Mercedes 190E 2.3-16

[garcon]

Say hello to Merscabies. Not exactly concourse but probably one of the better examples still on the road, all be it with 20 owners (don't ask how, I haven't a clue) and 165,000 miles. She's been sat in my car port for a couple of months while I procrastinated over what to do with her after the back box fell off on my first proper trip.



On Friday she went into Cheshire Classic Benz in Macclesfield. Had her up on the ramp and forgot to take any pics. The initial verdict is she's reasonably solid, just needs a bit of welding to the floor. MoT booked for Tuesday to get a fail list. Step 1 is fix that list. Step 2 is to decide how much more I should have done to give her a new lease of life. I have neither the tools nor the skills to do much if anything myself, but initial impressions of CC Benz are good so I'm happy to leave the old beast in their hands.

Once done, she'll be stored properly in a purpose built classic storage facility where I can take her out when I want without worrying about her rusting to bits on my drive.

Here's hoping that MoT fail list isn't too long...

[GORDON STREETER]

Originally Posted by garcon

Say hello to Merscabies. Not exactly concourse but probably one of the better examples still on the road, all be it with 20 owners (don't ask how, I haven't a clue) and 165,000 miles. She's been sat in my car port for a couple of months while I procrastinated over what to do with her after the back box fell off on my first proper trip.



.

I often wonder why some of the Mercs made from the 90s to early 2000s rust so badly, seeing that earlier 123s/124s seem to be OK.
There was one of those "Cossie" Mercs left round the back of my old workshop for a few years and I seem to remember that a guy came in with a hiab and took it away for scrap !

[garcon]

This one is a little older, 1985. From what I've learnt the 190E is pretty solid but it's probably rust to chassis and suspension mountings that has seen most of them scrapped. In most cases 190E's were probably just workhorses left to the elements from the beginning. Shouldn't be so for Cossies tho', I think that's more that once they get to 20+ years old the underneath seems to go pretty quickly unless you stay on top of it.

All things considered, this one seems to have got off pretty lightly ... although I won't know that for sure til they start digging.

[mountainstar]

Prices on these in the USA have jumped in the past 2-3 years. For a while they were a hard sell and were rolling around in the bargain bin of what examples still existed, but they seem to be picking up some interest, as are other cars of the 1980's.

I drove one years ago a number of times, not a bad sedan for the time, but would probably take a M3 if I could.

[garcon]

Good original E30 M3's are fetching a lot of money now. Enough to put them in a different category to the 190 Cossie for sure. (Just checked - cheapest I found is on sale for four times what I paid for the Merc...).

Phase 1 gets underway today. MoT failure list better than expected, basically four bits of welding and a back box. Hopefully the welding doesn't become a much bigger job when he starts digging for somewhere solid to start...

[terence]

Hopefully its road to recovery wont hurt too much!
I remember having to replace a front wing one one years ago, 15mins to release the bolts and around hour and half to cut through the rubberised underbody sealant!
Possibly a cause of rotting so badly?
Couple of months ago at my local circuit was a Mercedes celebration weekend, there were literally a couple of hundered E190s in the paddock.Including the original?cars from the F1support race that Senna won back in the eighties, all apparently still owned by Mercedes.

[garcon]

A couple of hundred would be some gathering even in Germany.

According to DVLA figures there are 55 2.3-16s on the road in the UK.

[IAN #51]

I had one and miss it like crazy ! I give a grand for it back in 2007 and reveled in the delights of pensioner gold paint and scabby wheelarches ! The build quality was amazing on it to. Eventually died when i took her for a blast to the Nordschleife ! She ran faultless on the trip and being hammered around the track. I parked her up on my return. 5 days later I decided to take her to Cadwell park to watch a mate racing and she would not start I suspect down to that pesky K jet injection system. Sold her to a guy on Ebay who paid the princley sum of £250 for her I believe he had the interior out of her and weighed her in.

Hope you enjoy yours like I did mine

[garcon]

I'm hoping she's worth more than a grand now, otherwise I've been had!

[garcon]

Somewhat suprisingly I'm now the proud owner of a 29 year old 190E with 12 months MoT and NO advisories!



Now time to have a chat with friendly specialist and see about tidying up the bodywork. There's not too much to do so worthwhile trying to get the old girl looking her best.

[garcon]

After a bit of bodywork tlc, getting rid of the worst of the rust, some paint for a couple of panels, a new (old) bonnet and an all over machine polish, the Merscabies (it's polite not to ask a lady how she came by her nickname) has been safely hidden away for the winter. It'll soon be time to dust her down, give her a service, hopefully fix the aircon and then enjoy some good weather motoring. A few interestig trips lined up, including - possibly - Spa for the F1 GP, and maybe even the odd sprint and trackday.

More pics to follow when she's ready for summer.

[Adam43]

Sounds great. Please post pics

[garcon]

The Merc is serviced and ready to go for the first trip of the summer, a gentle little trackday at Blyton Park on Friday. Hopefully some good photos to follow!

[garcon]

A couple of pics from Friday. Some interesting stuff out on track, including a Supra running an LS2 V8 and a stripped out, race prepped Bentley Turbo R with water cooled brakes!

[Robert Edwards]

These are magnificent cars. I have five of them; 3X 2.3, 1X2.5 and one Evo2. The Evo is probably the best road car I have ever owned.

I second one I bought was a car which I tested for Motor Sport some years ago - it looked a bit like yours.

They rust badly due to their lightness. They weigh about the same as a Renault Clio and kick out the thick end of 200 bhp. And, for a rwd car, they handle beautifully, particularly when compared to an M3.

The 2.3s are less German than the later ones and have some of the characteristics of a mad British special, which, mechanically, is exactly what they are. But the Evo is sublime - oversquare to the point of lunacy, a single cam chain, 240 bhp and a drag coefficient of .29!

I'm turning one of the 2.3s into a hill-climb contender. Eventually...

[garcon]

I think that definitely marks you down as an enthusiast! Got to say the performance and handling is a hoot.

Hopefully I've kept the rust at bay for a while.