I have a 1984 190E 2.3-8V with 5-speed manual transmission that I originally built for SCCA rally racing. Everything about the chassis is stock, except for a welded differential from a 190D and some suspension modifications (shocks/struts from a Bilstein W124 track kit and H&R springs from an R129 500SL); ready to rally, it weighs about 2,500 lbs. There not being many rallying venues here in the populous northeast, the car hasn't seen much off-road action. But…

I am a member at the New Jersey Motorsports Park and have had the car out for numerous track days; it's plenty safe, with a full cage, proper seats and five-point harnesses, and the sweet predictable handling of every other W201. However, with the stock four-cylinder engine, elevated ground clearance and additional weight of the skid pans and mud flaps, it’s as slow as a turtle, and I've become weary of being a rolling chicane – my left bicep was almost twice the size of my right because of all the point-bys I was constantly giving other drivers. Regrettably, it just wasn’t fun anymore, so I finally gave up driving it on track.

A year or so ago, our '94 E320T served its ultimate duty and saved my wife's life on the Sawmill Parkway in New York, following a catastrophic right rear tire failure and a slow spin that kissed the nose off the median guardrail. Despite the insurance company declaring it a total loss, my wife was able to mount the spare tire, reattach the front bumper using bungee cords and drive the car home. And there it still sits.

The idea bouncing around in my head is to build a really fun track car (and maybe racer of some type) by taking as much as possible from the wagon and swapping it over to the 190E. Knowing that I have the full donor car sitting in my driveway, my question is how much useful stuff would bolt on with little or no modification? I'd love to have an extra 100+ horsepower from the M104 motor and the stopping power of those big ventilated brakes, but not if it's more trouble than it's worth.

I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Best Regards,
Rob

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Robert Fini

'12 ML350 BlueTec, 87k
'06 E320CDI, 270k
'05 T1N Sprinter 2500/Pleasure-Way Plateau TS, 69k
'97 C36AMG, 313k (son's)
'94 E320T, 249k
'93 190E Sportline LE, 168k (daughter's)
'84 190E-2.3/5spd (Stage Rally Racer)
'66 230 W110 Sedan (Barn Find, Vintage Racer build in progress)

The big brakes should fit. Be sure to change over the booster and master with it. The engine will work but will require some parts hunting. You'll have to cut the front rad crossmember out and find one from a 190E 2.6 as well as the rad and engine mounts.

The front sway bar will transfer over though you'll have to hack 2ish inches off of either side. The rear unfortunately will not.

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1993 190E 2.6 Sportline

What color is your 94 wagon? I am on the look out for a midnight blue hatch lid?

Please be sure to post the results of the swap on our board.

Have a look at the site " 190 REV " , given the 2.6 inline 6 could be gotten in these cars a swap is possible. There may be some issues with trans tunnel clearance as the 190 generally got a 722.4 ( A smaller version of the 722.3 / 722.5 ) I'm not sure what trans your 320 would have.

There are 2 different oil pans for the M104, one has the sump fully forward and the other pushed back a few inches.

From what I recall the W202 94-00 C 280 / R129 ~ 93 - 97 SL320 has a forward sump

Pre 96 E class have a rearward, this might extend into the 96 up W210 E class as well.

A M103 12 valve pan won't fit a M104 24 valve due to timing chain / oil pump chain clearance issues.

The upper body color is "teal" (bluish green), but I'm not yet ready to part her out.

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Robert Fini

'12 ML350 BlueTec, 87k
'06 E320CDI, 270k
'05 T1N Sprinter 2500/Pleasure-Way Plateau TS, 69k
'97 C36AMG, 313k (son's)
'94 E320T, 249k
'93 190E Sportline LE, 168k (daughter's)
'84 190E-2.3/5spd (Stage Rally Racer)
'66 230 W110 Sedan (Barn Find, Vintage Racer build in progress)

Thanks for the suggestion, but I'm unable to find any useful information on the 190rev site. The plan is to retain the 5-speed manual transmission that's currently in the 190e, so I'm not expecting any transmission tunnel clearance issues. With regard to the two styles of oil pan, which is required for the M104 to fit in the W201?

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Robert Fini

'12 ML350 BlueTec, 87k
'06 E320CDI, 270k
'05 T1N Sprinter 2500/Pleasure-Way Plateau TS, 69k
'97 C36AMG, 313k (son's)
'94 E320T, 249k
'93 190E Sportline LE, 168k (daughter's)
'84 190E-2.3/5spd (Stage Rally Racer)
'66 230 W110 Sedan (Barn Find, Vintage Racer build in progress)

Look for the "project 24" build thread on 190rev. My buddy Julio swapped a m104 in a m102 car and it's also a 5 speed. He will know the particulars, but he has a hard time keeping it cool because of the different core supports. He ended up buying a sport line 2.6 car to swap everything over to.

He runs megasquirt. I suppose if you were really sharp you could use the complete e class drivetrain and electronics, but with a manual transmission I'd say not.

You may need to sign up to read the 190rev message board, last I checked, posts were locked from viewing.

I don't know what pan is required but would expect the one where the sump is fully forward. ( W202 94-00 C 280 / R129 ~ 93 - 97 SL320 has a forward sump )

I'm finally getting around to making some progress on this project and am planning to start with the brakes swap; advice on exactly how much of the wagon brakes I need to pull will be greatly appreciated. Specifically, I'm interested in knowing whether I'll need to swap the entire knuckles or if the bigger calipers will bolt to the existing setup on the 190E. I'm sure it will all become evident once I dig into the thing, so really, I'm just trying to figure out how much time to allocate. Thanks in advance for your advice.

Best Regards,
Rob

__________________
Robert Fini

'12 ML350 BlueTec, 87k
'06 E320CDI, 270k
'05 T1N Sprinter 2500/Pleasure-Way Plateau TS, 69k
'97 C36AMG, 313k (son's)
'94 E320T, 249k
'93 190E Sportline LE, 168k (daughter's)
'84 190E-2.3/5spd (Stage Rally Racer)
'66 230 W110 Sedan (Barn Find, Vintage Racer build in progress)

We have a 2.6 5 speed 190. It seems to me that all the suspension parts are interchangeable excluding bars and the diff. We have 124 springs and 201 arms+knuckles with 4 piston 124 brakes. Looking at some M103 and M104 blocks I've had around it looks like the engines would be bolt in swaps but the wiring would be difficult. We've thought about it.

How did you like your 129 springs? What would you do differently with your suspension setup? Our 400E stuff causes us to lift an inside rear which is not ideal.

Either the rear sway bar is too stiff / front too soft or the rear shocks have too much rebound damping. On a rear drive car, most of the roll stiffness should be taken up at the front.

With an open read diff, the rear of the car should remain softer in roll stiffness than a car with limited slip. Even with limited slip, too much roll stiffness will cause an inside wheel to lift.

Yeah I agree. I think we should have grabbed the 400E front bar. The stock is too small and I am going to try my E320 bar the next time we take it out. We also had some success switching to E320 rear springs. Just wanted to hear about other successful setups.

Have a look at my posts in this thread http://www.peachparts.com/shopforum/performance-paddock/342744-w123-racing-setup-serious-questions-within.html ( ignore the original poster ). It can be a more direct route to use racing springs and adjusters than work with stock stuff.

Also look at some oval track catalogs, you can get straight sway bars and spline on arms that might work on the front.