Just wondering how to get more horses out of the small c230 from1998,

Any ideas?
Never tuned any cars before.
Brian

Brian,
I would start with a fresh tune up and fluid change. A K&N drop-in air filter is cheap and an easy DIY. Powerchips makes a chip for your car @ $640 a pop. You will have to send them your ECU to have the chip soldered in. Realistic gains from the combo will be maybe 10-15 bhp. Mercedes does a good job engineering and tuners in the USA don't offer much in way of "inexpensive" bhp upgrades. But if you wanted cheap engineering, you would be driving a Honda.
Hope this helps

http://www.powerchipgroup.com/interact/datasheets/datasheets_two.asp?pid=Mer0132