Daily Abuse:190e Nitty Gritty Baby Benz (Re)Build

[Suped]

I'm a long time lurker, so I thought I'd post up the current project I've got going. My girlfriend and I bought this '84 190e last year for her daily driver. Since my 240d was impounded, I've been driving a 1990 Camry that I have absolutely no interest in fixing up, so I've kind of made her whip my personal project. It's a perfect win-win, since it basically needs a ground up rebuild.

Right now it's riding on the PO's Eibach lowering springs and stock 14's, powered by 2.3 liters of sound and fury. My basic plan is to bring the car to stage zero, sort out a good suspension, and dress/fix up the cosmetics. This isn't going to be an anus-puckering performance ride or a rocker panel scraping show car. When the smoke clears, I hope to have built a clean, ideal daily driver for the lady with needed modernizations and a personal aesthetic touch.



Full To Do List:

Engine:

- Get the CIS working well. The car runs and drives okay. Has some cold start hiccups and the idle isn't perfect.
- Rebuild the head for good measure. To hydro lifter or not to hydro lifter?
- Take care of all those little things in the engine bay that should have been done a long time ago (water pump, dizzy cap, spark plug wires, etc).
- Fix the exhaust.

Suspension/Brakes/Stuff under the car:
- New shocks/struts.
- New springs. Riding on the Eibach lowering springs right now, not really working out. Not sure about replacements yet.
- Bushings, bushings, bushings.
- Fix broken sway bar mount.
- Upgrade to 4 pot calipers or rebuild current calipers.
- Replace brake booster.
- Brake lines.
- Tie rod ends.
- Wheel bearings.
- Find some wheels and new(er) tires. May go with Audi/Passat steelies, new wheels would need to be 16's to clear the 4 pot calipers.

Cosmetic/Comfort:
- Paint bumpers and trim.
- New front lip and skid pan.
- Paint engine bay.
- Refresh interior.
- Delete the spoiler, probably will just source another deck lid.
- Do something about the awful paint.
- Swap in composite headlights and add fog lights.
- Get the heater working correctly.
- Find a steering wheel that doesn't touch one's knees.
- Install sunroof motor, this one was missing when we got the car.

[Junya]

oh snap! an 84 190e. looks awesome for a 30 year old car! very impressed. maybe you can go air with this thing? i got a good deal for you (pm me)

[w201e34]

in for this! if you have any questions on the 190 platform, feel free to pm me. i've been messing with these since i was 16 and still have two of them haha. 84's are weird, they have a lotta year specific parts (the hood, interior bits, engine is completely different than later m102s, etc)

god i love 190s.

[Bronzit]

Oh jyessss. I can dig all of this.

[Suped]

in for this! if you have any questions on the 190 platform, feel free to pm me. i've been messing with these since i was 16 and still have two of them haha. 84's are weird, they have a lotta year specific parts (the hood, interior bits, engine is completely different than later m102s, etc)

god i love 190s.

If you've got any suggestions on a cheep and cheerful suspension solution, feel free to shoot them my way. I've got to get this thing off the ground a bit. The cat is scraped to bits (the heat shield is completely scraped away), the inner fenders are torn to shit from the tires rubbing, and the front lip has fell victim as well. I can't believe I'm saying this, but the 190 is sitting too low (gasp) for the shitty roads around here.

So up it has to go. Cut 500e springs have been suggested to me, as a cheap, but still comfortable solution. Haven't seen any of those at the pull a part lately, and that's really the sort of solution I need. This build will be kept to a strict budget, and I'll be selling things off as I go to keep this MB gravy train a-rollin'.

I'd like to get something close to the bull terrier-esque stance of the AMG 3.2.

[w201e34]

most any springs from same gen benzes will work. the most used are cut 400e springs, they're V8 stiffness and much easier to find than 500e. e320 or any w124, any r129 (sl), or even cut 190e aftermarket springs should be good. invest in good shocks, dont waste your time with KYB, theyre garbage. go billi HD or sports (yellow)

im personally running cut 400e springs up front, and cut vogtlands in the rear with billi yellows all around.


i think i have 3 coils out of the front and 1/2 coil in the rear (rears are much softer however). you would probably have to do some more, as mine is a m103 and has a heavier motor. cut down 400e or the like springs will be your best bet on price, and they are much stiffer than even the 190e h&r cup kit. also consider upgrading your front sway bar with a 400e one if you happen across one in the jy. hell, any sway bar will be better than the 2.3 one. you'll have to trim the ends but nbd.

[fromthelbc]

i went with a h&r cup kit in my old mercedes, loved it.

[Suped]

I'm going to go ahead and say that I'm not totally experienced with lowering a car "correctly." A big problem that I have with the current suspension is that the shocks/struts don't seem to have enough travel. They bottom out easily. I'm pretty sure they're not completely worn out, as they rebound pretty good. When I've got the car in the air, I see how much travel these shocks/struts actually have.

So I'm wondering what y'all do to solve these sorts of issues? I would like the car to ride as comfortably as possible, it is my girlfriend's ride. If I kept the Eibachs, I could probably just raise the ride height and take care of some clearance issues with some thicker spring pads. Though I can't think of a way to give the suspension more travel/comfort without raising the ride height dramatically or having shorter/stiffer shocks and struts. My buddy says my springs are worn out. Though, in my experience, springs don't really wear out.

I don't mean to be annoying and bombarding y'all with questions. I'm trying to figure out the best setup without dropping a grand underneath this ride. The best of both worlds, low + comfort. I mean, it's a Mercedes, it's supposed to float. On our last road trip, mpgs were in the low 30s and I credit those last few mpgs to the height. So while I'd like to keep it low, it's an absolute must that fresh pavement does not feel like an old gravel road.

On another note, I'm starting to think that EFI might be a more realistic long term solution to the CIS problems.

[zephyrueffer]

Though I can't think of a way to give the suspension more travel/comfort without raising the ride height dramatically or having shorter/stiffer shocks and struts. My buddy says my springs are worn out. Though, in my experience, springs don't really wear out.

You're basically just leaving yourself in a pickle there. You can either have a low car and get sport shock/struts so you don't bottom out or you will have to raise up your car.
And springs do end up sagging eventually.

[Bronzit]

Or you can get these and be set.

[Suped]

Man, I **** being a broke ass motherfucker.

[Bronzit]

Man, I **** being a broke ass motherfucker.

Hahah, I was once I bought them…

[skiierman]

Pics of ground clearance?

[lewda]

just slam it all the way! thats what i did with my wifes! she ***** it so much, its now my DD

Hers is at: http://www.stanceworks.com/forums/sh...ad.php?t=40896

Regarding your rough starts, check all your vacuums, i dunno if the 4 cylinder valve covers have the same issues with poor castings like the M103's but that was part of the issue, as well as a bad/faulty OVP relay. These relay's can be rebuilt by resoldering the connections or you can prolly find one at a pick and pull or buy a new one for like 75 bucks. They are located behind the battery behind a plastic over and have a red/clear cap enclosing 10amp fuses, also check your fuel pump relay. Id check all of that first.

Her/mine now car is lowered on H&R's for a four cylinder put into a 6 cylinder because i wanted more lows [i had them in a 2.5 diesel prior to that], put them in the car uncut for about 8 months to settle a bit, then cut the crap out of them to get it to where it is now, its settled a bit more after cutting because of the spring rate changing. It has shitty new KYB shocks/struts all around with KYB strut mounts, but it actually doesnt handle too bad, rough ride, but its lowered....so it rides like dog crap anyways. I bought H&R 500E front springs 10 years ago to put into a 190 when i was hardcore following 190rev but ive never found a need to use them. I have used W124 sway bars before but you may run into issues with wheel clearance when turning the wheels.

The main stream upgrades id recommend is brake caliper upgrades from E320, E420, or E500 if you can find them, but most W124 E320's have 4 pot calipers which is more than enough for a 190 to do a fair upgrade. W124 wagon rear sway bar links make a diff in the rear. Of course theres all the interior upgrades if you wanna rid that taxi driver style center console from the early models.

Hope some of that helps

[Suped]

I'm almost certain that the rough start is being caused by the EHA valve. We had bad, bad cold starts when we first got the car, and that was the issue then. I recently replaced the fuel distributor, AFM, and TPS, but didn't swap the EHA from the old fuel dizzy.