It sounds like the car has been making the rounds with each owner trying to fix it. I'm guessing the previous owner was trying to fix the poor power problem also.

The gas has to be very old to cause the problem you have.

I just bought a E320 that had been sitting since 2008. Put a battery in it, cranked 2 times, and it ran on 3 year old gas. Oh the wonders of fuel injection and sealed fuel tanks. ( restarts after that took a bit of cranking but car ran fine on the road. )


It sounds like you have CIS injection correct? All of the intake plumbing and vacuum lines must be installed properly, if unmetered air enters the engine but not the air flow meter / fuel distributor the engine will run very lean.

Pull a spark plugs and see if they are chalky white ( very lean ) or black ( rich ). The chalky white from lean won't show up unless the car is driven under a load. Also look at the ground strap, if very lean it will sometimes turn blue and be bubbly.