Merc 190e............ Talk to me!!

[uncle silvia]

Well ive been pondering over a new car to replace my Micra daily as Ive wanted something thats either a bit pointy or something thats a bit of a comfy cruiser.

 

I was looking at a Porsche 924 but I didnt fit in it lol

 

I have now been offered a G reg Merc 190e 1.8 (or 2.0 i cant remember) manual in white which ive taken a liking to (Always have quite like them).

 

I havent looked at it yet but its standard apart from lowering and the only issue is a little bubble of surface rust on each front wing.

 

Is there anything i should look for when I do go to see it??

 

The car has done 150,000 miles and has some T&T too.

 

Here she is................

 

[Guest Len H]

You might struggle to fit in a 190 too, they have massive steering wheels.

[uncle silvia]

You might struggle to fit in a 190 too, they have massive steering wheels.

 

Do they have adjustable steering columns............. unlike the Porka??

[RoadworkUK]

Unlower it! Immediately!

 

Nice cars. Don't be fooled into paying anything like decent money for it, there are folk out there with strange ideas of what these are worth; we've taken sound 190e's in for £300 on numerous occasions.

 

Not sparkling to drive, no E30, more of a cruiser than a sprinter, dashboard will probably remind you strangely of a Lada Riva, albeit a well built one. Look good in white, though.

 

I'd have one.

[Cavcraft]

Rust, noisy diffs, fuses/relays, stupidly large steering wheel as Len said and then the fact they're worth the square root of eff all. If it's dirt cheap you should be ok but I wouldn't pay good money for one personally.

[uncle silvia]

Well its at the £500 is mark and it is a manual which seems hard to find.

 

Ill Probably get some different wheels for it that suits the lower stance........... I hate rolley poley cars

[Cavcraft]

Trust me being manual makes it worth less and they're not that nice to drive either

[uncle silvia]

Trust me being manual makes it worth less and they're not that nice to drive either

 

I just prefer manuals unless its a massive engined barge........... which its not lol

[RoadworkUK]

I have to say, if it's a 2.0 or, god help you, a 1.8, it'll be very slow indeed. I'd have a 2.3 or a 2.6, with the Ted Kennedy Jr-Matic box.

 

I'd certainly be going for the VW LT Coupe you were hankering for over this one.

[Cavcraft]

I like manuals too Unc but the 190 isn't nice to drive in that format in my experience. Horses for courses of course so a decent test drive should see you right.

[ashmicro]

I had a manual 190e 2.0, and nothing ever went wrong with it. The manual box is a little agricultural, but you get used to it. Mine was a very late one (1992), beautifully built and tough.

[Barry Cade]

I've had both a 2.0D and 2.5D 190, both were ace,loved the veg,and were very very relaxing. The world just slows down with you driving an old Merc. Not an atmosphere for Motorhead or ACDC.

 

The most important thing to look for in an 190 and any older Benz, is the optional centre armrest,and classic FM reception.

 

 

Ahhhhh.

[warren t claim]

 

The most important thing to look for in an 190, and any older benz, is the optional centre armrest,and classic FM reception.

 

 

Ahhhhh.

You've been spying on me haven't you? Yes I have a centre armrest and button 5 is indeed tuned to Classic FM.

[Barry Cade]

 

The most important thing to look for in an 190, and any older benz, is the optional centre armrest,and classic FM reception.

 

 

Ahhhhh.

You've been spying on me haven't you? Yes I have a centre armrest and button 5 is indeed tuned to Classic FM.

 

Hah, You sir, are a true Benz driver. Das Beste oder nichts.

 

Much classier than all that Fourspring dutchy bollocks. or especially that Ultimate driving machine- for people who can't drive...or use indicators.

 

Although.. try this at home folks... Slam the boot of a 190. Its the tinniest,cheapest noise this side of a fake market Ipod with the treble on 12. Pissed me off every time that did.

[Cavcraft]

If you do buy it Uncle drop me a pm, have a present here for you in the garage.

[Pete-M]

Keep the Micra. 190s are cack, manual 190s doubly so.

 

Don't ride well, don't handle well, don't go well, aren't that quiet, not much space, not very reliable (mine was horrifically unreliable), dodgy water pumps, head gasket failures, dodgy bushes everywhere, whining diffs, dodgy wiper motors and rust.

 

Lowered ones have ride / handling issues even more than standard ones, and they knock bushes out even more quickly.

 

Oh, and white is death to any resale value they may otherwise have, but as they're unpopular that's not much of an issue.

 

This was one I had. It was so shit I fragged it after spending a few hundred quid trying to get it right. Utter (full service history) shite.

 

In fact, I'd go as far as to say that it was easily the worst car I have ever owned, and I've owned some proper shite over the years.

 

[uncle silvia]

Well im getting a massive range from "yes get one there excelent and never break" down to "worst car ive ever owned!" Hmmmm

 

Still fancy one but unfortunately the one i was going keen on has now been taken off the market as my mate has decided to keep it............. I may however go and take it for a drive just to get the feel for them.

[Station]

I've never seen the attraction in these apart from the badge (Mercedes reliability?). Horrible looking things!

[Barry Cade]

Keep the Micra. 190s are cack, manual 190s doubly so.

 

Don't ride well, don't handle well, don't go well, aren't that quiet, not much space, not very reliable (mine was horrifically unreliable), dodgy water pumps, head gasket failures, dodgy bushes everywhere, whining diffs, dodgy wiper motors and rust.

 

Lowered ones have ride / handling issues even more than standard ones, and they knock bushes out even more quickly.

 

Oh, and white is death to any resale value they may otherwise have, but as they're unpopular that's not much of an issue.

 

This was one I had. It was so shit I fragged it after spending a few hundred quid trying to get it right. Utter (full service history) shite.

 

In fact, I'd go as far as to say that it was easily the worst car I have ever owned, and I've owned some proper shite over the years.

 

 

 

Jesus H Christ, you must have bought an ex African taxis! I've had 7 Benzzzzzz altogether,both W201 and W124, and never had ANY of the issues you mention . I find the W124 THE quietest, most refined and relaxing car this side of a Lexus V8, and in my job I've driven just about everything, up to Rollers and Bentleys.. ( Turbo R, now there is a dissapointing,unreliable vehicle..). I ragged a £250 200E round Europe last year with not even a murmur,sold it on and they guy still loves it a year later.

[Pete-M]

Jesus H Christ, you must have bought an ex African taxis! I've had 7 Benzzzzzz altogether,both W201 and W124, and never had ANY of the issues you mention . I find the W124 THE quietest, most refined and relaxing car this side of a Lexus V8, and in my job I've driven just about everything, up to Rollers and Bentleys.. ( Turbo R, now there is a dissapointing,unreliable vehicle..). I ragged a £250 200E round Europe last year with not even a murmur,sold it on and they guy still loves it a year later.

 

I've had a few Mercs and loved them. My W123 snapped a front coil spring - which was annoying. I had a W124 260E for a good while and that also needed a water pump, wiper motor and back box while I had it.

 

I did a few thousand miles in an immaculate W124 280TE 24v. That one was faultless - other than the wiper motor giving in. That was a very very nice thing.

 

I've driven loads of Mercs and like most of them, but the 190E, A class, Vito and early C class are exceptions.

[dollywobbler]

If you want comfortable waftability, sounds like you need my Saab 9000. On a recent 500 mile trip to Devon and back, I was amazed at how great my back felt. Even with the fidgety ride (which probably isn't that bad anyway - certainly no worse than my sister's brand new Golf. I'm just used to Citroen-smooth!). Reckon the 32mpg I'm getting would be a struggle for an equivalent Merc 190, and it's easily as robust, if not more so. Only selling because it's not quirky and daft enough for me, so I'm contemplating a return to the plasticy-rattle of the Citroen BX...

[danthecapriman]

A mate of mine had one of those, exactly the same as that one. His was L reg though. It was a 2.0 auto and drove nice, was comfortable and reliable enough but rust was an issue! It looked really good, even up close but it had those stupid plastic sill trims on it which turned out to be hiding the rot, so try to check under these! The sill ends were holed and very crusty, I seem to remember the lifting points are on the sills on these too, so worth checking!

Also, front inner wings had rotted out, one side having a fist sized hole through it!

He sold it for sod all in the end as it wasnt worth repairing. Shame really because it looked and drove nice.

[Morgan84]

Many moons ago,I had a 190 ( non e ) 2.0 Manual with AMG styling plus a Ripspeed conversion.She had additional wood trim on the dashboard,and a wooden steering wheel center.The car was a lovelly old bus to drive,and handled like it was on rails,although performance was about as exciting as a day to the beach on a wet December afternoon ! Mine had electric windows in the front,and a manual sunroof,plus electric mirrors,so was a fairly well trimmed model;I have seen ones with all round manual windows,and clothless door cards,so they can be very spartan. Main Mercedes issues are rust to the wheel arches ( mine had no rust ), brake and fuel pipes corroding,and general underside age related decay,but they are pretty tough old wagons.Seat bolsters wear easily,but the cloth in them is pretty forgiving,and scrubs up pretty easily,and most things are tollerant to age. Mercs never had a radio as standard,but most had electric aerials on the nearside rear wing ( over £150 from Merc ). Mine was a thirsty old thing,but if you dont mind a few more £££ in the tank,then it will definately be a rewarding cosy cruiser - but don't bugger about lowering them,if Mercedes thought they needed to drag there bumpers along,they would have sent them out of the factory like it ! Another thing on Mercedes;many things run on Vacuum - ie central locking and headlamp level adjusters etc,so be gentle and carefull around the pipework

[alfetta]

I got at least 32 mpg out of mine, it was without doubt the most reliable car I owned in the 4 years I had it. Handled pretty well too, and being a manual 1.8 the performance wasn't really that bad...Being Merc you could order pretty much whatever spec you wanted (so some have some curious options. Like limited slip diff on a 1.8..)

 

Rust seems to be better on these compared to W124's in my experience, but moaning about rust on a 20+ year old car? I've seen 8 year old fords with more....(mine had none) E30's rot more too...

 

Great car, Until it ended up like this after a head on....glad I was in this rather than my shitroen AX! (no airbag required)

 

[Rocket88]

I've had three, and they've all been spiffing, even to the extent of breaking down in convenient places. I had a 260e that required topping up with water every three days, a problem which, in true Autoshite tradition, I ignored. I had to make a 9 hour journey from Stranraer to Ipswich, towing a caravan. The water pump carked it 80 yards from the camp site entrance in Ipswich................

[uncle silvia]

Ah some more positive comments now

 

cheers guys

[Pete-M]

Ah some more positive comments now

 

I was being positive. I listed all their good points.

[andrew e]

Buy it, get a towbar, purchase a towable time machine* off ebay and head to east london @1988.

 

Walk into RUDE MERCS with a fistful of old £50's and make it RUDE!

 

[warren t claim]

 

He had one.

[Morgan84]

My AMG kitted 190 had a towbar which was a novelty !

 

The trouble is with many older cars is that they are just that - old ! They will eventually wear out,and need repairs done to keep them going,so it's no use buying something thats getting near to the end of its life,then complaining calling it a thousand bad things when it does as all cars do which is break.The majority of cars these days which people sell are for sale for a good reason ie they know expensive times are ahead,so they bale out rather than spend a little time and effort bringing them back up to standard again.

 

A friend of mine calls cars 'little time bombs' and they all have 'detinators' within them. The more of these problems,or 'detinators' as he calls them you remove,the better the car will be,and less likely to blow appart on you. Basically,if you maintain it well,it will pay you back in kind;neglect the poor thing,and you get whats coming to you !

 

A healthy example of a 190 is a very solid,and easy to maintain car which isn't cursed with the expensive electrics of later models.Providing you choose carefully,and leave the neglected heaps alone,you WILL have a nice little car.I have known a few people with 190's and maintain one for a customer myself,and they all have nothing but praise for them.I know of a chap who was offered C class in exchange for his then 2 year old 190 as the C class owner regretted parting with his 190,and wanted another one.