E60 & EVOII SWAY BAR INSTALLATION

To improve the handling of the 190, I elected to source the largest sway bars I could locate and fit to this car.  The EVO II 190E used a large 18 mm bar.  I managed to source one of these from Europe and as I understand it, importation of these has ceased (unless you can prove you own a EVO II)




We started this by unbolting the stock rear bar from the rear arms





To remove the rear bar, you basically have to lower the rear differential to work it out.  You see here that we used a trans jack to support the rear diff so we could work the bar out

If you look careful at this picture, you can see how we had to pull the bar out a bit and twist it up to get it out.

The upper bar in this picture is the EVO II bar and the lower bar is the stock 190e 2.6l bar. 

Here is the Integra Type R bushing I used and the stock bushing.  You can gage the size difference by looking at these bushings.

This is the EVO II bar wedged into place before the bushings have been bolted into place.

The EVO II bar bolted up to the end links

The Integra Type R bushings fit the OE mounting bracket.  You can see I greased up the bushing a bit before install.  Its a precautionary measure to ensure no squeaking down the road.

EVO II bracket and Type R bushing bolted into place







Moving onto the front.  The largest commercial bar available is the AMG E60 bar (W124 500E) which is 29mm in diameter.  Since this bar was not designed for the W201 chassis, you need to cut off the ends of it to make it fit.  The curve of the bar also is slightly different as the E60 bar was designed to clear a big V8 motor.

This picture shows the stock 190 front sway bar with the end bushing/bracket removed.  Install/removal of the front bar is much simpler than the rear.

This view details the inner sway bar bracket/bushing removal.  You can re-use the OE sway bar brackets as the E60 bushings fit them just fine (on the 190E 2.6 this is the case, the 2.3 and 16 valves may require W124 brackets)

The inner bushings were easy to source but I had problems finding the correct outer bushings, so since my original bushings were in good shape, I chose to break out the trusty dremel and hone out the inside of the original bushings to fit the E60 bar.

The E60 bar installed and bushings/brackets in place.  You can see by this picture that there are no clearance issues or fitment problems (aside from needed to whack the ends off the bar).
 

Another view of the E60 bar installed.  This bar (at 29mm) is one of the largest you can fit to the W201 chassis.  They are extremely hard to get now (same with the EVO II rear bar) and another alternative is the W124 Limo front sway bar.  While the limo bar is not as large (28 mm) its your next best choice.










One additional view of the sway bar.






 

300TE METAL SWAY BAR END LINKS

The 300TE W124's came with rear sway bar end links made from metal and not plastic like the other W124's and W201's.  The metal end links also don't have a balled socket type end (drivers side) either.  In effect, the metal end links allow the rear bar to load quicker.  Not a must for everyday driving of course, but if you auto-x or road race, then this is a worth wile upgrade.  MB no longer makes the metal end links, they have been superceded by plastic end links, so its off to the wrecking yard.  Luckily for me, Pat at PGA is my friend.



This is the drivers side rear plastic end link, you can see the ball pivot on the end.  A simple upgrade really, some metric open end wrench's/sockets, floor jack, jack stands and a lug nut wrench.





You really need to remove the wheel to get at the nut connected to the sway bar, just makes life much easier.





 

Wish I could say these were a direct swap but they are not.  The bolts/bushings for the 300TE are longer/wider than the W201's, so you need to use a press to remove the hollow metal shaft and then you can shaft a little off the rubber bushings so that they are the same width as the 300TE's.

I don't really have a press, so my bench vice and a couple of sockets were used to press out the metal shaft from the W201's end links.  Installation of the shaft into the 300TE rear end links was the same.






I used a razor to trim the rubber bushings to the same width as the W201's bushings.  Remember you have to re-use your W201's bolt also as the 300TE bolt is too long.






The finished product.  While not track proven just yet, spirited driving has indicted that the tendency for over steer has been greatly reduced, promoting a more neutral handling.












9/17/2003 Adjustable rear camber arms

Any time you lower a W201, you affect "toe in" and "camber".  Stock, there is really not much in the way of adjustability for the camber, so you end up rotating your tires quite often and wearing out the insides of the tires.  MRP (mrp_products@yahoo.com) or manufactures rear adjustable arms and front adjustable camber plates (along with chassis stiffening bars and other items)
 

The OE rear arm is the top bar and here you can see its a solid one piece item.  Removal is very simple, just a couple of nuts and bolts.  You should have your car on a lift or on stands for this procedure.

Another picture of the OE rear arm.






Skipping right to it, the bolts came out easy and so did the OE rear arm

This is the OE arm compared to the MRP adjustable arm.  You can see that the MRP bar is shipped with washers, bolt/nut and another tapered spacer (you will see its necessity in the following pictures).  The MRP arm is adjustable at both ends and appears to be a very high quality item.  The ball pivot ends of this bar rotate very smooth and the interior of the ball pivots are sleeved.




Here is the bar installed.  MRP provides some washers to take up slack for the rear mounting point.  I ended up using only one.  Near the front of the rotor, you can see how the bar mounts and how the tapered spacer is utilized.

The MRP arm from a different angle.

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