w201 Engine swap

[Anasasis]

Hey, I've purchased a 1989 2.6 190e for a great price in Australia (it's a UK import). For a long time I've been dreaming about making a street legal race car based on the 190e with a evo II bodykit. So far I have the base car, but a lot of work is required.

I previously owned a 400hp BMW 135i and I'm chasing similar power (long-term) with my mercedes. I'm not well-versed with mechanical work but I bought the car with a plan to learn a lot of things as I go, I've got money to pay professionals when I get out of my depth.

My question is, what will be the best engine to swap into the 2.6 190e? I want to keep a mercedes engine. A previous post by Carat 3.6 says:

Best to start with the 2.6 190 as your base car, the different slam panel and steering box location makes life easier. But if I was doing it the steering box would be replaced by a rack from a w210.

I've done a few engine swaps on 190's, you dont want to use the m104. They are very nose heavy with the iron block 6cyl fitted, and even the 3.6 is not that fast unless your going to modify it. The twin turbo versions need alot of work to only get the power of a v8.

The 5.6 m117 is a nice easy swap without cutting the car around, and will get you to 300hp if you use the ece version. Or fit standalone engine managment for 350-360hp. The m119 needs some metalwork though due to the width of the heads.

The jz supra engines are an awesome bit of kit, and have a massive aftermarket support for tunning parts unlike the merc engines. There is a guy in oz running a 400+hp 2jz, it's quite the street sleeper.

As Jjr has said, the m111 kompressor engine can make 400hp when running a decent turbo setup on the standard engine. Mosselmann used to make a cast turbo manifold for just that. Running the m111 would also give the car a nice weight balance.

Forget the dogleg getrag box from the cosworth 190 though, it's a bit stronger than the normal 5 speed but not very nice to use. It's mainly the massively over-complicated gear lever linkage that is the problem. The later 6 speed from the w203 is much nicer to use when fitted with a short shift, it is also stronger too. I run one on my w124 superturbo at over 557lbft without a problem.

For your project I would go with a 5.4 m113 and 6 speed manual, it's all alloy so doesn't weigh a huge amount and you have the option of running the kompressor setup if you want more power. Run the w210 steering rack and fabrication can be kept to a minimum

I have found a v8 m113 5.0L for sale at a reasonable price. The seller has a full drivetrain + electrics at a reasonable price. Does anyone have any experience or suggestions?

Edit - Apparently I can PM people after making a first post. I just contacted Carat 3.6 for some insight.

tl;dr - Does anyone have suggestions for engine swaps on 190e 2.6L?

Thanks in advance!

 

[John Jones Jr]

Carat 3.6 (Simon) is the man you want to speak to without doubt.

An obvious swap would be a 3.0L 12V then turbo'ed or supercharged. But you got to admit a 5.0L V8 would be awesome too as per Simon's post. I think it's all down to personal choice, budget and the amount of work you're willing to put in.

Good luck with project and do let us know how you get along.

 

[BTB 500]

Edit - Apparently I can PM people after making a first post. I just contacted Carat 3.6 for some insight.

You normally need 30 posts before being able to PM but a kindly mod may have spotted your thread and unlocked this early.

Sounds like a great project - keep us posted! Pictures are good

 

[poormansporsche]

As you are probably aware mercedes parts are somewhat rare in Oz. The 2 big 190 builds that I remember from Oz both had jap turbo engines and standalone management. Something to consider if paying someone else to do the work despite being MB purists on here !

Although a big old aussie V8 would be nice !

 

[Anasasis]

Carat 3.6 (Simon) is the man you want to speak to without doubt.

An obvious swap would be a 3.0L 12V then turbo'ed or supercharged

If you supply the parts I'll gladly do it

As you are probably aware mercedes parts are somewhat rare in Oz. The 2 big 190 builds that I remember from Oz both had jap turbo engines and standalone management. Something to consider if paying someone else to do the work despite being MB purists on here !

Although a big old aussie V8 would be nice !

I've seen a local 190e with Sr20 swap, but I don't really want to stick a jdm engine in, it feels wrong, even if it is the easy/practical option.
Same goes for a big old Aussie v8, really not a fan of Australian made cars.

a kindly mod may have spotted your thread and unlocked this early.

I doubt it. I think the message system just made it look like I PM'ed him without actually sending anything. Perhaps someone would be kind enough to try and summon him on my behalf?
I'd really appreciate it.

I'm not exactly sure how I'm going to document the build, but I have before pictures, and some pictures with half the interior pulled out. I was thinking a blog or maybe a reddit subreddit. If I find myself with extra time, maybe even a youtube vlog, I'd need to buy a camera first though.

This weekend I'm going to strip the rest of the interior out and maybe even the engine bay. I'll see how I go for time and how many mates I can trick in to helping me

 

[carat 3.6]

Replied to your email.

 

[Anasasis]

Replied to your email.

I haven't received the email, I checked my junk and everything.
Are you happy to post it as a reply on this thread?

I found a m113K with gearbox for sale and I'm thinking I may as well go bigger and better

 

[rapture]

My friend just got a M120 engine and he plans to fit it into his w201. I personally think hes out of his mind.