W201 merc for winter daily, what could go wrong?

[sawman]

Was out looking for a winter daily again today. The saab I looked at last week didn't pan out, today went to see a citroen C5, but out of the corner of my eye spotted an '89 Merc 190e (2litre, autobox) . it started on the first turn of the key and ran smoothly around the block.
I lost interest in the C5

plenty of miles (130k), bit of rust on front wings no history or radio, but recent exhaust and ok tyres, MOT for 6 months, all this for less than 500 quid

What could possibly go wrong for a winter daily?
Whats the snowy weather traction like with these? they have pretty modest tyres so wouldn't have thought them too bad
Also any ideas on mpg?

[Deva Link]

Don't know on one of that age but the later diesel models (I have a C270CDi) are noted for being spectacularly useless in snow. A colleague drove BMWs for years then got an E Class and said he couldn't believe how much worse it was.

Any idea how old the tyres are on the car you've bought? If they're a few yrs old and have hardened up then that's not going to help.


Of course, this being PistonHeads someone will along in a minute who drove an E55AMG through the winters of 2009 & 10 and never had a moments difficulty!

[chazola]

My first Merc was nearly a 190E but the dealer had a 124 in stock I couldn't resist. The 124 is pretty much a bigger 201 sharing a lot of parts and they're not great in the snow with standard tyres. My current 124 estate is ok as it's heavy but I hear with winter tyres they're surprisingly good so I'd imagine the same for your 190. I'd at least get winter tyres for the rears if you're in a place that's going to get a lot of snow/has a lot of hills.

I use to run around with a couple of breeze blocks in the boot of my 300E saloon when I lived in the states, it had traction control too but still didn't like to go up anything resembling a steep hill in winter and was pretty tail happy if you weren't easy on the gaaaaas.

I reckon you'll get about 25 around town etc, up to 30mpg on a run.

Edited by chazola on Friday 2nd November 19:00

[sawman]

thanks,
I haven't bought it yet - I'm not than impulsive (quite), I hadn't really considered a merc at this point, and had been looking for FWD/AWD cars for the winter.
Plus, I had a bad experience with a 2001 C class a few years ago, but the 190 has a "hewn from stone" feel in comparison.

Obviously we might not get any snow this year, but I do drive about oop north quite a bit, so is possible.

My plan is to research as much as poss tonight and decide whether to pursue it tomorrow.

I'll have a look at winter tyres, but that would add significantly to my investment.

[Blue Oval84]

http://www.tyrereviews.co.uk/Article/2012-Auto-Bil...

Get a set of these Goodyears, they're pretty affordable through My Tyres. You can run them all year round come rain, snow, or shine

[Eggman]

It'll weigh in for £150, so the absolute worst that can happen is you'll lose £350 and have to go car shopping again.

Only you can decide how much of a problem that would be; for some of the Walter Mitty characters on here it's a round of drinks

[Kinky]

Eggman said:

for some of the Walter Mitty characters on here it's a round of drinks

And for some it genuinely would not be enough for a round of drinks

As for the OPs question, I'd have it immediately without any hesitation; I'd not even think twice about it

[sawman]

Kinky said:

As for the OPs question, I'd have it immediately without any hesitation; I'd not even think twice about it

I think thats my direction of travel really, once I've had a close look at the tyres, I might look for some all seasons, oh and a cheap radio...

[Kinky]

As it's got no history, I would do all the cursory checks first; but I suspect you'll already have that covered

[PaperCut]

sawman said:

plenty of miles (130k)

Oh, deary, deary me.

That is not 'plenty' of miles.

Especially for 1989 Mercedes.

[chazola]

PaperCut said:

Oh, deary, deary me.

That is not 'plenty' of miles.

Especially for 1989 Mercedes.

This too. 130k is nothing for this era Merc engines/transmissions. My 300E had 205k on it when I sold it and ran like a top, my last diesel 226k when sold a couple of months ago.

Great little cars, check for any really bad rust, if only light bubbling/surface don't worry. They're easy to service and parts are pretty cheap.

[sawman]

chazola said:

This too. 130k is nothing for this era Merc engines/transmissions. My 300E had 205k on it when I sold it and ran like a top, my last diesel 226k when sold a couple of months ago.

Great little cars, check for any really bad rust, if only light bubbling/surface don't worry. They're easy to service and parts are pretty cheap.

Yeah I'm not worried about the miles based on the w201 reputation.

There is rust visible on both front wheel arches, I'm guessing there is some fore on the inner wings, but the rest of the car seemed generally ok, so long as it gets me to the spring, I'll be happy

[dave stew]

At the risk of sounding like an a rse... Why do people but a 'winter daily' - is your normal daily driver so precious it needs locking away? My long suffering T5 Volvo sits outside in all weathers (too much cack in the garage) and is used all year round. Why would risk some 20 - 25 year old banger when the temperature drops and you need something modern and dependable to start?

[chazola]

Front wings are just bolt-on, quite cheap and can be easily replaced if you don't like the rust.

A couple of things I'd check- underneath are the brake lines running under the length of the car, these like to corrode on 124s so assume will be the same on the 201. Check the ATF for burnt smell or dirty fluid, head gaskets can go on the 4-pots so check the expansion tank for oil. The Bosch injection system is usually reliable and trouble-free.

[sawman]

dave stew said:

At the risk of sounding like an a rse... Why do people but a 'winter daily' - is your normal daily driver so precious it needs locking away? My long suffering T5 Volvo sits outside in all weathers (too much cack in the garage) and is used all year round. Why would risk some 20 - 25 year old banger when the temperature drops and you need something modern and dependable to start?

The thing is, I could use my 1988 morgan everyday during the winter, it is 100% reliable, I am currently covering 1300 miles a month in it.
If I choose to continue to use it all winter, this will increase the maintenance I need to do in order to keep it as nice as it currently is, Salted roads are not kind to older cars and so the point at which it ultimately needs renovating will be moved closer.

So alternatively I could choose to buy a cheap car (upon which depreciation will not be an issue) and take the weight of the morgan, reducing its mileage advance, and avoiding adverse road conditions, thus helping to maintain it's value.

I'd hate to get slithered into, by some dingbat who hasn't realised they are traveling too close and too quickly for the conditions, whilst in the morgan, as I don't think I would walk away unscathed

[Deva Link]

Eggman said:

It'll weigh in for £150, so the absolute worst that can happen is you'll lose £350 and have to go car shopping again.

Well, that's only the case if you spend absolutely nothing on it.

[sawman]

chazola said:

Front wings are just bolt-on, quite cheap and can be easily replaced if you don't like the rust.

A couple of things I'd check- underneath are the brake lines running under the length of the car, these like to corrode on 124s so assume will be the same on the 201. Check the ATF for burnt smell or dirty fluid, head gaskets can go on the 4-pots so check the expansion tank for oil. The Bosch injection system is usually reliable and trouble-free.

Thanks for that, fluids all looked good, the oli pressure sat at the top of the gauge whilst I was driving, although the engine was probably only running for 10 mins, I might have expected to see it drop slightly once the car was warmed through?
I'll check the brake lines tomorrow

The star from the bonnet was missing, but ebay seems to have a supply!

[karl_h]

Everything you've heard about 190E's is true, utterly fantastic. I used to get an easy 33mpg on a run from my 2.6 and 26 average, the 2.0 probably won't be much better than that on a run but will probably achieve 30's combined much more readily.
I still miss mine, would have another in an instant!

[chazola]

sawman said:

Thanks for that, fluids all looked good, the oli pressure sat at the top of the gauge whilst I was driving, although the engine was probably only running for 10 mins, I might have expected to see it drop slightly once the car was warmed through?
I'll check the brake lines tomorrow

The star from the bonnet was missing, but ebay seems to have a supply!

Yea, oil pressure should peg at 3 under acceleration and when cold, when fully warmed up will usually sit at around 1-2 until you put your foot on the gas. Engine temp should be between 80-85 normally. The gauges on these old mercs do actually give useful info, unlike most cars where the temp gauge just sits in the middle whatever you do!

The stars are surprisingly cheap from MB dealers, or of course ebay like you say.

[stevebear]

Had a carb 2.0 W201 1988 model about 6 years ago in brilliant black. Would get another without hesitation. Only got rid of it cos I needed a hatchback at the time. Decent tyres would be an asset but definitely got that hewn from stone feel. However feel in the boot under the parcel shelf as favourite place to disintegrate, check the jacking points too.
Wished I kept it now despite it being worth diddly squat. After a wash and wax and on my fake AMG 5 spokes with alleged original AMG spoiler it looked distinctly like the local pusher had arrived.