Mercedes 190E 2.3-16: Spotted

Well why stop at just one Cosworth-fettled 80s saloon?

Homologation cars are cool. Homologation cars with a complicated and fraught story are even cooler. Think of the Citroen BX 4TC and Metro 6R4 arriving just as Group B ended as well as the BMW M1 saga that failed to see it compete in sportscar racing.

Don't forget where first is...

The 190E 2.3-16's story is less disastrous but still fascinating. That Mercedes wanted to rally a 190 seems odd but nowhere near as strange as the fact it would be replacing the R107 SL as Mercedes' rally car. See here, it really happened. Apparently Walter Rohrl was lined up to drive the 190E WRC. The multi-link rear suspension that was advanced on the road car was there as Mercedes wanted it for the rally car.

Then along came that Audi and a rear-wheel drive rally car didn't make that much sense. Lancia enjoyed one more WRC title with RWD but the writing was already on the wall in rallying and so Merc switched development to DTM.

Cosworth had already been involved with the 190 in its rally car development, developing a 320hp 16-valve version of the 2.3-litre eight-valve Mercedes four-cylinder engine. DTM regs dictated a roadgoing car must be built before racing and so the 190E 2.3-16 was born. Then BMW noticed the 190E's success in the DTM and started having a fiddle with the 3 Series...

Large part of the appeal under the bonnet

The E30 M3 will always come up in discussion of the 2.3-16 and all subsequent fast 190s. It was the more successful race car and, going by a few reports, the marginally sharper car to drive. This video from the guys at Motor Trend is a really intriguing comparison between the two.

This 2.3-16 is not a flawless example. Best declare that first. The owner admits to a 'side-to-side vibration' at the rear when lifting off which will require some attention soon. But even considered as a project car it's less than £4K. This 'E30 M3 Tourer rolling shell' is £7K for some sense of perspective. The Mercedes has a large chunk of history, matching newish tyres and appears really nice from the pics. Of course this sort of thing is hard to gauge simply from an internet ad but there seem to be positives along with the few drawbacks.

How much for an M3? £23,995 sir, with 106,000 miles. Yes, the condition appears better and the BMW is at a dealer but that's £20,000 difference. And we know the Mercedes is far from a substandard alternative.

But it gets better still. With enough cash, that is. Like the Lancia Delta and the M3 the 190 evolved as a road car to meet requirements of the racer. We've driven the 190E 2.5-16 Evo 2 and there is one in the PH classifieds. For £78,995. At £75K less the plain old 2.3 really does look conspicuously affordable.

MERCEDES-BENZ 190E 2.3-16
Engine: 2,299cc four-cylinder
Transmission: five-speed dogleg manual, rear-wheel drive
Power (hp): 185@6,000rpm
Torque (lb ft): 173@4,500rpm
MPG: N/A
CO2: N/A
First registered: 1987
Recorded mileage: 138,000
Price new: £21,045
Yours for: £3,750