Looking at getting a 1986 190 Euro for my fiance. It has a 2.0 liter engine, and was recently brought over form Europe. Looks and runs great, but has a couple of issues. For one, the passenger rear door needs to be replaced (it has been damaged and not fixed properly, lots of bondo)
Are there any particular issues with this model or things to watch out for? It is an automatic, and other than the door, is in immaculate shape. It has 140,000 km on it.
Is there a timing belt/chain issue at all ?
Any info would help as I am not that familiar with these.

Trent,

You do not list your location, so I am assuming you live in the US. This car must be federalized and have letters of acceptance for this work from the EPA and the DOT. Do not buy a car without these papers.

The other item that strikes me is the 2.0 liter model's engine was not brought over here in any US Mercedes-Benz auto. This makes it a candidate for the nightmare stories you will find if you do a search on "grey market" on this site. If you are looking seriously at grey market vehicles, you should be choosy about the model you select, and avoid cars with transmissions, engines and body styles that were not imported in any US models. This is kind of wordy, but I would avoid a Euro 190 that did not have an engine that was either a 2.3 liter fuel injected 4 cylinder, or a 2.6 liter fuel injected 6 cylinder. I would take a 300E with either of these engines (likely called a 230E or 260E) since parts for these engines are probably available from the US 190E or the US 260E. I would personally avoid any car that must meet emissions testing by the local authorities that has a carburetor.

I hope this helps, but do some research on the site for grey market cars to get a good background on the problems you can encounter. I have been very meticulous about the cars I have imported (back in the mid 80's) and all were strong performers, lasting well over 150kmiles without any significant out of the ordinary maintenance. And all of that was supported by the US equivalent model engine and chassis (often not on the same car) parts inventory available at the local dealer.

Jim

__________________
Own:
1986 Euro 190E 2.3-16 (291,000 miles),
1998 E300D TurboDiesel, 231,000 miles -purchased with 45,000,
1988 300E 5-speed 252,000 miles,
1983 240D 4-speed, purchased w/136,000, now with 222,000 miles.
2009 ML320CDI Bluetec, 89,000 miles

Owned:
1971 220D (250,000 miles plus, sold to father-in-law),
1975 240D (245,000 miles - died of body rot),
1991 350SD (176,560 miles, weakest Benz I have owned),
1999 C230 Sport (45,400 miles),
1982 240D (321,000 miles, put to sleep)

Thanks for the reply. I live in Canada, and the seller has all the papers etc, and the car has been registered by him already.

I share the concern about parts and service. This engine was not available here as far as I know. Might be more things also. Interior is different (heating controls etc). Everything seems to work great, but could make for future problems if parts are needed. I will do a search on grey market. I tried searching 190 Euro but came up with very little.

Trent,

Check the models that were available in Canada. I think a much broader selection of engines and other features were available in Canada than the US, especially fifteen years or so ago. You may have much better luck with this car than someone in the US. Jim

__________________
Own:
1986 Euro 190E 2.3-16 (291,000 miles),
1998 E300D TurboDiesel, 231,000 miles -purchased with 45,000,
1988 300E 5-speed 252,000 miles,
1983 240D 4-speed, purchased w/136,000, now with 222,000 miles.
2009 ML320CDI Bluetec, 89,000 miles

Owned:
1971 220D (250,000 miles plus, sold to father-in-law),
1975 240D (245,000 miles - died of body rot),
1991 350SD (176,560 miles, weakest Benz I have owned),
1999 C230 Sport (45,400 miles),
1982 240D (321,000 miles, put to sleep)

I am an American working in Kuwait. I have owned 1987 190 euro 2.0 with carb for almost 3 years, the previous owner was a good friend of mine(we are still friends). I paid only $2000 for it. The odometer had not worked in the over 9 years my fried owned it. It was reading 191198 K when it stopped working. I just recently fixed it with the help of this forum. The engine had a complete rebuild about 4 years ago This is a great car for here. I drive about 80 miles a day on my car through the desert and oil fields 6 days a week at speeds in excess of 140K/m and it performs great. The only major problems I have had are A/C related and engine cooling related , though I have ironed out the most of these problems. Mercedes are a dime a dozen here and you can get anypart you want from the dealer at a fair price. The junkyard here is full of every kind of Mercedes every made. However the carb version of my car is not abundant here. This causes real headaches when I find a problem I cant handle on my own. In your case I don't reccomend this car due to the non availablity of parts and real expert advice. This car can not be brought to the US so I am really surprised to find that this one has all the proper paperwork for import to Canada. However this is a real sweet car. My little 2.0 liter has just as much punch as most of the 2.3 190E that are here. It is probably eligible for some type on high mileage badge but I cant prove the exact mlieage. I will give you more details about my experiences if you are interested.

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1987 190 Euro