Hello from Oz

[Dr Benz]

Hey, my name's Josh, and im from the East coast of Australia (Queensland). Been a Merc lover for some time, but have never own'd one. only own'd imports (turbo Silvias, and Skylines).

The time has now come for me an the Old man to do a project car, we have come accorss a 5 speed 89' 190E, in fair con, with a geniune Lorinser bonnet. We have also found a geniune Zender wide body kit here in Aus, and all the suspenion goodies ect, but we have no idea about performance mods.. In one word the 190E's are well Slow..

Ive come accross a few web sites with 190E's that have 2.3's, 2.5's I think there was even a 3.2 and a 6.0 V8. So im just woundering, if it will be worth while finding a bigger motor, and doing the convertion, or just importing a Merc from the Uk or Japan with one of these motors, as these rare models are just not around here in Aus.

Cheers, Josh.

 

[Brian WH]

Hi Josh, welcome to the forum.

I'm sure that someone will answer your query soon.

 

[weebobster]

Hi Josh - good to have you onboard!

That sounds an exciting project you are undertaking. Remember to keep us updated along the way.

Good luck mate.

 

[Paul]

Hi Josh, our first Ozzie member I believe.

 

[scotth_uk]

Hi Josh,

I am a Brisbane bloke living in London for the minute. We must all be alike - I did the 200SX thing for a while (before the speed cameras were introduced, and eventually dropped it because of attrocious Nissan build quality and repeated failures of simple components).

The 190E's in Australia were never really a performance car, other than in Evo trim - big bucks preventing average people enjoying them. I always fancied the 190E 2.6, so I now have one over here. My plan eventually is to rebuild the engine and slap a sensibly sized turbo on the side - 200-250hp would do nicely and wouldn't stress too many components.

Unfortunately in Australia, the prices for 190Es are still a bit silly in my books. You will be pleased to know that they are much cheaper here. I paid AUD$5100 for a '92 190E 2.6 with all the goodies and no probs other than wheels and tyres.

Not sure how they will screw you for import duty and/or GST at the moment, but it should still be cheap to get the bit sent over. Some of the non-stealership parts suppliers here offer insanely good pricing on parts, which could also save you some dosh.

Personally I am a bit partial to the last of the decent S classes (pre w140) and would love to take a 500/560 home and work on it. They are so cheap it should be illegal here!

 

[mbz 6]

Hi Josh
Someone will corect me if i am wrong but
AMG made a 3.2 6cyl and a few 6.0 8 cyl
Carlson made a 5.0 8 cyl
Brabus made a 3.6 24v and a 5.0 8 cyl

I own a Brabus 3.6 24v with around 300bhp

I used to have a 560 SEC a great car but not around corners

 

[Ian B Walker]

Hi Josh,
Welcome, all sorts of friendly folk here. It would be nice to hear how you go about fitting a V8 to a 190E. V6 I think wouldnt cause too much of a problem, but I will probably be corrected by the more knowledgable here (sarcasm NOT intended). Interesting project although the electrics would scare me to death.

 

[scotth_uk]

Josh, one motor that springs to mind for potentially simple application into the 190's engine bay would be the Lexus 4.0l V8. From memory you can fit them into just about anything (mx5's etc) and they are pretty cheap from the jap wreckers.

I know it's not a merc donk, but there will be a lot of information around about converting various cars with that engine.

Off topic: Bullet cars..... ;-)

 

[Ozzie Bob]

Hey Hey, another Aussie!
There is a place called Bavaria Cars (www.bavariacars.com.au) in Sydney that have turbo charged a 190, I suggest you check it out! Ideas a-plenty!

 

[scotth_uk]

I spotted one of their cars in one of the Aussie car mags a while back. BMW 2002 (or something very close) with 350+ hp. Almost gets a wheel off the ground at launch.