1985 Mercedes 190E
Discussion
Another day, another 190E!
If I'm not mistaken, this is the 16th 190E I have owned in the past five years. Most of them have been rather dog-eared, thus not worth investing time and money in. Some have been broken for spares as it was the only way to get the money back out if them! The 2.6 manual I have is on the back burner, extracting many funds whilst no closer to the road.
This one however is most charming, an early '85 in a rather fetching shade of Ivory, with what I consider the most sophisticated interior colour Mercedes offered back then, Medium red. The interior is as close to perfect as you can get, omit one door card is starting to peel, which is quite common on the W201.
Many 190's have been neglected, hence me going through so many to find the right one, so rare is it to find one this one has been cherished up until recently. Because of this car I will persevere and restore it whilst using it as much as I can.
Very few owners, with the 1st having it for 25 years, the 2nd for nearly ten. It's changed hands rapidly very recently, I'm unsure as to why, maybe it's the rust! These 'owners' never made it on log book, probably sold for a quick flip! Then again I saw the old advert from one of the recent previous sellers for £2000. With it advertised for £1600, where I saw it.
Starts on the button, drives without fault(exception for the exhaust blow), the engine is smooth and quiet. Signs of a well kept car I trust.
Rust however is somewhat of a problem, all four arches, lower rear wings and the sills are just starting to go through. Front inner wings behind the front bumper are also corroded. I can weld so could be worse, but I'd still rather not have to! Fortunately I have built up a good spares selection so most of this can be sorted at low cost.
Stacks of receipts, even from its first service. Wheel trims are in the boot by the way, but I have a set of original alloys that will go on nicely.
So did my heart rule my head paying £1200? I'd like to think not, but I know the bodywork is going to be quite costly unfortunately. Still I was happy with £400 off the asking price! Oh and the battery is crap.
If I'm not mistaken, this is the 16th 190E I have owned in the past five years. Most of them have been rather dog-eared, thus not worth investing time and money in. Some have been broken for spares as it was the only way to get the money back out if them! The 2.6 manual I have is on the back burner, extracting many funds whilst no closer to the road.
This one however is most charming, an early '85 in a rather fetching shade of Ivory, with what I consider the most sophisticated interior colour Mercedes offered back then, Medium red. The interior is as close to perfect as you can get, omit one door card is starting to peel, which is quite common on the W201.
Many 190's have been neglected, hence me going through so many to find the right one, so rare is it to find one this one has been cherished up until recently. Because of this car I will persevere and restore it whilst using it as much as I can.
Very few owners, with the 1st having it for 25 years, the 2nd for nearly ten. It's changed hands rapidly very recently, I'm unsure as to why, maybe it's the rust! These 'owners' never made it on log book, probably sold for a quick flip! Then again I saw the old advert from one of the recent previous sellers for £2000. With it advertised for £1600, where I saw it.
Starts on the button, drives without fault(exception for the exhaust blow), the engine is smooth and quiet. Signs of a well kept car I trust.
Rust however is somewhat of a problem, all four arches, lower rear wings and the sills are just starting to go through. Front inner wings behind the front bumper are also corroded. I can weld so could be worse, but I'd still rather not have to! Fortunately I have built up a good spares selection so most of this can be sorted at low cost.
Stacks of receipts, even from its first service. Wheel trims are in the boot by the way, but I have a set of original alloys that will go on nicely.
So did my heart rule my head paying £1200? I'd like to think not, but I know the bodywork is going to be quite costly unfortunately. Still I was happy with £400 off the asking price! Oh and the battery is crap.
MJK 24 said:
There’s a decent Facebook group for these. Someone was selling a respectable set of wheels trims for £25 the other week.
It came with a set of trims fortunately. The car was wearing a set of late 00's c-class alloys at point of sale that I didn't want. These steelies have a set of new, albeit cheap tyres. I told the chap not to bother putting the trims on as they'd soon come off. I'll sell them and put some original Merc 15 hole alloys on with branded tyres.sparks_190e said:
Despite being nearly the slowest and definitely the costliest of all of the cars I've owned, I haven't loved a car like I love my 2.0 Auto 190e. Fantastic little things, and they get a lot of attention!
Yes, in 1.8 and 2.0 guise they are rather pedestrian, it encourages one to drive a little more sedately. The 2.6 was a revelation when I got behind the wheel. Enough power to finally get out of it's own way. You should try one. Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff