190e engine swap

[djwymo]

Hi there, new to the forum!

Fancied modding an old school merc for quite a while now and have seen a local barn find basic 190e with 45k miles sold as a none runner.

I've done a bit of searching on the forum and basically want to know what the easiest options are to swap engine & box to something bigger and more tuneable.

As it's the 1.8 and not the 2.6 190e am I right in thinking this limits me slightly due to slam panel / radiator / steering box?

With this said, correct me if I'm wrong but is the m111 kompressor engine (and gearbox) swap the most straight forward and easy to do - running a aftermarket ecu unless I can find a real early donor engine with metal key?

Is it just a case of finding one of these donor cars:

Mercedes-Benz M111 Engine

The Mercedes-Benz M111 engine is a DOHC inline-4 gasoline piston engine.

sportlichleicht.com

Thanks so much for any help
Craig

 

[91dm]

Yes a 6 cylinder will need the rad under the slam panel and a few other changes from what I have seen. I think the best/easiest conversion is to get a donor and transfer all over. A early w202 would be a good start.

 

[poormansporsche]

The non removable slam panel on the 4 cylinder is not a deal breaker. The slam panel is more or less the same and can be cut out and welded back on, it's just more tidy on the unboltable 6. If putting a 6 cylinder in you need the slam panel removed because the engine needs to go in with the gearbox attached whilst a 4 cylinder can be dropped straight in.

Back in the day when I did mine a 2.6 was preferable as there was plenty about on the cheap. But nowadays I would just buy whatever car is the best condition irrespective of the engine.

The SC M111 engine is actually going up in value. It has been done. There was a thread on the old 190 forum. Iirc it did end up getting quite involved though.


If I was to do another swap now I'd actually look for a M112 V6. You can get still get low mileage complete rusty donor cars for pennies.

The 3.2 M112 has 215 bhp but I would love to see the 3.7 M112 from the W220/ML/SL bunged in a 190 !!!! It's a reliable simple engine and has 250 bhp which is more than enough

 

[poormansporsche]

A few years back I had a nice but basic Sportline 2.0 as a little runaround, it had 200k but still run sweet as a nut.

My neighbour had a low mileage AMG kitted R230 350 with the 3.7 that suffered a catastrophic electric failure due to a massive flood in the boot. I debated about buying it off of him but slept on it.

He sold it for a scrap for a grand !!!!! I could have sold the AMG bumpers and wheels for more than that and had the engine, ancillaries, big ole brakes ect for free

That's the sort of thing I'd be looking out for if I was you

 

[poormansporsche]

The easiest D.I.Y swap is the the 3.0 M103. Bolts straight in to a 190, aftermarket ECU not required so long as you have whole donor car. 190 BHP, nice. Can use your original gearbox. Just need to change final drive.

Only problem is finding a donor car ..............

 

[91dm]

Good advice above.

I would say a genuine 45k mile 190 is fairly rare now and probably worth leaving alone and getting running as is.