Lee I'm taking delivery today of a "94 500E from Calif. with 19000 mi. Technically why do the 92's have slighly higher power ratings? Different computer chip? Lower rev point? I heard mention that throttle doesn't open completely on later models which makes no sense. Are California cars different than the other states versions. Are there simple modifications that will bring it up to the 92 specs?

1992 500E and 1994 E500 has different engine management(The same goes to all V8s, V12s). That's why 1992s have higher HP rating than 1994s. The motivation of why MB did this is pure business strategy. Why making different spec for different market. Just make a "general" one that will be sold world-wide......

Happy Motoring....
Andy Kuo
'92 400SE

mrem,
Congratulations on your new car. Those things are truly an awesome performer and engineering showcase. If you search the shop forum (function in top right of screen) you should find reference to the differences between 92's and the rest of the breed, tuning options, etc. Those topics have been discussed in depth before. All 500E's are "california models". (at least for emissions/legal purposes) There should be no difference between your 94 and other 94's. The "rated" difference between 92's and 94's (a paltry 7HP and 7lb-ft) is too small to explain how much faster the 92's are than the later cars. I've driven a bunch of 500E's (in addtion to a bunch of other M119's) and the 92 cars are just faster. A 2% power difference is FAR less than the variance you get from ambient conditions. Plus some cars are just faster than others. Especially as examples get older and older. Some were stronger from the factory, but care since then can also play a role. The differences in the 92's and laters are perhaps best illustrated by the expense difference in tuning a 93 later car vs tuning a 92 model car at Renntech. Check out this link to see what I mean: http://www.renntechmercedes.com/w124.html
Pay particular attention to the section on 500E/E500's. Search through the Shop Forum's archives and read up on the past 500E discussions. We'll be happy to continue the fun from there.

Hope this helps...>Lee

according to renntech, the reason it costs more to bore out a late 93 and newer 119 engine is because you have to buy a whole engine. the newer 119 engine can't have its displacement increased due to cylinder wall thickness. the walls are too thin after the increase in bore.