Mercedes 190E - pretty good for £900!
Discussion
As a serial 190E purchaser, I need very little coercion for purchasing another. With my daily 1.8 a little too metallic pink for my liking, and my 2.6 needing more and more money throwing at it to get it on the road. I thought it was most wise to throw more money on buying another 190E.
I just so happened to be canvassing eBay in the early hours when a recently listed ad caught my attention. I could tell from the photos alone that it looked a nice car. The listing was very poor, with little in the way of a description. I could see from the lack of side repeaters that it was a Japanese spec RHD car. A quick look on some .GOV websites confirms it recent importation(February '16) to the UK, which was very reassuring!
The car has never seen a UK winter which; with these cars approaching 30 years old, are starting to cause rust problem for UK cars.
What was most attractive. however, is knowing these cars well, Japanese cars command an excellent premium due to their usually excellent condition and fastidious upkeep from their Japanese owners. You see these cars for sale at dealers here for circa £5-8k, so it came to my surprise to see the car had a buy it now of £901! Really quite unbelievable in fact. Without hesitation the buy it now button was pressed. I honestly thought it was one of those unscrupulous adds where nothing actually exists, but remarkably the owner replied to my emails and yes the car exists, and yes it was mine.
The car has covered just 67,000km!
The previous owner was a great chap, he bought it at great expense last year and after unusually spending quite a fair sum of money on repairs quite soon after, he fell out of love and thought no one would want it so put it on ebay to get rid! The reason for the price was the proclaimed faulty gearbox, usually these gearboxes are reliable and cause no bother. It started slipping, he had another gearbox replaced at great expense at a Sheffield based Mercedes "specialist" garage. Problem is after a few months the same slipping issue had returned. He didn't take the car back hence the sale to rid himself any more heartache.
When I came to collect the car, amazed by the overall condition of the car, which for 29 years old, is absolutely stunning, I quickly checked the gearbox to find very little fluid, which is no wonder it was slipping. The previous owner's face was a picture upon showing him this discovery! Still the car was mine, and with some fluid in, is a wonderfully magnificent thing to drive back home. I can see though that the gearbox is losing fluid hence the loss, that will have to be sorted asap.
It's not without its fault, there are some small dents dotted around the car, as well as a slightly more concerning fold on the NSF wing, I hope most of these can be fixed by a dent chap, nothing serious. The tyres are very old and hard and there is some slight play in the steering box.
A common fault on these cars are peeling door cards, with this one no exception. There are some cracks on the dashboard fascia, as well as faded door seals. All of these are easy fixes with most of these parts available new from Mercedes, the door cards might be slightly harder to get hold of.
All in all a remarkable car for a remarkable price! It's not normally my thing, but as the car is so nice, when I have sorted the issues, I might take it to one of those Mercedes club run concours events and see how she does.
This is the only photo I have for now, but I hope this Baby Benz is a little bit interesting for you all!
Here's the ebay ad.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1988-Mercedes-190E-/2226...
I just so happened to be canvassing eBay in the early hours when a recently listed ad caught my attention. I could tell from the photos alone that it looked a nice car. The listing was very poor, with little in the way of a description. I could see from the lack of side repeaters that it was a Japanese spec RHD car. A quick look on some .GOV websites confirms it recent importation(February '16) to the UK, which was very reassuring!
The car has never seen a UK winter which; with these cars approaching 30 years old, are starting to cause rust problem for UK cars.
What was most attractive. however, is knowing these cars well, Japanese cars command an excellent premium due to their usually excellent condition and fastidious upkeep from their Japanese owners. You see these cars for sale at dealers here for circa £5-8k, so it came to my surprise to see the car had a buy it now of £901! Really quite unbelievable in fact. Without hesitation the buy it now button was pressed. I honestly thought it was one of those unscrupulous adds where nothing actually exists, but remarkably the owner replied to my emails and yes the car exists, and yes it was mine.
The car has covered just 67,000km!
The previous owner was a great chap, he bought it at great expense last year and after unusually spending quite a fair sum of money on repairs quite soon after, he fell out of love and thought no one would want it so put it on ebay to get rid! The reason for the price was the proclaimed faulty gearbox, usually these gearboxes are reliable and cause no bother. It started slipping, he had another gearbox replaced at great expense at a Sheffield based Mercedes "specialist" garage. Problem is after a few months the same slipping issue had returned. He didn't take the car back hence the sale to rid himself any more heartache.
When I came to collect the car, amazed by the overall condition of the car, which for 29 years old, is absolutely stunning, I quickly checked the gearbox to find very little fluid, which is no wonder it was slipping. The previous owner's face was a picture upon showing him this discovery! Still the car was mine, and with some fluid in, is a wonderfully magnificent thing to drive back home. I can see though that the gearbox is losing fluid hence the loss, that will have to be sorted asap.
It's not without its fault, there are some small dents dotted around the car, as well as a slightly more concerning fold on the NSF wing, I hope most of these can be fixed by a dent chap, nothing serious. The tyres are very old and hard and there is some slight play in the steering box.
A common fault on these cars are peeling door cards, with this one no exception. There are some cracks on the dashboard fascia, as well as faded door seals. All of these are easy fixes with most of these parts available new from Mercedes, the door cards might be slightly harder to get hold of.
All in all a remarkable car for a remarkable price! It's not normally my thing, but as the car is so nice, when I have sorted the issues, I might take it to one of those Mercedes club run concours events and see how she does.
This is the only photo I have for now, but I hope this Baby Benz is a little bit interesting for you all!
Here's the ebay ad.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1988-Mercedes-190E-/2226...
jahbrown said:
....Japanese spec RHD car. ....
That in itself can be unusual. One of the eccentric things about the Japanese car-buying public is that they seem to regard a great many foreign cars as exotic, and hence insist on LHD in many cases. To name a few, BMWs, Mercedes, Ferraris, and even Citroens have been supplied to Japan in LHD.Horsetan said:
That in itself can be unusual. One of the eccentric things about the Japanese car-buying public is that they seem to regard a great many foreign cars as exotic, and hence insist on LHD in many cases. To name a few, BMWs, Mercedes, Ferraris, and even Citroens have been supplied to Japan in LHD.
... to the extent that a LHD car will often command a (significant) premium over a similar RHD model, due to the fact that the LHD ones are viewed as being more desirable, despite the driver being on the 'wrong' side. Odd folks, the Japanese!
(Ooops, hope that isn't deemed racist and hence offensive ... )I do love a 190.
Great purchase OP, although are you sure the imports really go for hand-fulls of thousands once they're re-sold domestically?
This one looks nice, wonky bonnet star notwithstanding:
http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C911197
Great purchase OP, although are you sure the imports really go for hand-fulls of thousands once they're re-sold domestically?
This one looks nice, wonky bonnet star notwithstanding:
http://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C911197
[quote=CharlesdeGaulle]I do love a 190.
Great purchase OP, although are you sure the imports really go for hand-fulls of thousands once they're re-sold domestically?
Thanks, after owing 6 you get to know a good one! This is a bloody good one.
There is no denying the UK's climate isn't particularly car friendly. Japan's climate on the other hand is known to provide excellent cars in excellent condition. Its rare to get a UK supplied car in excellent condition, however excellent Japanese supplied cars are a lot more common.
My car is absolutely spotless underneath, not a spot of rust on the body! The only item that shows signs of age are the exhaust and front shock absorbers! Even the zinc plating on nuts and bolts is still shiny, something all my UK cars lack.
This car was imported and supplied by this company. The prices speak for themselves! I appreciate the cost of importation and taxes affect the selling price however.
http://www.specialistcars.net/newspecialistcars/Me...
Great purchase OP, although are you sure the imports really go for hand-fulls of thousands once they're re-sold domestically?
Thanks, after owing 6 you get to know a good one! This is a bloody good one.
There is no denying the UK's climate isn't particularly car friendly. Japan's climate on the other hand is known to provide excellent cars in excellent condition. Its rare to get a UK supplied car in excellent condition, however excellent Japanese supplied cars are a lot more common.
My car is absolutely spotless underneath, not a spot of rust on the body! The only item that shows signs of age are the exhaust and front shock absorbers! Even the zinc plating on nuts and bolts is still shiny, something all my UK cars lack.
This car was imported and supplied by this company. The prices speak for themselves! I appreciate the cost of importation and taxes affect the selling price however.
http://www.specialistcars.net/newspecialistcars/Me...
Sorry I can't get any photos of the car in greater detail, unfortunately the weather has been grim!
I've located the issue as the why this car was sold for £901, the over zealous individual who replaced the gearbox went mad overboard tightening up the transmission oil cooler return pipe banjo bolt! It is bent and has nearly fractured in two, the sealing washers(which were far too big), stood very little chance of keeping the fluid in(which they did not)! Thankfully I had some spare and it's an easy job to fix, thankfully!
I've used Genuine Mercedes sealing washers with the replacement bolt, which may seem OTT, but I'd rather it be right.
I have some Genuine Mercedes transmission fluid and filter on order to hopefully put any gearbox issues to bed. I will run though some lesser fluid and filter through very briefly as a flush.
I'd noticed the oil pressure gauge fluctuated a little, which seems odd for such a low mileage engine. I was informed the car had been serviced when it arrived in the UK last year, however I can't see if the car has been serviced since; well I certainly hope so!
5L of Castrol's finest 10w40 with a MANN oil filter has normal service resumed. A set of Bosch super 4's have gone in as well as a new fuel filter. It now runs and idles with great serenity.
I feel bad for removing whichever careful and conscientious Japanese owner fitted their own hand formed aluminium heat shield, however their execution isn't quite up to my standard so was swiftly removed. It was rattling anyway, bless 'em for trying though! I'll see if Mercedes offer a heat shield, there are provisions in the manifold casting for such and item. It's a shame the manifold is a little rusty now you can see it.
Next job is a thorough clean and new tyres! And maybe some 15 hole alloys, which according to the Datacard, the car was supplied with when new.
I've located the issue as the why this car was sold for £901, the over zealous individual who replaced the gearbox went mad overboard tightening up the transmission oil cooler return pipe banjo bolt! It is bent and has nearly fractured in two, the sealing washers(which were far too big), stood very little chance of keeping the fluid in(which they did not)! Thankfully I had some spare and it's an easy job to fix, thankfully!
I've used Genuine Mercedes sealing washers with the replacement bolt, which may seem OTT, but I'd rather it be right.
I have some Genuine Mercedes transmission fluid and filter on order to hopefully put any gearbox issues to bed. I will run though some lesser fluid and filter through very briefly as a flush.
I'd noticed the oil pressure gauge fluctuated a little, which seems odd for such a low mileage engine. I was informed the car had been serviced when it arrived in the UK last year, however I can't see if the car has been serviced since; well I certainly hope so!
5L of Castrol's finest 10w40 with a MANN oil filter has normal service resumed. A set of Bosch super 4's have gone in as well as a new fuel filter. It now runs and idles with great serenity.
I feel bad for removing whichever careful and conscientious Japanese owner fitted their own hand formed aluminium heat shield, however their execution isn't quite up to my standard so was swiftly removed. It was rattling anyway, bless 'em for trying though! I'll see if Mercedes offer a heat shield, there are provisions in the manifold casting for such and item. It's a shame the manifold is a little rusty now you can see it.
Next job is a thorough clean and new tyres! And maybe some 15 hole alloys, which according to the Datacard, the car was supplied with when new.
jahbrown said:
Next job is a thorough clean and new tyres! And maybe some 15 hole alloys, which according to the Datacard, the car was supplied with when new.
Great car!What tyre size are your currently running? 185/65 R15?
I have a set of 15 holes that I might part with. They need a full refurb however.
I also have a set of 8 holes that were refurbed a few months ago. I'm definitely prepared to part with these. Shout if you're interested.
MJK 24 said:
Great car!
What tyre size are your currently running? 185/65 R15?
I have a set of 15 holes that I might part with. They need a full refurb however.
I also have a set of 8 holes that were refurbed a few months ago. I'm definitely prepared to part with these. Shout if you're interested.
Ta! It is the 185/65 R15. Strangely this car wears 88S rated tyres, never seen those before! I can get a Michelin for £49 a corner off Amazon atm, I have a friend who'll fit them for free. Any local tyre fitted wants £75 for the same tyre!What tyre size are your currently running? 185/65 R15?
I have a set of 15 holes that I might part with. They need a full refurb however.
I also have a set of 8 holes that were refurbed a few months ago. I'm definitely prepared to part with these. Shout if you're interested.
I have a set of 15 holes removed from my 2.6(as I intend to find some 16" 15 hole wheels for that), mine need a refurb as well, however they're not quite the right 15 hole I want for this car. The earlier 15 hole had a pill shaped hole, whereas the later wheels had rectangular hole. These pre facelift cars don't look quite right on 8 holes.
I'll certainly keep your wheels in mind though. However, I do need to find an East Midlands based wheel refurbishment establishment that do a proper job. Had some 8 holes done at a place in Derby....they were s
t!Horsetan said:
jahbrown said:
....Japanese spec RHD car. ....
That in itself can be unusual. One of the eccentric things about the Japanese car-buying public is that they seem to regard a great many foreign cars as exotic, and hence insist on LHD in many cases. To name a few, BMWs, Mercedes, Ferraris, and even Citroens have been supplied to Japan in LHD.My main focus is to sort out the rather poor steering and general road holding. The suspension is not doubt worn out, in fact a quick look proves the suspension is past it's best. It may have circa 42k miles, but it's suspension is touching on 30 years old.
Some of Michelin's finest arrived at home, I always get a funny look from the delivery driver handing me over tyres at home. I'm sure there's a pun or two here, I can't think of one as I'm a little too tired......
The cost savings make it worthwhile, I save £100 by buying them via Amazon.
As you can see one looks a little worse for wear, I've used the very very expensive genuine Mercedes lower control arms. Bought them a few years ago. For some reason though, Mercedes over painted TRW's(who made them) original black finish with their own dark grey paint that was useless, it had all chipped off as they hadn't keyed the surface before paint!
I'm pretty certain that ball joint gaiter has been split a lot longer than the MOT in March, it's only done 5000km since then. All of the track rod ends have split also.
Now I'm sure there are many love stone chip in an aerosol or waxoyl, but in all honesty I can't think of anything worse to put on your car. Unless the underbody is absolutely spotless before application, all you'll do is trap whatever resides there to fester. I can think of the many MGB's I've had, with this plastered on the stuff to hide rust! There is usually no need to underseal a 190E as they did such a good job at the factory. This would have been done in the UK upon arrival, not sure why they couldn't have found some translucent wax to apply in vulnerable areas, just like Mercedes did.
Mercedes wheel arches are body colour over the undercoat, I initially thought it was extremely dirty, alas, this stuff is everywhere! A little bit of brake cleaner started to break it down a little to wash it off, however that'll be too expensive and time consuming. Any recommendations for removing this stuff that is cost effective and won't hurt the paint and plethora of plastics around?
Unfortunately it seems the car has run considerable km's without bumps stops and strut gaiters, there is lateral play in the piston rod also. They're not leaking, but it's enough for me to necessitate there replacement. I'm tempted to go with a stiffer heavy duty strut, but with the state of the roads, some original spec ones may be the most sensible option. The strut mount is buggered too!
I've not spent much time in the engine bay, it received a brief degrease and rinse to remove years of grime. As expected everything is in remarkable condition, very little corrosion barring the manifold. A few items let the side down such as the expansion tank, peeling battery decals, and the homemade bonnet insulation. The paintwork on the inner wings and underside the bonnet are absolutely amazing, better than the exterior paint of many cars manufactured today.
Even though I can sort this out myself, the one and only bodywork gripe on the front wing needs to be sorted. It's not ideal painting outside this time of year, so I'll get a body shop to repair and I imagine it'd be £150 to get this done properly.
New wishbone installed with a new genuine Mercedes coil spring, again had these kicking about so thought this car deserved a set. I normally like to replace all of the bolts and fixtures, but these are all in excellent condition, the only new fixture I've used are the anti-roll bar bush mount nut and plate. I'd also detected a little shudder under braking, which lead me to suspect warped disc, with my dial dial gauge it confirms this to be so. It's a shame as these have little wear and are a genuine Mercedes disc. It'll have the same with some EBC green stuff pads as Mercedes' pad give off far too much dust.
If you're ever attempting to change the coil spring on a W201 or W124, I would highly recommend this spring compressor. It is specifically designed for this application. It is very difficult to use traditional spring compressors due to the coil spring's locating cup whereas this one is compresses internally. It costs a few quid as I went for the more expensive Bergen brand, probably £100 or so. These springs are under so much tension that it's simply not worth risking your safety over saving money!
Now I wonder if a taxi driver earns a good living, as clearly this is all this car is good for......
Some of Michelin's finest arrived at home, I always get a funny look from the delivery driver handing me over tyres at home. I'm sure there's a pun or two here, I can't think of one as I'm a little too tired......
The cost savings make it worthwhile, I save £100 by buying them via Amazon.
As you can see one looks a little worse for wear, I've used the very very expensive genuine Mercedes lower control arms. Bought them a few years ago. For some reason though, Mercedes over painted TRW's(who made them) original black finish with their own dark grey paint that was useless, it had all chipped off as they hadn't keyed the surface before paint!
I'm pretty certain that ball joint gaiter has been split a lot longer than the MOT in March, it's only done 5000km since then. All of the track rod ends have split also.
Now I'm sure there are many love stone chip in an aerosol or waxoyl, but in all honesty I can't think of anything worse to put on your car. Unless the underbody is absolutely spotless before application, all you'll do is trap whatever resides there to fester. I can think of the many MGB's I've had, with this plastered on the stuff to hide rust! There is usually no need to underseal a 190E as they did such a good job at the factory. This would have been done in the UK upon arrival, not sure why they couldn't have found some translucent wax to apply in vulnerable areas, just like Mercedes did.
Mercedes wheel arches are body colour over the undercoat, I initially thought it was extremely dirty, alas, this stuff is everywhere! A little bit of brake cleaner started to break it down a little to wash it off, however that'll be too expensive and time consuming. Any recommendations for removing this stuff that is cost effective and won't hurt the paint and plethora of plastics around?
Unfortunately it seems the car has run considerable km's without bumps stops and strut gaiters, there is lateral play in the piston rod also. They're not leaking, but it's enough for me to necessitate there replacement. I'm tempted to go with a stiffer heavy duty strut, but with the state of the roads, some original spec ones may be the most sensible option. The strut mount is buggered too!
I've not spent much time in the engine bay, it received a brief degrease and rinse to remove years of grime. As expected everything is in remarkable condition, very little corrosion barring the manifold. A few items let the side down such as the expansion tank, peeling battery decals, and the homemade bonnet insulation. The paintwork on the inner wings and underside the bonnet are absolutely amazing, better than the exterior paint of many cars manufactured today.
Even though I can sort this out myself, the one and only bodywork gripe on the front wing needs to be sorted. It's not ideal painting outside this time of year, so I'll get a body shop to repair and I imagine it'd be £150 to get this done properly.
New wishbone installed with a new genuine Mercedes coil spring, again had these kicking about so thought this car deserved a set. I normally like to replace all of the bolts and fixtures, but these are all in excellent condition, the only new fixture I've used are the anti-roll bar bush mount nut and plate. I'd also detected a little shudder under braking, which lead me to suspect warped disc, with my dial dial gauge it confirms this to be so. It's a shame as these have little wear and are a genuine Mercedes disc. It'll have the same with some EBC green stuff pads as Mercedes' pad give off far too much dust.
If you're ever attempting to change the coil spring on a W201 or W124, I would highly recommend this spring compressor. It is specifically designed for this application. It is very difficult to use traditional spring compressors due to the coil spring's locating cup whereas this one is compresses internally. It costs a few quid as I went for the more expensive Bergen brand, probably £100 or so. These springs are under so much tension that it's simply not worth risking your safety over saving money!
Now I wonder if a taxi driver earns a good living, as clearly this is all this car is good for......
Stop showing me mechanical bits that need replacement. My next big project, once Ive finished fannying about with a Lupo, is to rebuild a last of the line LE.
Already got plans for Bilsteins and a mild lower, plus new wishbones and the like... Greenstuff pads are a good shout, I've got Bosch pads on the one that works and they're dusty as all hell.
Already got plans for Bilsteins and a mild lower, plus new wishbones and the like... Greenstuff pads are a good shout, I've got Bosch pads on the one that works and they're dusty as all hell.
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