190e help needed (should I buy?)
 

Greetings
I am considering buying a 190e . Seller sent me photos. Car looks nice but my attention was caught by the yellow asd( auto locking diff)light that was lit while the engine was running( 3000 revs shown on the rev counter), and, more importantly, by the oil pressure gauge which was showing zero bar pressure. All this from the same photo with 3000 revs on the tacho.

How serious could these problems that I observed be.

Thank you

Peter, unless you can arrange for a MB tech who lives near the seller to perform a PPI (pre-purchase inspection) on this 190E I'd pass.

Fred thank you. I tend to get enthusiastic. The car looks really good but I think I should reconsider unless I get a suitable explanation from the seller (I,m curious to see what that explanation will be!)

Pass!
 

Wow...I can't even imagine somebody sending pictures of any car with 0 oil pressure to a potential customer. the 16v series of the 190 needs some pretty constant maintenence on the engine plus lots of little fiddly stuff on the body/interior. Get a good service record and spend as much as you are able on the initial purchase. You are in europe, or is this an import?

cheers,
dan r.

sounds
 

like an electrical problem in the dash.

bad ground?

tom w

Thanks for the feedback.
I am in Europe and the car seems really nice inside and out. Seller did get back to me and said there is a bad connection somewhere. He insists that I needn't worry - just put gas and drive it home! What I also noticed (from a photo of the engine) was that the timing chain cover(the one with the merc emblem, not the valve covers) had lost a lot of paint around its three mounting bolts. Could this be an indication of some sort. The car has supposedly done only 140000 kilometers (since 1988!) and is a second owner.The price is very good, and these cars are not as easy to come by as one would think, even in Europe. Most are badly molested and the really good ones are very expensive.

It does sound somewhat questionable, but if it is a good low price like you say then, I would get a mechanic to look at it - if the no oil pressure reading is just a fault with the guage, and the rest of the car seems mechanically sound, then buy it.

ASD light on will just mean it is not working. Not a big problem, but perhaps check the ASD computer is there and has not been removed as they are expensive. It is in front of the battery (on a right hand drive car) under a black cover.

Then if you buy it, ASD problems can be fixed by someone with the right diagnostic equipment; it's usually a sensor or the OVP relay.

Also unless there's something to back up the mileage, I wouldn't trust it.

Feck it! I would'nt bother. A 500 mile journey home in a car you know vitually nothing about is a big risk. Imagine if you ended up having to tow it most of the way home! ££££££££££££££££££££££££ :eek:

While 2.5 Cossies are not everywhere they are not so rare as to not wait a while for a better example. Where in UK are you?

heres a promising 2.5 http://s14.invisionfree.com/mercedes_190_club/index.php?showtopic=124 and http://www.impecunious.net/


Mike.

Not UK, must be left hand drive. Thanks for the link though, and the advice. Have a look at the engine. Give me your impressions please.

My bad for assuming Cossy buyer must be English speaker in UK!

That pic tells me nothing. The flaked paint you refered to just says the paint has flaked, the top cover may well have been off but thats not a bad thing, it suggests some work was done like new lifters may have been installed.

Mike.