Mercedes 190E (W201) 1991 Signal Red and 1990 Classic Mini

Mercedes 190E (W201) 1991 Signal Red and 1990 Classic Mini

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Phil2NL

Original Poster:

97 posts

110 months

Sunday 27th November 2022
quotequote all
Being a long time reader on the forums here, I thought for once to start my own thread.
The readers cars section is what I enjoy most, especially when folks are so happy with their car and have a nice background story or a story of the pick up/first drive.

As per the title, this thread is about my 190E I bought last week.

My love of cars started a long time ago when my dad used to drive a 190D in a beige colour and after that he had a 190D in black.
As a child I was really impressed with the Mercedes and then it seemed to me a big car!

My parents with the beige 190D:


On our way to France (from the Netherlands):


And then the second 190D and note my dad and mine matching tracksuits smile :


The 190D was really cool in black:


Fast forward to now..
I always liked the W201, but never bought one. Have had many other cars and older cars. Now I thought, I am turning 40 myself in December, what a nice gift it would be for myself to get the W201, which is also turning 40 in December smile

The one I found is not 40 years though, it is from 1991. It is a 1.8 liter engine which they sold in the later years of the W201.

It was delivered in the Netherlands from new, so no shady imports. This does mean that the spec is very low, or almost non existent. It has a 4 speed manual gearbox and the options only include a light in the rear above the back seats and central locking. Maybe the UK did not even have the 4 speed for this model, but I rather like it.

It has done 197k kilometers, so in miles about 123k.

The colour is Signal Rot (code 568).

Over to the pics I took yesterday:








I have another car in red from the same era, but really different. Will post about it another time.













Edited by Phil2NL on Sunday 27th November 12:26


Edited by Phil2NL on Sunday 27th November 12:28


Edited by Phil2NL on Sunday 27th November 12:43

Northbrook

1,434 posts

63 months

Sunday 27th November 2022
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That looks nice! And a nice connection to your past, too.

I look forward to seeing more smile

JuiceTerry

123 posts

92 months

Sunday 27th November 2022
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Am drawn to these and W124’s estates, is it as slow as the engine and gearbox suggests

Mr Tidy

22,313 posts

127 months

Sunday 27th November 2022
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Love that colour, although I think the boot spoiler may be a bit unnecessary!

I had a 1989 manual 2 litre 190e and that was a 5 speed - I didn't realise they made any 4 speed ones.

Mine was Blue/Black metallic, had 4 electric windows and the electric tilt/slide sunroof.

I replaced it with a C280 Sport that was a huge disappointment - there was just something so right about the 190s.

Jhonno

5,774 posts

141 months

Monday 28th November 2022
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Love a good 190! Looks a nice one too..

Phil2NL

Original Poster:

97 posts

110 months

Monday 28th November 2022
quotequote all
JuiceTerry said:
Am drawn to these and W124’s estates, is it as slow as the engine and gearbox suggests
It is not a quick car, but much quicker than the 190D base diesel. However as it is just so nice to waft around with, you don’t mind that it’s not that quick of a car.
Top speed wise, this 4-speed manual should do 115 mph.

Phil2NL

Original Poster:

97 posts

110 months

Tuesday 29th November 2022
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Had a great time on my first drives with this car.
I love the colour of the orange indicators next to the red of the car.

MarkJS

1,539 posts

147 months

Wednesday 30th November 2022
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That is lovely!

RC1807

12,532 posts

168 months

Wednesday 30th November 2022
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That's a very clean example, Phil!

I had a 190E 2.0 from August 1998 to July 2000. It was a 5 speed manual, electric sunroof and windows, checked cloth interior, alloy wheels.

It was a late 93 model that I bought from MB Luxembourg. At 5 years old, it still only had 36k km on the clock, 1 retired owner from new. I put over 60k km on that car in the first year, excited at having moved to Europe, I was driving all over every weekend, exploring.

I loved that car. smile

Phil2NL

Original Poster:

97 posts

110 months

Wednesday 30th November 2022
quotequote all
RC1807 said:
That's a very clean example, Phil!

I had a 190E 2.0 from August 1998 to July 2000. It was a 5 speed manual, electric sunroof and windows, checked cloth interior, alloy wheels.

It was a late 93 model that I bought from MB Luxembourg. At 5 years old, it still only had 36k km on the clock, 1 retired owner from new. I put over 60k km on that car in the first year, excited at having moved to Europe, I was driving all over every weekend, exploring.

I loved that car. smile
Nice memories!
Which colour did you have?

RC1807

12,532 posts

168 months

Wednesday 30th November 2022
quotequote all
Phil2NL said:
Nice memories!
Which colour did you have?
Boring silver wink
It had an odd model designation on the front wings, sadly not Sportline, but "Reference".


Edited by RC1807 on Thursday 1st December 11:24

braddo

10,466 posts

188 months

Wednesday 30th November 2022
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Nice backstory smile

Phil2NL said:
On our way to France (from the Netherlands):
Amazing photo! What sort of speed would you be able to cruise on the motorway in a little 190D packed like that?!

Craikeybaby

10,411 posts

225 months

Wednesday 30th November 2022
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Nice, my dad had a navy blue 190E, I think from 1989 to 1991.

braddo

10,466 posts

188 months

Wednesday 30th November 2022
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I drove a navy 190E 1.8 manual from London to Nice and back. It was my first long continental drive. I remember wishing it had cruise control as the throttle pedal was quite stiff, which meant it’s tricky to keep a constant speed over time but that’s a tiny moan. Fabulous cars.

Phil2NL

Original Poster:

97 posts

110 months

Friday 2nd December 2022
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braddo said:
Amazing photo! What sort of speed would you be able to cruise on the motorway in a little 190D packed like that?!
I think my dad took it to 55 mph and kept it there. However, it would take forever to get to that speed. Once at speed they keep going forever, those diesels.

Phil2NL

Original Poster:

97 posts

110 months

Friday 2nd December 2022
quotequote all
Besides enjoying the occasional drive, there are some things that I want to do.



I am missing one of the caps on the wheels:



Also, the interior looks great as you can see below, except the trim around the gear shifter is badly worn. Will have to find a replacement for that.






BricktopST205

900 posts

134 months

Friday 2nd December 2022
quotequote all
braddo said:
Amazing photo! What sort of speed would you be able to cruise on the motorway in a little 190D packed like that?!
If lorry can cruise at 56mph with 10BHP/Tonne I am sure it would have been fine.

Spinakerr

1,178 posts

145 months

Friday 2nd December 2022
quotequote all
Oh a wonderful car! Congratulation!

I had the exact same colour, engine and interior at age 21 for my first job commute. It had RHD and a five speed though, and was utterly brilliant. I do have pics somewhere. My attempts at maintenance usually made it worse, and I only sold it to get a Lexus LS400.

Happy motoring!

braddo

10,466 posts

188 months

Friday 2nd December 2022
quotequote all
BricktopST205 said:
If lorry can cruise at 56mph with 10BHP/Tonne I am sure it would have been fine.
When I was a kid we had a farm pickup that was a 2.3 nat asp diesel that even when brand new couldn't do more than 50mph (unladen). It got to about 60mph once in 5 years on the flat with a massive tailwind.

Just realising in hindsight that it had oversized offroad wheels and tyres on it and it was so gutless that the wheels probably sapped 5-10 mph off its top speed. hehe

Phil2NL

Original Poster:

97 posts

110 months

Sunday 4th December 2022
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Spinakerr said:
Oh a wonderful car! Congratulation!

I had the exact same colour, engine and interior at age 21 for my first job commute. It had RHD and a five speed though, and was utterly brilliant. I do have pics somewhere. My attempts at maintenance usually made it worse, and I only sold it to get a Lexus LS400.

Happy motoring!
Thanks! Would be great to see your pics if you can find them.