I would love to see that road test. I like those old comparisons. If it was a LX-i Accord, it had to at least be 1986 since that was the new top model for 1986. I have had a couple of 86' Accords and I could see where they would come close. Now O love Mercedes, but I also like Hondas. You have to own one to appreciate it. My 1986 Accord LX sedan had excellent fit and finish and even over 200K miles, had rattle/squeak free interiors - my 1991 Accord LX was even better. I bet they did not know then that over time, the Honda interior would "weather" better than the Mercedes on average. I do not see many Accords of that era with cracked padded dash tops or hardened door panels like I experienced on some 80s 190s I checked out. Also on some 190s I experienced some cracked rearview mirror housings, broken sunvisors, etc - never did on my old 84' Accord, or 86' Accords. The next generation Accords (1990-93) were even better.

Now the 190E was still a super car. While my old 1984 190D had a cracked dash ( I have owned 4 80s Mercedes and never owned one without a crack on the dash), my little 84' 190D was totally squeak and rattle free! The interior was much quieter than my old 85' 380SE, but my 380 had about 140K more miles.

I can say that my current 1988 300SEL has an amazingly squeak and rattle free interior. Thankfully for now, I dont even have that scrunching door panel issue that plagued the W126 cars.