Budget Benz Acticle

In either Grassroots or Classic had a preview of an up coming article on budget Benz. I can't find the article or remember reading it.

I am looking into the W201 chassis for my son. I have heard they suck and they are great. I do know they are safe and cheap which is why I am looking at them.

Thanks. RS

Sultan wrote: I have heard they suck

Where did you hear that? A BMW guy? Expensive to maintain, maybe, but anyone who says that they suck is greatly prejudiced or ignorant. This is from the time when every car Mercedes put out was the best car in the world.

mtn, Thanks for the feedback. I hard it from a couple of MB guys. They said that because they were the entry level cars they were trash. But MB spend huge dollors developing it and from what I understand it was the last car that didn't require a ton of specail tools........

Thanks. RS

Just b/c its entry level doesn't mean its trash. :)

Its a decent car. Some of my family member had it. not exactly the sportiest of cars to drive. Throw some decent shocks and brake pads on it and it will help keep the car controllable in the hands of a younger driver.

Regarding safety, you'd be surprised how some of the newer, cheap cars do against those old tanks / safe cars. I saw some youtube video of a new renault small car being crash tested into a Volvo sedan of the era as that Merc. The Volvo was wrecked. The newer chassis with energy absorbent chassis engineering fared much better.

When I was driving my parent's 77 Olds after getting my license, I crashed that thing multiple times. Credit my enthusiastic, young driving skills and a suspension and braking system that sucked. I bought a 77 VW Scirocco to replace it and never had another accident related to my mad driving skillz. Why? B/c the VW had a much better suspension and brakes. The size of the car lent very little to my safety. YMMV.

The thing that scares me is the electronics on mercedes of that era. A neighbor had a 300e and more than once I saw it being pushed up the hill by Daddy.

The 190E seem like nice enough cars and there are enough of them that if you do have an issue parts are around. I do like the looks of the 190 though, like a mini 124.

The only thing I really know about them, from being in the salvage industry, the engines seem to have a higher failure rate than most MB vehicles.

One word: Cosworth!

Here is the Budget Benz article from Classic: http://classicmotorsports.net/articles/benz-budget/ I have owned a few Benz sedans and have found the W201 cars to be amazingly well built and a huge value for the dollar. I would go for a 3.6 if you can find one. Also the later 201 cars only got better.

Andy, Thank you for the link and the input. RS

phaze1todd wrote: One word: Cosworth!

A friend of mine in Japan had one of these, fun little car. I sat shotgun on one of Nagoya's freeways, it really wound out! However this limited prod model looked a bit more than 'grassroots' under the hood. Not a big MB fan, but nice car, even if its made of unobtainium.

Eric G

I've always been a little scared to jump into the MB deep end.

I've been tempted by some Cosworth 190's but in the end I keep going back to BMW's.

1slowcrx, Hey just wondering why BMWs seem like a better choice for you.

Honestly I do have reservations about owning a MB but I can’t seem to anything to confirm my apprehensions.

Thank you RS

From what I've seen, which isn't much:

The BMW's weren't quite the luxury mobiles we see them as today. My E30 convertible has vinyl seats, a manual top, no climate control (just hot or cold knobs), nothing can really go that wrong. Its pretty simple.
The Mercedes on the other hand were luxury, at least in the US. Almost all of them were loaded to the gills, a whole lot of sound deadening, climate control, etc. etc. I have a friend here who was born and raised in Germany and studied with Mercedes. He recently bought a 190e (not running) and is debating what to do with it. He doesn't like it because it doesn't have crank windows or even the option for it, it has too much sound deadening, etc etc. Its waaayyy heavier than it was in Europe.

In short, whereas you could get a pretty base E30 in the states, you could not get a base 190.

This might be completely wrong, take it with a grain of salt.

If there are Canadian MB authorities who are more knowledgeable than I am (which wouldn't be hard...), please jump in, but I seem to recall that up here we had 190's that were quite decontented (manual, cloth seats, etc.) because the local MB management found they could sell quantities of them. Presumably they're still out there somewhere, at least in areas that don't use salt.

i had a '92 190e 2.6 with 240+K on the clock in New Hampshire. Not a single problem, though rust did start to get at it a little. Was my sisters first car so it was in the family for a good 5, 6 years. Definatly in a different class from my 92 f150...

Thanks for the input. So far I haven't heard anything bad about the W201/190e.....maybe I should move forward......now I need to get the wife to think it is her idea.......