Merc 190's

[M1VT]

Well,one has come up for sale locally and its rather nice,oldskool ish but not rust ridden

Its a good price,and looks darn nice...best it?sale/cheaper to insure than my 1.3 polo breddy haha,fking joke

anyone ever had one?
Oppinions? Merc 190's

[joncon]

my son currently has one , although it is he 2.3 16v cosworth version.
great car , he took it to classic le mans this year , along with several tvrs . the merc didnt miss a beat , and kept up. not bad for a 23 yr old car.
son is 21 yrs old, paying approx 260 a yr on ins, agreed value of 6k.
not sure what engine size you are looking at, but remember the insurance company did not regard his car as a cosworth ! only a 2.3 16v .

[Killer2005]

joncon said:

my son currently has one , although it is he 2.3 16v cosworth version.
great car , he took it to classic le mans this year , along with several tvrs . the merc didnt miss a beat , and kept up. not bad for a 23 yr old car.
son is 21 yrs old, paying approx 260 a yr on ins, agreed value of 6k.
not sure what engine size you are looking at, but remember the insurance company did not regard his car as a cosworth ! only a 2.3 16v .

Just looking at it in the classifieds, very nice indeed

Linky http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/2225558.htm

[Smike]

joncon said:

not sure what engine size you are looking at, but remember the insurance company did not regard his car as a cosworth ! only a 2.3 16v .

It wasn't badged as a Cosworth, that's why. They just provided help on the cylinder head design much as with the Astra GTE 16valve

[Garlick]

No need to swear chap....

Lovely cars. Buy it, keep it as it is, put miles on it and sell when bored for similar money.

Forum search for 190 or take a look in our Merc forum for more info

[joncon]

Smike said:

joncon said:

not sure what engine size you are looking at, but remember the insurance company did not regard his car as a cosworth ! only a 2.3 16v .

It wasn't badged as a Cosworth, that's why. They just provided help on the cylinder head design much as with the Astra GTE 16valve

i agree with you there, but the point i was trying to make was that because its not cosworth badged , a 21 yr old can insure it at reasonable cost, unlike cosworth fords !

[ambuletz]

my dads a mechanic, has owned many w123's, 190's and currently has an E-class. I'd love a 190 myself. but he swears that the build quality just isn't up to standard, compared to the E-class or S-class. similar thing with the C-class. baby benz, budget benz. :-/

[Bri957]

He would be talking twaddle in my opinion.

[Garlick]

ambuletz said:

my dads a mechanic, has owned many w123's, 190's and currently has an E-class. I'd love a 190 myself. but he swears that the build quality just isn't up to standard, compared to the E-class or S-class. similar thing with the C-class. baby benz, budget benz. :-/

What? Really??

I have to disagree (about the 190)

[morgrp]

I've got a 16valve and its been a serious labour of love and real ball ache at times - admittedly, I bought it very cheaply with the view of restoring which I have done. My view on 190's is basically, avoid the 16v body kit - they rust like fk. the 1.8 and diesels are dog slow, the 2.0 thirsty but all three are made like proper old mercs and make great wafters, where as the 16v is too temperamental in many areas (non hydraulic tappets, that rust causing body kit, self leveling rear end, limited slip diff, dogleg box) and all parts for them are bespoke and therefore very expensive (I should know!). I'd go for a 2.6 auto with no body kit. If you must have a 16v (and they are a fabulous drive), buy a minter

[morgrp]

Garlick said:

ambuletz said:

my dads a mechanic, has owned many w123's, 190's and currently has an E-class. I'd love a 190 myself. but he swears that the build quality just isn't up to standard, compared to the E-class or S-class. similar thing with the C-class. baby benz, budget benz. :-/

What? Really??

I have to disagree (about the 190)

No I would agree with that, especially the 16v, don't get me wrong they are a well made machine compared to say a ford of the same age but they are def not as tough as W123's

[lordlee]

Garlick said:

ambuletz said:

my dads a mechanic, has owned many w123's, 190's and currently has an E-class. I'd love a 190 myself. but he swears that the build quality just isn't up to standard, compared to the E-class or S-class. similar thing with the C-class. baby benz, budget benz. :-/

What? Really??

I have to disagree (about the 190)

+1 the 190 were extremely well built and will easily outlive the early C-Class models.

[GTIR]

Great cars.
Avoid the 2.0 non turbo Diesel - only for the fact it's slow as buggery.

If you can be arsed get some veg oil and stick in the tank, 40/60 mix in winter, for cheaper motoring. Did in mine for 18 months.

[Garlick]

morgrp said:

Garlick said:

ambuletz said:

my dads a mechanic, has owned many w123's, 190's and currently has an E-class. I'd love a 190 myself. but he swears that the build quality just isn't up to standard, compared to the E-class or S-class. similar thing with the C-class. baby benz, budget benz. :-/

What? Really??

I have to disagree (about the 190)

No I would agree with that, especially the 16v, don't get me wrong they are a well made machine compared to say a ford of the same age but they are def not as tough as W123's

Perhaps not a W123 beater, but one to avoid on quality? Hardly.

One of the last properly built Benz cars, and not a model I'd mention in the same breath as a C Class.

[detomaso]

Garlick said:

the last properly built Benz cars, and not a model I'd mention in the same breath as a C Class.

EFA

It was considered a risky move by them at the time as they couldn't afford for the car to be a failure (with detriment to the rest of the range) so the design and development process was lengthy and expensive - the cost cutting which tarnished the reputation of the 90s C- and E-class is partially attributed to the development costs of the previous models; remember MB didn't have such an extensive range as they do now. Despite the 190e being priced in excess of its competitors it didn't make that much money for MB, but it did carve itself a reputation for solidity, reliability and being downright classy when compared to the 3-series. Compare the two today and the 190e feels much more robust and has great character - the Cosworth really comes into its own when driven hard yet the 2.6 with the autobox is a real smoothie.

Things do go wear out on them obviously and some parts are MB only, but you'll find more non-rusty 190e's compared to 3-series of the same era and they feel like a car from the class above.

[Gruber]

A marvellous thing, is a nice 190E.

2.0 petrol with autobox would be my pick for bargain waft-along motoring: enough get up and go to make decent progress, but cheaper to run than the 2.6. Parts supply is cheap and plentiful. Build quality is fantastic for the money.

The current winter-snotter is a 300E - bigger than the 190 obviously, but hewn from the same granite-like beginnings.

[Chris_w666]

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/2256499.htm - Spotted this the other day it looks like a nice way to smoke about. Not as quick as the 2.3 or 2.5 but much better than the later C class that followed them IMO.

[ClaphamGT3]

detomaso said:

Garlick said:

the last properly built Benz cars, and not a model I'd mention in the same breath as a C Class.

EFA

It was considered a risky move by them at the time as they couldn't afford for the car to be a failure (with detriment to the rest of the range) so the design and development process was lengthy and expensive - the cost cutting which tarnished the reputation of the 90s C- and E-class is partially attributed to the development costs of the previous models; remember MB didn't have such an extensive range as they do now. Despite the 190e being priced in excess of its competitors it didn't make that much money for MB, but it did carve itself a reputation for solidity, reliability and being downright classy when compared to the 3-series. Compare the two today and the 190e feels much more robust and has great character - the Cosworth really comes into its own when driven hard yet the 2.6 with the autobox is a real smoothie.

Things do go wear out on them obviously and some parts are MB only, but you'll find more non-rusty 190e's compared to 3-series of the same era and they feel like a car from the class above.

The 190 was the first single model car ever to exceed $1bn in pre-launch R&D costs

[Garlick]

Chris_w666 said:

http://www.pistonheads.com/sales/2256499.htm - Spotted this the other day it looks like a nice way to smoke about. Not as quick as the 2.3 or 2.5 but much better than the later C class that followed them IMO.

The same model as my old one. It was a great little car.