Agree with Aklim on this. If you live where the AC will be used a lot, I think a 4 would be underpowered, especially getting on a high speed highway. Driving a 1991 2.6, I often wondered whether the 4's had enough power. The power drop off from 3.0 to 2.6 is significant.

9 years ago, my then-17 yr old daughter totaled mine two weeks after she got her license. Ran a red light and t-boned a small japanese 4 door sedan. (ouch!!!) Her speed at impact was probably 25mph. Sort of a cue shot. She stopped on the dime and the other car did a 180! Daughter and her passenger exited unscratched. No serious injury to the passenger of the other car. All damage was forward of front wheel wells. Airbag didn't deploy. At 9 years, the ins co totaled it, but the settlement 7500 less 500 deductable was fair.
So glad she was in a Benz (and buckled up)for that life experience.

The early 4-cyl exhaust headers were prone to cracking. They are easy to replace, though, and you can usually find one on-line at a fair price.

The 190E is a great car, My dad had one has a daily commuter. In 7 years he put on 230,000+ miles on the car. There were no issues till the end when the input shaft on the transmission went out (Yes it was a 5 speed). His was the 190E 2.3, while it was not a quick car it was able to easily keep highway speeds, racing in it however.. not gonna happen. For a new driver they are a small, economical, and safe car. The 190D would get you better MPG's as my friend has proven with his 2.5 diesel. I'd say keep an eye out for a great deal and get it. I started with a 1971 220 Diesel, it was s-l-o-w to the extreme but was cheap to drive and always got me there. Personally for a new driver it might be perfect. The 2.2 Diesel is reliable and won't get you into trouble for racing and such. Plus how cool are diesels!

Some added benefits of the W201:

- Parts interchangeability with W124 and W202 chassis and brake parts
- Unlikely theft target
- Negative design features, like sparse rear seat space deters passenger packing; lack of bolt on "tuning" parts deters "boy racer" dreams

Agree, there aren't many bolt on tuning parts in terms of the engine/drivetrain upgrades. Most cost effective would be probably swapping in a m103 3L, then Megasquirting it. In terms of suspension/braking theres a few: bigger brakes/sway bars/lowering kits/etc

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82 300SD 145k
89 420SEL 210k
89 560SEL 118k
90 300SE 262k RIP 5/25/2010
90 560SEL 154k
91 300D 2.5 Turbo. 241k
93 190E 3.0 235k
93 300E 195k

I have a 92 190E and drive it daily, when I bought it it had over 230K miles on it, and needed a few things. Blower Motor and suspension work, other than that it has started each time I turn the key, no it no hot rod but the gas mileage keeps me smiling.

This was my second Benz I have an 88 300E that has been a tank, of course the usual problems but once you get past that it just runs. I'm happy with both of them, I don't need the latest fancy car, it was cheap I own it nobody can take it away from me because of no missed payments and for someone who has always wanted a Mercedes I'm VERY happy with both of them.

I had a 190d with 3437,000 miles. It gets 45mpg on biodiesel with a 5 speed.

3 million miles, eh?

I somehow doubt that...

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1987 560SL
85,000 miles

How many trips around the world is that ?