Mercedes 190e: seems like a good deal

[SpecM]

I like those cars, a friend of mine has a 16v 5-speed 190e. Nice car IMO, but I'm not paying to keep it up either. He owns (or has owned) an e30 as well, and the upkeep is FAR worse on the 190e. I still like it tho!

Fuel dizzys are outragous on those cars, I wonder if a Bosch Motronic 1.3 or 1.7 could be made to work? Or a Megasquirt setup with REAL sequintial injection, using MAP / MAF or Alpha-N? Hmmm... Oh and replace all those vacuum-operated door locks and crap...

I would dig that

[shiftbmw]

Seriously. I owned an '87 16V black on black, with the dogleg tranny, and even though it was fast and fun, it was still a POS. I spent hours upon hours of diagnosing electrical & vacuum operated bullshit, along with shitty idle and rich running. The fuel injection system sucks too. Interior build quality was crap too. You can pick your reasons why I sold the damn thing.

The only good thing about the car was the multi-link rear suspension design, cosworth motor, and the solid mercedes "tank-like" feeling you get when closing the door.

As an ex 87 charcoal/black owner myself, I can echo these comments.

[jdub.]

I have a 16vlv, as well as a Sportline, and I have to disagree with the POS comments....



The 16 valve is an awesome little car. Mine runs perfect, and has none of the problems you mentioned.... Well, its a bit heavy.

[Seph]

I have a 16vlv, as well as a Sportline, and I have to disagree with the POS comments....



The 16 valve is an awesome little car. Mine runs perfect, and has none of the problems you mentioned.... Well, its a bit heavy.

How many miles are on them?

[BenM]

I have a 16vlv, as well as a Sportline, and I have to disagree with the POS comments....

Well they aren't complete pieces of shit. But from an enthusiast standpoint of someone who likes to work on his own cars, the E30 is far superior to the 190E. I just hated working on my 16V because of the complexity of the the aforementioned items.

But like I said better handling than an E30 (flamesuit on), and they look damn good too. Mine only had 130K on it...

[E30_fiend]

I have an 89 190E 2.6. For the time I was daily driving it, it was a great car. Gas mileage was pretty poor and when maintenance came around, it hurt. The drawbacks to the car was most definitely the lack of technology. Speedo is by vacuum so the needle will just around under hard acceleration. The whole vacuum door locks actually came in handy a few times when I locked my keys in the car. The mechanical seats took a shit and weren't cheap to fix. When I got my E30 the Mercedes got parked due to maintenance cost and gas mileage. Parts were horribly overpriced and most of the time a bitch to install. Waterpumps were a nightmare as well as the belt tensioning system.

IMHO the E30 is a better car for a lot more reasons than 1.







Taylor

[jdub.]

How many miles are on them?

Sportlines got 260k miles, and the 16 valves got 140k on it.


With that said, I have many more Mercedes...



One of them is getting a 302, two are AMGs, ones got a V12, a diesel, etc.

[jdub.]

I have an 89 190E 2.6. For the time I was daily driving it, it was a great car. Gas mileage was pretty poor and when maintenance came around, it hurt. The drawbacks to the car was most definitely the lack of technology. Speedo is by vacuum so the needle will just around under hard acceleration. The whole vacuum door locks actually came in handy a few times when I locked my keys in the car. The mechanical seats took a shit and weren't cheap to fix. When I got my E30 the Mercedes got parked due to maintenance cost and gas mileage. Parts were horribly overpriced and most of the time a bitch to install. Waterpumps were a nightmare as well as the belt tensioning system.

IMHO the E30 is a better car for a lot more reasons than 1.






Taylor

Maintenance doesn't hurt at all.... In fact, parts on my Mercedes are cheaper than alot of the parts on the E30.


The speedo on 190Es are mechanical, driven by a cable. If your bounces, you probibally need to tighten the cable.


The water pump takes like an hour to remove and install, and the serpenting belt can be done in like 15 minutes.

I like the whole low tech thing... Not many things to break...

[Nicademus]

Sportlines got 260k miles, and the 16 valves got 140k on it.


With that said, I have many more Mercedes...



One of them is getting a 302, two are AMGs, ones got a V12, a diesel, etc.

Pictures please

[SpecM]

Maintenance doesn't hurt at all.... In fact, parts on my Mercedes are cheaper than alot of the parts on the E30.


The speedo on 190Es are mechanical, driven by a cable. If your bounces, you probibally need to tighten the cable.


The water pump takes like an hour to remove and install, and the serpenting belt can be done in like 15 minutes.

I like the whole low tech thing... Not many things to break...

uh-oh, supatech-owned

[Lazr111]

Justin... as I've offered before... I'll hold a few of your cars for a while if you need space for an e30...

[Seph]

old pics of mine...

Giving her a bath

After bath!


And there is no way that a stock 190e handles better than a stock e30. Hell my vert handles better than any 190e I ever touched.

[E30_fiend]

Maintenance doesn't hurt at all.... In fact, parts on my Mercedes are cheaper than alot of the parts on the E30.


The speedo on 190Es are mechanical, driven by a cable. If your bounces, you probibally need to tighten the cable.


The water pump takes like an hour to remove and install, and the serpenting belt can be done in like 15 minutes.

I like the whole low tech thing... Not many things to break...

I would love to see you do the waterpump on the 6 cyl. in an hour. And since a waterpump for an E30 is 40 bucks and for my 190E is 175, I see that as a pricier fix. And you have to admit that the belt tensioning system is straight retarded. A reverse threaded, elongated collar nut for adjustment? Why not just make the alternator bracket adjustable?

I would rather do a timing belt on an E30 than do the waterpump on my 190E again.






Taylor

[equate975]

Sportlines are nice, and thats a good price for one. Like people said before, the vac lines are bullshit. I swear MB just sat down for like 3 months and tried to figure out how to operate everything possible with vac.

My buddy is all into w201's but from all the 5-speeds I have seen, they are junk. He's told me its almost impossible to source new parts for them if something breaks, took him like a year to find a new flywheel. They don't feel anything like bmw trannys. However, I would rock a 190 auto, those things are bulletproof.

And the speedo isn't vacuum, its just cable driven. w201 vs e30, the e30 is leaps and bounds better in technology than the Mercedes. Try working with CIS, you will cry when a spec of dirt enters the fuel distributor.

[jdub.]

My sportline is a 2.6, and its indestructible. Its got a 5 speed too.



My 16 vlv is going to get a kit similar to this next summer.