OK, I have an 87 190E 2.6. I opened the hood tonight with the engine running and saw a red hot glowing coil behind the battery on the passenger side of the car near the firewall. It's near the relays and is protected by some kind of shield. Maybe it's always been like that, but I never noticed it. I put my hand above the coil-appearing object and it was red hot. Anyway, I'm worried if I have a fire hazard. Do I? If someone knows of this, let me know. I'm not logging off until I get a response!

Sounds like your resistor pack for the climate control blower is going bad. No, it shouldn't be glowing and yes, given the right circumstance (leaves touching it) it could start a fire. Turn the blower off and see if it stops glowing. If it does select one blower speed at a time and see which setting starts to make it glow red. I recommend repairing ASAP.

Read the following posts to see if your case is similar:

http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/showthread.php?threadid=9382

David

Benzmac, do you have this resistor pack
 

for the climate control that chowpit is mentioning. It looks like an easy replacement if I remove the battery.