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Mercedes 190 Evolution I

1990 190E 1.8 · Pontllanfraith, United Kingdom

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After
Before
Before After

I’ve had a lot of 190s. This is the one that stayed.
It was a 1.8 when I got properly stuck into it. Sunroof, 15-hole covers, nothing anyone would cross a car park for. I drive my cars, so if this one was going to keep coming out it had to earn the miles. That is most of the reason it looks like this.
The kit is the 2.5-16 Evolution. The first one, not the II. Everyone wants the tall wing. Fair enough. On a road W201 the Evo I just sits better. Getting it to fit is the actual work. Gaps, arches, the way it meets the doors. We spent longer on that than anyone wants to admit. Once it was on and the paint was one piece you stop reading it as a kit. It just looks like a 190 that came out of Sindelfingen in a better mood.
Paint is Brilliant Silver 744, done when the kit went on, metal first. I found a roof skin with no sunroof hole so the top is slick. Mirrors are the stubby Cup ones. Passenger side off a right-hooker and passenger side off a left-hooker, so they match. Tiny job. Changes the whole front.
I wanted it fast. Properly fast, not Instagram fast. I sat with old DTM photos and the period paperwork and used that as the drawing. Cage is FIA. Chassis is welded. Front and rear arches are tubed so you still have lock when the thing is on the floor. Skip that and you have a low car that will not turn. I was not building a low car that will not turn.
Inside the cage it is Recaro Pole Positions and Sabelts. Wheel is a BBS LBB 36/3-01, leather three-spoke, on a BG column. Pedal box is OBP with Wilwood cylinders, adjustable. The cluster in front of that is mine because the standard clocks had nothing useful left to say. Boost gauge is there because it needs to be. Shifter between the seats is one I made. The handbrake is a lock valve. Drivetrain, suspension and brakes are all gone from original, so leaving a plastic lever in the middle felt stupid.
Engine is an M111 2.3 with the Eaton on it. Bigger crank pulley, smaller blower pulley, so the compressor actually works for a living. That is the noise they heard in Belgium from three streets away. Exhaust is stainless from the manifold out the back. It is loud. It sounds like an old AMG, which I will take.
Gearbox is a W202 five-speed. Diff is a W124 ASD. In the boot there is an eight-gallon OBP cell, two Bosch 044s, a high-flow filter and AN-8 line. Wheels are 18-inch BC306s in satin black on Pilot Sport 5s. Brakes are W204 C63 calipers, 365 mm grooved and drilled up front, 345 mm at the back, on brackets we made. Dampers are custom BC with camber tops. For once the kit and the ride height agree. The arches are full.
I still use it. Croatia, the hills behind the unit, the stupid o’clock runs home. That was always the point of keeping this one.
Nic Stubbs

FILE / INTAKE.2026

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FILE / BUILD.LOG, CHRONOLOGICAL

Build log442 entries

2025
Apr 2, 2025

A very cool spot in Belgium 🇧🇪 when we headed over for risenation We could hear mr_190e Supercharger whining from 3 streets away 🤣🔥

Mar 31, 2025

Cleanest Mercedes 190 Evo 1 on the scene, built by @mr_190e 🩶 Save the classics. GET READY • EUROCREW EUROPE 2026 DREAM IT. BUILT IT. DRIVE IT. #eurocrew #europe #event #risenation #mercedes #190e #amg #evo #dtm

Mar 23, 2025

Sometimes the best encounters happen by chance. It was nice to meet you guys!❤️

Mar 10, 2025

The nicest 190 evo 1 i've ever seen Car Owner : @mr_190e Photographer : @paulo.dbr #risenation #risenation_be #HoF #halloffame #carculture #RollhardFR #rollhard #rollhardd #rollhxrd #RHfr #nikonfr #bbs #bbswheels #mercedes #190e #mercedesbenz

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