Exhaust issues with '90 300 SEL... HELP!

Hi,

I'm new here, just registered today anyway, I'm having issues with my 1990 300 SEL w/163k miles. First of all it's drinking a lot of gas, second, in order for it to drive i have to mash on the gas pedal and when i look in my rear-view mirror i see smoke coming out of the exhaust. Also when I'm in the car warming it up the fumes are unbearable, it leaves my clothes smelling like a gas station. What should I do? Is this going to cost me a lot of money to fix? Oh and one last thing I hear a rattle under the car, it seems like there's something loose with the exhaust pipes!

Any suggestions?

Thx

it's running rich.

normally you must have a mechanic check it.

the electrohydraulic actuator is not giving a good cotrol.

Okay, I will have my mechanic take a peep at it... I just hate taking my car to the shop. Every time I do I'm always spending an arm and a leg for it. Thanks for your response.

ciao

300 SEL MAN

Also, prepare to replace your Catalytic Converter(s).

Hmm, I never replaced one of those on a car before. On a scale from 1 to 5 how would you rate the difficulty of replacing the catalytic converter(s)?

hard enough that id just get a good muffler shop to replace them!