After owning 12 BMWs (3 and 5 series) and nothing other than a BMW I decided to buy a 93 2.6L 190e MB for the first time from a friend who initally bought the car for his wife that did not like the way it drove. My friends gave me hard time because I am a big BMW fanatic and shocked to see me driving a Benz. Anyways, smoking a cigarette on the front porch, I questined my self which is a better car?
looking at the problems I have seen with my BMWs, they can be summarized as I can think of: Idle, vacuum leaks, poor A/C perfromance in most MY 80s and some problems with the instrument cluster due to dead batteries in a circuit board along with other things I don't consider major. I currently own an 84 528e. I get about 26/30 mpg city/highway, idles good, drives smooth, accelerate strong, excellent handling, feels solid and safe, no oil leaks or any added between oil changes. reasonable prices for the most part and easy to find parts.
Looking at my 190e, I replaced the wiper motor, never been happy with gas milage, fan clutch bracket (bearing came off/broke belt and left me stranded in the middle of no where), can't get the tires to balance, new Voltage regulator, 1 quart of oil almost every 500 miles and getting ready to pull the head for a valve job, transmission doesn't shift as smooth as any BMW I had, part dept. at local MB dealer is a pure ass, car body doesn't feel solid and overall car handling feels Ok when compared to BMW handling. Did I just buy the lowest quality MB made? Is it any better with other models. Do I really want to buy another one?
I just want to share my thoughts and experience with both cars.
