Mercedes 190 E 2.0

...'Baby Benz' of the older Mercedes E-series. Smooth, graceful and conservative. Now dated but still comparable in comfort and safety to the modern family cars available today.

The steering wheel is huge and the legroom in the back is a bit tight but it's a very forgiving car and is just as happy as a motorway cruiser as it is being a school run vehicle.


BUYING
Mechanically, these cars are bullet-proof. ...
...ar buying one, a full Mercedes Benz Service History is a must.

Simple Checks
=============
o Make sure the oil pump was changed every 100,000 miles.
o Turn the steering from full left-hand lock to full right-hand lock whilst driving slowly and listen out for knocking sounds. The steering should feel smooth and firm, not juddery and creaking.
o If it's an automatic, whilst stationary, move the gearstick ... more

DRIVING
This is the poor man's luxury car. It's the 'Baby Benz' of the older Mercedes E-series. Smooth, graceful and conservative. Now dated but still comparable in comfort and safety to the modern family cars available today.

The steering wheel is huge and the legroom in the back is a bit tight but it's a very forgiving car and is just as happy as a motorway cruiser as it is being a school run vehicle.

BUYING
Mechanically, these cars are bullet-proof. They were designed before the accountants at Mercedes took over completely. Switches very rarely break.

Very little goes wrong if looked after. If it is about to go wrong, you normally get plenty of warning. The parts are cheaper than you think. But if you ar buying one, a full Mercedes Benz Service History is a must.

Simple Checks
=============
o Make sure the oil pump was changed every 100,000 miles.
o Turn the steering from full left-hand lock to full right-hand lock whilst driving slowly and listen out for knocking sounds. The steering should feel smooth and firm, not juddery and creaking.
o If it's an automatic, whilst stationary, move the gearstick from Park, to Drive and to Reverse and back to Drive. There shouldn't be any knocking sounds.

The steering rack, gearbox and engine can prove costly. Hence the above tests. If any of the three simple tests above do fail, leave it!

There are plenty of cheap 190Es available second-hand as there have been two C-class series (which supercedes the 190) launched since the production of the 190 stopped in the early 1990s.

SERVICING
For a car of this prestige, they are quite simple to service. Invest in a manual such as Haynes. You can stretch the service intervals but don't miss replacing the vital parts.

If you don't want to get your hands dirty, don't go to a Mercedes dealer for your sevice. Track down a non-franchised garage that specialises in Mercedes or German cars. Ask Mercedes taxi drivers where they take theirs to!

PARTS
You can get your parts much cheaper from places such as Euro Car Parts. Spark plugs can be bought for 85p! Air filter for about £2.50! If you're worried about original parts, these places often do exactly the same original Mercedes parts to but at a price much lower than your Mercedes dealership.

If you find a post-1990 example one with about 100,000 miles with Full MBSH. Get it checked over by a professioal and if well looked-after, you should get another 200,000 miles out of it.

If you can find a Mercedes 200E. It's only about £100 more but a "true" Merc and has much more room in the back. I'd buy a 200E if I could turn back time and buy again. Much more comfortable.

MY 190E
I'm happy with non-original pattern parts. my 190E is 18 years old so I don't expect it to last forever. It costs me about £250 a year in maintenance to run (including labour) but that's because it's been neglected for the last 8 years.

With the Zender bodykit, lowered suspension and wide wheels (added by a previous owner), it still attracts a *LOT* of attention.

My car's worth less than most people's fuel bill for a year (in the UK) but people still think it's the bees knees (this is a good thing).

The diesel version is supposed to be even better. More reliable and better fuel consumption. I get about 25 mpg out of my petrol version but I do lots of town driving and I have low-profile 205 50 R15 tyres on and a spoiler which increases fuel consumption. On top of all that the car has done 300,000 miles so far.

If it has body work and spoilers etc .. check for damage and pay LESS! They have usually been owned by 'boy-racers' and hidden faults and abuse may lie beneath. Buy one from a careful driver (see how they drive the day before you view the car if possible. Sneeky I know!).

Good luck and drive safely.

Rajendrakumar Varsani

*Update*: Guys, I've just had my downpipe on the exhaust replaced since I wrote this article. Little did I know that it's had a crack in it for years. It almost drives like new now! Truly unbelieveable! Still going strong.
 

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