James' 190E 2.6

[notrod2hotrod]

Well the car has come a long way from its humble origins.

When I bought it 3 years ago, it was a regular NAm '89 2.6 5-Speed with the only modifications being the 16v Sports seats and a JVC KD-G310 cd/mp3 receiver.

The car had 200,000 Kilometers on the odometer.

Several things on the car were broken when I bought it.

• Sunroof
• Air Conditioning
• Rear Passenger Window Actuator
• Antenna Motor
• Passenger Side Seat Warmer
• Passenger front and Driver's rear speaker
• Both Auxiliary Fans

Since buying it, several more things have broken.

• Both front springs
• Various control switches
• Radiator
• Flex plate and hardy disc, twice
• Alternator
• Parking Brake
• Various shifter bushings
• Central Locking System

The car was also in a $2,500 collision that required me to replace most of the front end. The engine was undamaged.


Most of these things have been fixed, at a fair expense to the management. However, a few things remain to be remedied.

• Passenger rear window actuator
• Sunroof Motor
• AC Condensor
• Auxiliary Fans

I'm posting this thread here now because I feel that I am getting to the half-way point of my journey with this car as a project.

The past 18 months has seen a lot of upgrades go into the car, in chronological order;

1. Recieved the car back from the collision shop in April 2007
   
   
2. Stuffed a pair of euro headlamps in the housings to replace the NAm ones damaged in the collision
   
   
3. New grill insert and surround; DIY job painting the insert to match the car
4. Depo clear corners
   
   
5. Remus muffler, courtesy of Edwin
   
   
6. Replaced the head unit in the car with a brand new Pioneer DEH-P9800BT
   
   
7. Repainted the car and added new fenders from Tsuna... er MBRare16v.
   
   
   
   The body guy surprises me and gives me a pearl-metallic flake in the paint instead of the 199 Blauschwartz I requested, at no additional cost.
   
   
   

As I said, I feel like I am getting to my midway with this car. It has come a long way since I bought it, and I have been able to keep the car running, as well as adding various improvements along the way..


I expect to be able to do some big things before Christmas comes.

The car was recently in at MB to get some work done that I didn't have the time to do myself. While it was there, they told me about:

• Gas tank & Fuel pump leak
• Both front springs are shot
• lower control arms & bushings need replacing
• steering shock/damper needs replacing

The service rep that I deal with has been our guy for 8 years, so I trust him not to shaft me on the maintenance expenses.

However, I will be doing most of this myself.

I have already priced out an Eibach Pro Kit at $300 US, Koni adjustable sport shocks (Yellow) at $800 US, Meyle lower control arms at $225 US a piece and a Boge steering shock at $25.

Mercedes quoted me $1,982.70 in parts and labour. That price was for OE parts and without replacing the shocks.

Obviously, I am getting the better deal doing it myself online and with the help of some friends.

Also, I am in the process of grinding down some headers to get them back to shiny, and then I will be painting them. Once they are ready to go on the car, I am going to do a HG job while things are apart. I will likely paint up the rest of the engine at that time, also.

Like I said, I'm hoping to have all of this done by Christmas. This will more than likely mean that I'm going to have to relearn how to drive my car in winter conditions, since it will be both lower and stiffer. Should be fun.

I also wanted to say thank you to all of the folks on here who have helped and supported me on this forum. I've been a member here since I bought the car back in August 2005 and I can say with 100% confidence that I couldn't have done half the things that I have to this car without your advice. Again, thanks a million, and there are way too many of you to mention, but you know who you are.

I will keep this thread updated in the future and I will link to the suspension job as it progresses. I am zeroing in on a weekend at the start of November, and hopefully by then all of my parts will have come in. I will do my best to do a how-to with pictures, once its all done.

Cheers,
James

[190emerc]

looking good

[marrymemercedes]

Nice work and keep us updated. It's nice to see another Canadian members car.

[MBRare16v]

Dude that's sick! My fenders are on your car!!! Haha I'm surprised you already got your paint job and all that, I was thinking it was going to take you a year to get to this point! Keep up the good work!

PS. I got a working rear window actuator if you're still in need. I like to hold on to parts just in case so I'm not going to list it publicly yet.

[321-GONE]

Hey James,
Glad to finally see some pics of the car, its looking sharp. Just prepare it for the winter (it is just around the corner). Maybe you might want to put off the suspension mods until we get some better weather (if you feel that you may not be able to adjust to driving in the winter conditions with the new mods). Yeah, doing the work your self is the best way to go, saves you a lot of money, the only problem is the time. Although it does give some good experience. If there is anything that you need to know, just ask. BTW, put on a good layer of car wax. Helps to cope with all those flying salt particles.
Regards,
Fernando

[UberE500]

Your 190 has come a long way. add some lowering springs, new tires & call it a day!

[notrod2hotrod]

Thanks guys for the comments. Some morning I come out of my house and I can't help but stop and stare at it for a moment.

MBRare16v: I'm quite interested, but because of the cost of the shocks, I am short on cash at least until the end of November. I'm not sure how much Christmas gifts will cost me so I will get back to you but if you get another offer in the mean time, don't wait up for me.

Fernando: I was actually going to call you soon to see if you wanted to be included in this. There's a guy down the road from me with all the necessary tools, and the knowhow from working on his 2.3 that he demo'd on a rainy day. He says the back end is easy enough to do but the front end would be tricky. I'de love to have your input, but the suspension work has to be done ASAP. The front end spring rate is completely dead - The car is riding basically on its shocks, alone, and is causing a lot of tire rub against the fenders. I'm thinking that everything that needs doing can be done in 1 weekend's work. The beer is on me.

I'll call you later on this week to see if you can join us. The parts are already ordered so I'm hoping they'll be here before All Hallows' Eve.

[notrod2hotrod]

So the parts are beginning to trickle in... The payment for the springs didn't go through so I am having to pay them again.. something about the billing address being wrong. Probably clerical error on their end. So far, I have received the front shock absorbers from Koni, the rears are promised on the way. AAZ should have shipped my lower control arms and the steering damper by now. Should arrive next week.

I will be creating a new thread in the suspension section for this project, likely on Wednesday. Unfortunately, the guy that I was hoping would help me out with this one says that his garage is too full at the moment, and cannot do this one with me. My gf's dad is a VW/Audi/BMW Mechanic though, so I am asking him if he can do it. He says no problem, however, hes not a team player, which means that if I go to him, I can't do a how-to writeup, because he doesn't want my help. I was really hoping to be able to do that because these mods are so common for serious rev heads. I will keep you all updated. If there is any way to do it the way I had originally intended, I will pursue it like fleas on a dog.

P.S. I just noticed that this is my 500th post. Yays for senior membership. lol