Spartan Mercedes 190 (w201)
Discussion
That coupé looks pure. A real exemplar of the type.
Thanks for all the nice comments at new year. I missed them while away. I think we must have had this car for six years now, which somewhat boggles my mind. It had a lot of use until a week ago, Mrs r129sl using it as her daily for the first three weeks of January. The all season Contis handled the snow and ice just fine and it seems to be running perfectly. A couple of bubbles have come up on the front wings which I need to have attended to.
Thanks for all the nice comments at new year. I missed them while away. I think we must have had this car for six years now, which somewhat boggles my mind. It had a lot of use until a week ago, Mrs r129sl using it as her daily for the first three weeks of January. The all season Contis handled the snow and ice just fine and it seems to be running perfectly. A couple of bubbles have come up on the front wings which I need to have attended to.
I had a run out today in m friend's 190 E 2.5-16. That is an interesting car. It is extremely focussed. The suspension is taut: I wouldn't say stiff, more that it feels under tension and needs speed to flow. The car has the dogleg gearbox and goes nicely. This was a first shakedown run after quite extensive restoration works. It runs 16" Evo wheels; I feel it needs the compliance of the 15s. What a treat to drive one of these, though. Fourth gear pull is very impressive, all the way to 7,000rpm. A fast car. Also, I think his is the only manual Mercedes I have ever driven.
Round the corner was this thing again. An Ascot Grey 190 running the supercharged m111 engine from a CLK230 Kompressor and its manual gearbox. I live the 16" steels. It is for sale. £7,500. In the background a Sprinter is being fitted with an om606 turbo motor.
Round the corner was this thing again. An Ascot Grey 190 running the supercharged m111 engine from a CLK230 Kompressor and its manual gearbox. I live the 16" steels. It is for sale. £7,500. In the background a Sprinter is being fitted with an om606 turbo motor.
I do like the steel wheels too - but not in black.
There's a lot of sidewall going on there, too, unless it's just the camera angle.
Surely there'll be some front arch rub, over bumps with a bit of lock on?
Bloody nice car, though. The performance from the 2.3 should be impressive in the little 190.
I've spent way too long researching steel wheels for my 190, only to give in and ditch the idea for now.
I'm going to attend to the boot spoiler issue first, ie get rid of the bloody thing, one way or another. I really don't like it.
Annoyingly, there's a German ebay seller (a scrappy near Soest) who has a Bornite bootlid for sale - it's the Unicorn, fantastic!
The s
tbags won't ship to the UK and they just ignore all my messages/pleas to reconsider their stance.
I'm resigned to buying a decent bootlid and getting it sprayed.
There's a lot of sidewall going on there, too, unless it's just the camera angle.
Surely there'll be some front arch rub, over bumps with a bit of lock on?
Bloody nice car, though. The performance from the 2.3 should be impressive in the little 190.
I've spent way too long researching steel wheels for my 190, only to give in and ditch the idea for now.
I'm going to attend to the boot spoiler issue first, ie get rid of the bloody thing, one way or another. I really don't like it.
Annoyingly, there's a German ebay seller (a scrappy near Soest) who has a Bornite bootlid for sale - it's the Unicorn, fantastic!
The s
tbags won't ship to the UK and they just ignore all my messages/pleas to reconsider their stance.I'm resigned to buying a decent bootlid and getting it sprayed.
r129sl said:
I had a run out today in m friend's 190 E 2.5-16. That is an interesting car. It is extremely focussed. The suspension is taut: I wouldn't say stiff, more that it feels under tension and needs speed to flow. The car has the dogleg gearbox and goes nicely. This was a first shakedown run after quite extensive restoration works. It runs 16" Evo wheels; I feel it needs the compliance of the 15s. What a treat to drive one of these, though. Fourth gear pull is very impressive, all the way to 7,000rpm. A fast car. Also, I think his is the only manual Mercedes I have ever driven.
I don't know why manual Mercs don't seem too popular TBH. The first one I drove was my mate's 190e 2.3-16 with the dog-leg and I thought it was great, although the ride quality wasn't too great.
Some years later I drove his manual C280 Elegance back from Goodwood and loved it.
Then I had my manual 2 litre 190e which was a great car.
Based on my drive of his manual C280 I replaced my 190e with an Automatic C280 Sport that turned out to be the most disappointing car I've owned. It put me off so much I haven't had any Merc since then!
Exclusively manual BMWs since 2008.
Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff