Dieselman
Banned
- Joined
- Jul 13, 2003
- Messages
- 34,206
- Car
- Peugeot 403 Convertible
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Dieselman
Banned
- Joined
- Jul 13, 2003
- Messages
- 34,206
- Car
- Peugeot 403 Convertible
You're probably right. Stats should step up to a W124 300 multivalve of C250...
True, but find a nice one for £500 (ideally with 85K miles
), and I'll have a dozen of them Will
IanA2
MB Enthusiast
Well it seems to drive OK. Little bit of rust on rear arches, few bits of broken/missing trim and needs new tyres but other than that it's fine.
Dilemma is Olly's '89 190E auto is up for sale that is obviously mechanically sound and doesn't need anything doing but twice the price and has 135k on the clock.
Dilemma is Olly's '89 190E auto is up for sale that is obviously mechanically sound and doesn't need anything doing but twice the price and has 135k on the clock.
Well, new tyres, a few repairs etc all add up on a car at this price point (£500). Not knowing anything about Olly's car it's quite possibly worth the money if it's perfect? I wouldn't really want to spend money on a £500 car either.
Don't forget that the car you saw was a pretty low and undesirable spec - manual box and a carb engine!
Just my take on things.
Will
Don't forget that the car you saw was a pretty low and undesirable spec - manual box and a carb engine!
Just my take on things.
Will
I actually prefer the idea of a manual to be honest. Kickdown on a car this age and size engine would annoy me I think! Not sure what spec Olly's has but realistically what was available that's worth having - aircon / airbag? The four working electric windows and sunroof seem to be enough!
Obviously it's horses for courses, but MB don't make a very good manual gearbox on cars of this age IMHO - one of the reasons why most tend to be automatic. They're clunky and inprecise. The Getrag 'box in the 2.5-16 is perfect for what it is, but I'm not sure it would be 100% suited to a daily car.
The 2.0 8v injection engine is smooth and powerful enough for these cars, and the auto gearboxes work very well with it. Perfect for driving, you won't exactly need to 'kickdown' everywhere, they just work
Electric windows and sunroof are probably the main toys that you'll want, anything else would be a bonus and fairly rare (air con, leather, electric seats etc). Unlikely to find those in a £500ish car either.
I would say on my shopping list would be:
A rust free body
Automatic gearbox
2.0 injection engine or maybe a 2.6 if you're lucky (!)
4x electric windows and an electric sunroof
A nice colour body (ie not beige!), and interior (grey?)
Some sort of history/bills/MOTs etc
Preferably under 150K miles?
MB alloy wheels?
Something like that. Should provide you with what you're looking for and will be easy to resell.
Will
I wouldnt agree on the manuals, i think the boxes in the 190's were really very good..
Hmm - thinking about it, maybe slightly better than the likes of the W202 C-class, but surely nowhere near as nice to drive as the superb MB automatic boxes?
Will
well it all depends on what you want... I would have an auto (cuz im lazy) but manuals make much better use of the power and are also a lot quiter on motorways with the 5th gear...
- Joined
- May 28, 2004
- Messages
- 1,792
- Location
- Essex
- Car
- 1984 500SL, 2007 E320 CDI Sport Estate, 1995 SL320 R129
Andy, Go for it..........when I am just nipping out nowadays I always jump into the old 190E especially on short trips. It has become my first choice.......I know....I know......
Intersting that those who actually own & are interested in W201s have said on this thread (Will) & on other threads http://mbclub.co.uk/forums/showthread.php?t=50962 (me, television, grober, swiss toni, Mark300SL & more) to leave the manuals alone while those who don't actually own one say get the manual!
I'd sort of noticed that also, I don't know a single W201 owner who prefers a manual gearbox other than for the 16 valve models!
Strange
Will
Ive had a few 190 manuals over the years and i like them.. my W123 is also manual which has almost the same box..
