Ok lets start with telling u what I got and paid for it. 1985 mercedes 190e 2.3 liter 4 speed automatic mileage says 90,000 but the odometer doesnt work . Its interior is rough but thats an easy fix with a vacuum and some seat covers the exterior is great for the age its pretty. The motor sounds fine hard to start when cold or hot guessing cold start fuel injector is going bad. Transmission seems fine suspension needs help and the throttle seems unresponsive to my foot its proably me im use to my motorcycle .

First question should I upgrade the intake and exhaust ? Im a speed freak but I dont think ill notice the upgrades with the automatic transmission.

Next question should I even put money into the car I love the way it looks and I know benz is a great company and there very reliable and im a sucker for older vehicles and sleek lines .

Third question suspension upgrades should I upgrade or is the original just fine ? I know this goes with performance but I think they are seperate.

Last is how long do they last and hold up to the everyday use and abuse ? What can I expect out of a motor as in mileage with frequent oil changes and not stomping the pedal through the floor board.

Notes on me. I want a better sound from the vehicle not an obtrusive annoying sound and I want to keep the car because I like it and the name. My neighbor had one when i was a kid and ive always wanted one since.

Any thoughts would be appreciated as long as they are honest.

I voted no. You could spend 1000$ and easily end up with a car worth a couple hundred. I wouldn't let you give it to me.

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90 300TE 4-M
Turbo 103, T3/T04E 50 trim
T04B cover .60 AR
Stage 3 turbine .63 AR
A2W I/C, 40 LB/HR
MS2E, 60-2 Direct Coil Control
3" Exh, AEM W/B O2
Underdrive Alt. and P/S Pulleys,
Vented Rear Discs, .034 Booster.
3.07 diffs 1st Gear Start

90 300CE 104.980
Milled & ported head, 10.3:1 compression
197° intake cam w/20° advancer
Tuned CIS ECU
4° ignition advance
PCS TCM2000, built 722.6
600W networked suction fan
Sportline sway bars
V8 rear subframe, Quaife ATB 3.06 diff

I voted no. You could pour a lot of money into this fixing it up. If you do all of the work yourself, you are looking at around $1k+ for good parts just for the suspension. At 30 years old, you will most likely need to replace everything rubber on the suspension. On the drivetrain, you will need motor mounts, transmission mount, probably flex discs, change the diff fluid, and change all other fluids and filters if they look like they need to be changed. That's another $500 or so. You will probably also need to change many of the hoses, probably estimate $200 for that. If the engine or transmission need any work, you gotta add that. The interior can be left untouched but if you want it looking nice, that's even more money. You could end up sinking $3k-5k into it to get it driving reliably and it could still look like a beater and not be worth any more than you paid for it.

I say this because I ended up sinking way more money into my 190D than I should have and ended up finding huge hidden rust problems after putting all of that money into it.

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Current: 1975 450SEL, 83 300D, 88 Yugo GVX, 90 300D OM603 swap, 91 F150 4.6 4v swap, 93 190E Sportline LE 3.0L M104 swap, 93 190E Sportline LE Megasquirt, 03 Sprinter, 06 E500 4Matic wagon.

This is very honest and realistic advice.

I'm certain that many people have been here before but most people won't own up to their mistakes.

Check for rust

Then when you've done that...


...check for rust again.

If you are a speed freak there are better engines than the M102 - a supercharged M111 would for example be interesting.

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1992 W201 190E 1.8 171,000 km - Daily driver
1981 W123 300D ~ 100,000 miles / 160,000 km - project car stripped to the bone
1965 Land Rover Series 2a Station Wagon CIS recovery therapy!
1961 Volvo PV544 Bare metal rat rod-ish thing

I'm here to chat about cars and to help others - I'm not here "to always be right" like an internet warrior



Don't leave that there - I'll take it to bits!

So keep the car running as long as I can reasonably when the motor goes replace with the better version but dont sink allot of money into it. So im buying struts , mounts and shocks and thats about it leave it alone. Seat covers if I see a set I like . I am a mechanic so all the works done by me but I know my limits 85 was not a great year for cars in general they hadn't figured out the economy thing yet so there hard to diagnose .The m111 motor will it match motor mounts so I can just drop it and bolt it to transmission and go or do I need a diffrent cpu guessing I do.

Note I use a commercial account to buy parts all three motor mounts a 100 dollars front struts 60 dollars a piece 12 dollars for mounts shocks are 20 dollars theses are original mercedes parts from world pac if you want to check .

I would put in the money to keep it running, but would hold out on any expensive mods aimed at improving performance. It's just not a gutsy car. If you want more oomph, look for the 16V version.

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Prost!

The 190E is a great introduction to the brand, relatively easy to work on, parts readily available and does not require more than basic shop skills. You can easily work on it with just a basic set of sockets and perhaps a handful of specialty tools, like a slide hammer, allen bolt, ZXN drivers and vacuum tester.

The car is fun to drive compared to other Mercedes sedans of its time because of it's size, weight and that 5 link rear suspension. That same suspension however can be very expensive to recondition. It's more than struts and shocks, it's ball joints, steering dampers, bushings and linkages. However, when done right to bring it back to spec, it's a great ride.

There are no cheap performance upgrades to the M102 motor. There are tuning tricks that Porsche and VW owners did with their CIS fuel injection systems, but none really add much. Instead, I would make sure the timing chain and tensioner are in good shape, check the engine compression and work on reliability than power.

No im just planning on replacing the basic suspension parts make it ride smooth again the rest of the suspension is fine . Im going to check the timing chain and repaint the valve cover make it look pretty when I pop the hood. Already checked compression its with in spec and even . Also repainting air filter housing had a little rust.

Stop by 190Rev.net for all you need to know about the W201.

Go for it......you picked a good intro to the MB brand. I get that whole idea about "the car that caught your eye when you were growing up and you're life is not gonna be complete until you own one". Now you got it, have fun with it until you get it out of your system and then move on.

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'89 260e (212K Mi.), '92 400e (208K Mi.), '92 400e (not a misprint) (146K Mi.), '95 C220, '81 240D--Sold