Looking at an 87 with 78k and don't know much about or heard much about the 2.5 Turbo engine, Any experinces with these vehicles, good, bad ugly? Thanks

Very rare car. I've heard only good things about the 2.5 engine, but the reputation of the w201 does not do that engine any justice. The w201 is known to have chronic ac problems, whining differential, and problematic electronics. There is a reason its called the "baby benz".

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2001 Dodge Ram 2500 Cummins Turbo Diesel - 4x4, auto, 3.54 gears, long bed
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'92 300D 2.5 Turbodiesel - sold
'83 300D Turbodiesel - 4 speed manual/2.88 diff - sold
'87 300D Turbodiesel - sold
'82 300D Turbodiesel - sold

I am an owner of this rare one and I absolutely love it.

I found that it has annoyances more than problems. I am a do-it-yourselfer so I do all my own maintenance. There is not much to do beside fluid changes and fuel filter changes.
The only problem I have with it is the hydraulic lifters make a bit of noise, but I'm slowly learning to live with it.

I have some family friends that have had one since new and it has 500,000 miles on it. The only thing major that has been done is a transmission rebuild a few years ago and regular maintenance, of course.

The problem with the AC mostly lies with the potentiometer (sp?) which is in the center of the dash behind the vents and of course takes lots of POOPOO to get to. There has been a post on this site on how to get around it if something goes wrong with it.

Some have said that they have gotten 40mpg out of these vehicles, but I would like to see what math they are using. I've only been able to obtain about 30mpg in straight HWY driving.

190D 2,5 Turbo is a nice car and personally I liked the service costs on my former 1985 190D (600.000km) better as on my current 1993 C250D (371.000km).
The W201 190 is a mechanic car compared to the very electric C class and therefore a lot easier to work on.

Since the W201 with airco is a rarity in the Netherlands, I have no comments about that.

I don't know what you want to spend and what you are looking at, but if I were to buy me another W201 190, I would get an updated model with the contrast colored panels (euro models changed in september 1988).

greetingz,

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1990 300SL-24
1993 C250D with a minor 600+k kilometer
www.MBenzNL.com(the Netherlands)