 8-hole alloys from the local dealer so I might need to be sitting down when I call them.




Ah, a stick 190E 2.6 sounds like a joy, and much livelier than a slushbox E320 I'd imagine. In the 90's I had a garden variety '87 Nissan Skyline R31 (sedan) with a creamy 3.0 L motor (RB30E) and a five speed, a gem of an engine that I even liked more than the M104. It was quiet like the M103 but kicked down really hard.




Agreed. What I didn't know before I got my Merc was how it'd modify my driving to super content and laid back. I just cruise around town and rarely get bothered by much at all. A safe motor in more ways than one.