Swap 1993 Mercedes 190e - MOT Win

[BorniteIdentity]

Thanks for your advice and kind words.

 

It's the nicest I've seen in budget, and has a really good spec for one of these.  Just need to pick it up (tomorrow hopefully) and get moving forwards on it.

[richardmorris]

I can recommend a mobile merc. Mechanic for vacuum diagnosis etc if you're near Bracknell.

[stripped fred]

Would be interested to see how you get along with this. Good luck!

[warren t claim]

I must admit the manuals are utter wank.

[cort16]

Are they badly written?

[BorniteIdentity]

Well it's here... and so far, it's brilliant. I've not driven one for nearly 15 years and it just came flooding back. Wonderful suspension, comical turning circle and fantastic style.

 

Off for an MOT tomorrow and then we're good to go.

 

Gave the interior a good shampoo with a bucket and a scrubbing brush

 

 

Mats may take longer.

 

 

Radio set is a bit gash. Replacement required.

 

 

Disappointingly, not a lot left behind by the previous owner. Not sure who the hairy fella is - perhaps the bearded one in ABBA? (Agnetha?!1!)

 

 

Anyway. Good so far. Will report back once it's failed its MOT and I know exactly what's what.

 

 

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[trigger]

That's a odd spec, no electric rear windows but it has leather and air con. I'll be interested in hearing how you get on with the manual box.

[BorniteIdentity]

 

Coming to HBO in Fall 2015 - Green over Green is the new Black.

 

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[chaseracer]

That's a odd spec, no electric rear windows but it has leather and air con.

 

Such is the joy of the old M-B options system, whereby the list price got you a bodyshell (with windows!), some oily bits and an assurance of innate superiority.  

 

The build sheet of my 300E makes interesting reading; alloys, leather wheel and gearshift, but cloth seats and no aircon.  Nice, though... 

[Cavcraft]

Is that proper leather? Swish! Mine had that MB Tex 'leather lookalike'

Can't say I found the manual box clonky, but the (gear) changes weren't pleasant to use, and the leg room was awful due to the big steering wheel.

[oldcars]

Thats very very nice. I see you have two kids seats in the back, do they know there Dad is a winner 

[Taff]

I'll have the stereo, if it works ok & you're skipping it

[BorniteIdentity]

As predicted MOT failed on rear seat belt mounts and front top mount. Waiting on a price for weldering.

 

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[BorniteIdentity]

Well it's back. £350 of welding to the rear jacking points and seat belt mounts and we're good to go. Grease monkey seems to have done a bloody good job on it, so we're hot to trot.

 

Little oil leak seems to be rocker cover gasket so I'll get one bought at £8 and maybe give it a go. Failing that another friendly mechanic will get the gig.

 

Otherwise I'm head over heels. It's funny... you're very aware you're driving something a bit old fashioned. Burbly exhaust, upright windscreen, smell of Marlborough red and a blue tint to the top of the windscreen take you back to a time "Best before Thatcher". The ABS, Airbag and rear seat belts a friendly reminder that it's not trying to kill you during every journey.

 

Sunroof works perfectly so I drove home from work today rocking out to The Style Council in the same style this car would have enjoyed in a previous life.

 

It's all good.

 

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[BorniteIdentity]

One more pic. Wheels have got to go and I've got some proper "gingercators" on the way too

.

 

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[Jim Bell]

That looks smashing man.

[HMC]

Looks great! Relatively unusual spec as most punters seemed to go for auto/cloth rather than manual/leather. Lack of trim levels as such can often lead to odd/ unfortunate spec combos- I had a black on black w124 estate once- black mb tex (vinyl) seats and no air con-  and with all that glass to cook up the interior you had to peel yourself off the seat on a hot day!

[BorniteIdentity]

Update.

 

Car is 'sharing' its oil via the breather pipe and rocker gasket atm. Despite slight poor running and supermarket fuel, just managed 38mpg brim to brim. Convinced myself I'd be happy around 35mpg so all is well.

 

So, in reward, I treated the car to a new period accessory.

 

 

Can you guess what's coming?

 

 

Yes indeedy. Welcome to 1993.

 

 

It's summer 1993, "Jo King" is on Atlantic 252 playing Shaggy. Again. The blaupunkt factory fitted radio is capable of higher fidelity, but who cares? You're guaranteed to hear "4 Non Blondes" soon, as it's been nearly an hour since they last played it.

 

Life's good.

 

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[Magnificent Rustbucket]

And the bloody Spin doctors. You really couldn't escape that damn Two Princes thing on the radio in '93!

[BorniteIdentity]

Car now at the garage to get that oil leak sorted, and have a service.

 

I was going to have a go at doing the car myself. Until I found this place...

 

 

Absolute shiters paradise.

 

Proper old school mechanic fixing old shit heaps with a hammer and some fire.

 

 

Full service? "About £80. Maybe a few more quid if it ends up needing something"

 

By my fag packet math, that's about £25 per hour labour. It'll take him 2 hours I'd think by the time he's done the fuel filter etc. New next door neighbour is a retired AA patrol man and tipped me off.

 

Hope he's as good as I'm told. I can't be arsed getting oily at that price. Plus I'm...err... doing my bit for the local economy.

 

Yeah. That's it.

 

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[Ghosty]

And the bloody Spin doctors. You really couldn't escape that damn Two Princes thing on the radio in '93!

 

I have good memories listening to that in my dad's 190, driving about Yorkshire...

[BorniteIdentity]

Hmm.

 

I'd like to say it's all 'rainbows and unicorns'... but I'd be lying.

 

Car is back from the garage. New rocker cover gasket, breather pipe, full service and inspection and I'm a couple of hundred quid lighter.

 

Not doing this Autoshite thing properly.

 

Still. Gingercators are on. A lovely guy off of PH sent them to me free. Wouldn't even take beer money or postage. Amazing.

 

 

 

Next is to sort the wheels and change the radiogram.

 

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[Ghosty]

Definitely better.

 

This was ours, resplendent in beige, brown and orange:

 

 

Don't see many on the 8 hole wheels any more, also it was the lesser spotted 1.8.

 

We had it about five years, in which time it threw all sorts of issues at us, eventually it looked like it HGF so we chopped it in for a Prelude. It hung about where we lived for a few months getting increasingly untidy before it died some time in 2009/10. Oh, and the grille was sprayed satin black. That really helps them.

[BorniteIdentity]

A little update from me

 

Having sunk a fair few quid into the car, the last few weeks have been all about enjoying it.  Sunny evenings with the sunroof open and the radio loud have been really enjoyable, and I'm really starting to bond with it.  I had a very amusing encounter with a young guy the other day who plucked up the courage to try and buy the car from me at McDonald's!!

 

So, a little bit of fettling over the last fortnight:

 

|http://thumbsnap.com/rSQKesBI

 

I was frustrated to see the car is STILL leaking oil.  Weirdly, it looked (to my very untrained eye) to be coming up through the oil filler cap!! However, a quick Googleâ„¢ revealed that this is a very common issue.  SO common, in fact, that Mercedes began replacing the cap each year as a consumable service item.  So I picked a new one up from Mercedes-Benz Watford...

 

|http://thumbsnap.com/AI0o9zJ0

 

...where once again it caused a bit of a stir, with 2 members of staff coming over to take a look.  The turning circle also caused a bit of amusement!

 

It seems there's a very good chance the car DID leave the original dealership in Birmingham on those wheel trims.  I've long suspected that, as a September 1993 car, it was one of the last to be sold there - and that the dealer may have shoved some W202 trims on it in order to make the car look a bit fresher.  Notwithstanding, I'm not a fan.  I'm still in 2 minds what to do.  On one hand, I love the period alloys - on the other, this car was never specified with them.

 

Anyway, an unbelievably good offer presented itself on Gumtree.  Ã‚£5 for the flying saucers!! FIVE!

 

|http://thumbsnap.com/tpXXVDrh

 

Next jobs are to replace the indicator repeaters which are coming via MB Newcastle, change the oil filler cap and look into the intermittent radio reception.

 

Over and out!

[mercrocker]

Good stuff, glad you are enjoying the rather under-estimated charms of a W201....I agree with you on the wheel trim theory.   Mine had W202 ones although its a much earlier car and these were plainly added to "update" it at some point later in its life.   Good purchasing on the correct plakky ones - I paid a lot more than that for mine (from Germany) although I have picked up the odd spare since.   Make sure the spring clips are good - I have had one fly off.    I have replaced my oil cap just once but the rocker box area generally seems prone to seepage.   

 

I can highly recommend running these on Shell Optimax, well worth the additional cost per litre.   I have reacquainted myself with our 190E since Mrs Rocker has been laid up with sciatica (its her car usually) and I am strongly thinking of getting another for myself for the winter.   Its a very nice place to be.... 

[omegod]

I used to love parking mine in the middle of the forecourt at my local main dealer almost to prove a point, I spotted an old receipt in the history for a main dealer service that hadn't made it into the stamped service book so they asked me to wait in the posh service waiting area while they stamped it, mucho free fresh fruit and orange juice was consumed while I waited 

[mercrocker]

Unfortunately most MB dealers now seem not to give a shit about the heritage of the star, rather with selling the latest blue-motion blaa blaa anodyne things they currently stock.   My local dealer has now packed up and re-located but about 10 years ago they were all over my W123/116/124s etc and really helpful.    Its almost like the 1980s stuff is a thorn in their side these days - a reminder of past glories perhaps.   I am lucky enough to have a really good specialist near me (walking distance) who look after my 190E - most of 'em were apprenticed on them and seem to appreciate their superiority over current stuff.  

[BorniteIdentity]

Time for an update.

 

The car has pretty much had a complete top end rebuild at the local shite friendly grease monkey... So that I can have a solid enjoyment this year. I've had a good couple of months pay wise (self-employed) so thought I'd do it now before other priorities snatch the money.

 

Should be ready Thursday with.

 

New Head, Rocker and Manifold Gaskets.

 

Head skimmed, valve liners replaced and valves refaced.

 

New alternator.

 

New water pump.

 

New battery.

 

New dizzy cap.

 

Full service Inc all fluids, filters, plugs leads and caps.

 

Replacement acoustic treatment for bonnet.

 

I'm sending my wife to Champneys to soften the blow...

 

 

 

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[BorniteIdentity]

Hmmph.

 

Got the car back yesterday.  Absolutely chuffed to bits with the price (£750 in used notes) but the car is running like gigantic pile of shit.  Mechanic said "it's running a bit lumpy but go give it a good caning and come back to me".

 

It stalled 3 times on the 1 mile drive home, and doesn't rev freely at all.  It nearly killed me last night when the thing tried to stall, causing the servo to drop on the brakes and the power assist to disappear on the steering.

 

He's still eager for me to get a few miles under its belt, so nudged the timing along a bit.  It made minimal difference.

 

Thoughts? I get the feeling he's trying to avoid taking the thing to bits to remedy it - on the off chance that it's just got shit in there somewhere.

[mercrocker]

The symptoms of poor running are exactly what mine was like with an after-market dizzy cap.   Might be worth trying the original before going any further.