Thinking about a 190e 2.3
 

Hi guys,

Recently I've been in the market for an 80's or early 90's 190e 2.3L. Can anyone give me some insight on the value of these cars in the present day? What's the mileage threshold before things go south?

What should I look for when seeing it in person? What kind of gas mileage should they get when tuned?

Thanks,

-Troy

A 20 year old car can be a nightmare!
OR they can be a dream. Before purchasing have a trusted MB technician do a pre-purchase inspection (PPI).

The 190E 2.3's get about 20 MPG around town & as much as 25 on highway.

I purchased my '93 2.3 new in Feb. of 1993. It currently has 89,700 miles.
Here are some things I have had to replace, besides normal maintenance like brakes, rotors, belts, hoses, etc.
Values will be all over the board, from a few hundred dollars to $6,000 or so.

Belt tensioner, 2 times.
Struts and shocks.
Coolant temp. sensors.
Aux. fan relay.
Water pump.
Shifter bushings.
Vacuum Modulator.
Engine mounts, front and rear.
Radiator, due to weak plastic upper hose connection.
Tie rods.
Steering damper.
AC compressor at 84,000 miles.
Head gasket and associated parts at 87,000 miles.

The car runs and drives great and gets around 20mpg city and 25mpg hwy.

http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w...d/IMG_0685.jpg

dont worry abuot the age, insist on finding one with a near perfect condition and you'll be fine. remember the trick for buying an old mercedes is to choose based on condition not color/accessories.
i have an 1974 Stroke 8 and it rides a hell lot better than my dad's 2005 Toyota sedan.

ps: ask the owner of what type of oil he use for the car, if it's mobil 1 then it's probably a well maintained example.

Since the 2.3 replaced the 240D as the entry level MB, the trick is find one that hasn't been thrashed.

I good friend of mine has a 91 that he he's owned for 10 years, and it has close to 250K on it. Still a nice looking car, and no work done to engine or trans yet.

He's getting a mite bored with it, but it's not really worth anything and it just keeps plugging along, so he cannot justify getting rid of it. If it lasts a couple more years, it will be his boy's first car....

Front end is causing some abnormal wear on the tires, radiator and wiper mechanism were replaced a couple of years ago, but otherwise, just plain dead reliable.

The W202 94 and up C class are also getting good reviews.

Jim

84-85 are oddball cars compared to later ones.
mid 85 up had 15 wheels vice 14.
87 and up had larger disk brakes and nicer headlights
89 and up had lower body cladding and new style bumpers.
by 91 a leather wheel and shifter were standard.
93 had limited edition version that had lots of extra stuff.

Summary, the newer, the better.

But, I didn't have to tell you that.....

Jim