RE: SOTW: Mercedes-Benz 190E
Discussion
mccrackenj said:
P2BS said:
mccrackenj said:
I still intend to take you up on your kind offer of a go in your 190E some day soon, 'though I'd have to sell one of the W124s before I could actually buy one.
The W124 does more for me than the W201. Despite that, I've had 2 W201's and precisely zero W124's! Time may be approaching to remedy that... 
dscam said:
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The only thing nobody has mentioned about Mercs of this era is the incredibly hard seats, guaranteed to give you a numb backside on a long journey! Must just have been me then.
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I'd forgotten about the seats. Dad and I had a road trip to Stuttgart in '88 to the Mercedes museum and then the Schlumpf collection in Mulhouse and my bum is aching now remembering it The only thing nobody has mentioned about Mercs of this era is the incredibly hard seats, guaranteed to give you a numb backside on a long journey! Must just have been me then.
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Paul Dishman said:
dscam said:
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The only thing nobody has mentioned about Mercs of this era is the incredibly hard seats, guaranteed to give you a numb backside on a long journey! Must just have been me then.
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I'd forgotten about the seats. Dad and I had a road trip to Stuttgart in '88 to the Mercedes museum and then the Schlumpf collection in Mulhouse and my bum is aching now remembering it The only thing nobody has mentioned about Mercs of this era is the incredibly hard seats, guaranteed to give you a numb backside on a long journey! Must just have been me then.
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Yes your bum might be a bit more numb when getting out, but compared to softer seats - your spine will thank you for it.
When crushing continents, its more important taking care of your back than your cheekballs.
These cars are not only meant for driving, but for taking on great journeys, there is a thought behind most things in such a car.
xspencex said:
Miss my old 2.5-16v
It may have been a solid chuck of a car but it still cost a fortune to run. Worth every penny as I now realise!
That is a lovely thing, Astral is very rare for these too.It may have been a solid chuck of a car but it still cost a fortune to run. Worth every penny as I now realise!
And seeing as it's de riguer for posting up old flames on SOTW....
My first 190E, subtly modified.
My 2.5-16, with rare spec of Spanish 'box, full leather, heated seats and aircon. It even had a working lap timer
I still miss the 2.5 to this day.
They did have a number of bugbears. The door cards in particular don't really last well. And some do have niggly starting/running issues.
The AMG kitted ones with ducktail, lowered slightly, are iconic. More so to me than the 16v. A 2.6 Sportline with a 300-24v engine swap and a Getrag manual box would be fun. In 040 black, please.
The AMG kitted ones with ducktail, lowered slightly, are iconic. More so to me than the 16v. A 2.6 Sportline with a 300-24v engine swap and a Getrag manual box would be fun. In 040 black, please.
12v3pot said:
They did have a number of bugbears. The door cards in particular don't really last well. And some do have niggly starting/running issues.
The AMG kitted ones with ducktail, lowered slightly, are iconic. More so to me than the 16v. A 2.6 Sportline with a 300-24v engine swap and a Getrag manual box would be fun. In 040 black, please.
With a 36 transplant more like!The AMG kitted ones with ducktail, lowered slightly, are iconic. More so to me than the 16v. A 2.6 Sportline with a 300-24v engine swap and a Getrag manual box would be fun. In 040 black, please.
C36 Nico said:
12v3pot said:
They did have a number of bugbears. The door cards in particular don't really last well. And some do have niggly starting/running issues.
The AMG kitted ones with ducktail, lowered slightly, are iconic. More so to me than the 16v. A 2.6 Sportline with a 300-24v engine swap and a Getrag manual box would be fun. In 040 black, please.
With a 36 transplant more like!The AMG kitted ones with ducktail, lowered slightly, are iconic. More so to me than the 16v. A 2.6 Sportline with a 300-24v engine swap and a Getrag manual box would be fun. In 040 black, please.
I had this late 2 litre 190e for a couple of years and moved it on to make way for a lovely low mileage w124 coupe and bitterly regret selling it. It was faultless and like most of you current and previous owners posting here have noted there is something simple, special and rather nice about the way they waft down the road. I've been on the look out for a similarly nice replacement but there are an awful lot of ropey ones around and as you'd expect for such an old car you need to look and tread carefully.
Someone has posted the advert for the nice original 6 cylinder white 190 that Mark Taylor has at MSTV.co.uk. He sourced both my Benz's and seems to be able to lay his hands on the ever dwindling pool of honest genuine 190s. Recommended.
Our 190 just died after 24 years of trouble free motoring - sixteen of which were in our ownership. Head gasket was the cause. Given that it had well over 200k miles on the clock, not unexpected. 190s are brilliant cars and probably one of the best proportioned Mercs, styling wise. Probably its biggest weak point is the engine/gearing. The M102 is not the last word in refinement and the gearing with the four speed auto box means that its pulling 3500rpm at 70MPH, which does nothing for the economy. As regards Shed's issues list, most I have seen from the UK have had serious underbody rust - around the sills and rear suspension especially, along with the very common broken rear coils springs. Still - one of my all time favourite Mercs and a much better buy generally than a 124.
swilkins999 said:
That's a lovely car, but looks so wrong with cloth interior!600 SEL is a rare, lovely beast. The earlier models (1991 - 1993) had the more powerful V12 with 408 bhp, and the later models were detuned slightly to 389 bhp.
The engine is a masterpiece, and aback in 1991, there was nothing else really out there that could touch this beast.
ES335 said:
Our 190 just died after 24 years of trouble free motoring - sixteen of which were in our ownership. Head gasket was the cause.
HG is an easy job on these. DIY'd one myself. Also, unlike the E30, the heads don't seem to get damaged, just the gasket.
Edited by SuperHangOn on Monday 11th February 08:59
SuperHangOn said:
HG is an easy job on these. DIY'd one myself.
Also, unlike the E30, the heads don't seem to get damaged, just the gasket.
Indeed - just class it as a mid-life operation!Also, unlike the E30, the heads don't seem to get damaged, just the gasket.
Edited by SuperHangOn on Monday 11th February 08:59
You've had the car this long, makes sense to get the head done and keep it forever!
SuperHangOn said:
HG is an easy job on these. DIY'd one myself.
Also, unlike the E30, the heads don't seem to get damaged, just the gasket.
Had it go on mine also (oil in the water rather than the other way around, caught it early though). No damage, easily sorted.Also, unlike the E30, the heads don't seem to get damaged, just the gasket.
Edited by SuperHangOn on Monday 11th February 08:59
pSyCoSiS said:
swilkins999 said:
That's a lovely car, but looks so wrong with cloth interior!600 SEL is a rare, lovely beast. The earlier models (1991 - 1993) had the more powerful V12 with 408 bhp, and the later models were detuned slightly to 389 bhp.
The engine is a masterpiece, and aback in 1991, there was nothing else really out there that could touch this beast.
Had an LE I bought off my Dad when it was very second hand, sold to my brother in law's brother with 120k up and last I heard after another 5 years service was still going strong. The only fault we all had was water in the bootlid (only the lid!!) and we never did find out where it came from.
Went all over Europe with it - God that was a great car if only for the view down the bonnet with the star at the end, and once I found it to be slow I changed my driving and "travelled" rather than "drove" :-))
Went all over Europe with it - God that was a great car if only for the view down the bonnet with the star at the end, and once I found it to be slow I changed my driving and "travelled" rather than "drove" :-))
Sounds like a Boot lock seal -
Numeric said:
Had an LE I bought off my Dad when it was very second hand, sold to my brother in law's brother with 120k up and last I heard after another 5 years service was still going strong. The only fault we all had was water in the bootlid (only the lid!!) and we never did find out where it came from.
Went all over Europe with it - God that was a great car if only for the view down the bonnet with the star at the end, and once I found it to be slow I changed my driving and "travelled" rather than "drove" :-))
Went all over Europe with it - God that was a great car if only for the view down the bonnet with the star at the end, and once I found it to be slow I changed my driving and "travelled" rather than "drove" :-))
rajkohli81 said:
pSyCoSiS said:
swilkins999 said:
That's a lovely car, but looks so wrong with cloth interior!600 SEL is a rare, lovely beast. The earlier models (1991 - 1993) had the more powerful V12 with 408 bhp, and the later models were detuned slightly to 389 bhp.
The engine is a masterpiece, and aback in 1991, there was nothing else really out there that could touch this beast.
Velours is much nicer than leather, much more luxurious. But you don't know that because the marketing people have told you that you want plastic leather.
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