I'm looking for a car for my daughter. The 190E 2.3's are less expensive. For a teenager, there's merit in them being less powerful as well. For this reason I haven't ruled out a 240D, if I can find a decent one.

Is the 2.3 a long lived reliable engine? I know from some postings here, that they need frequent timing chain replacement. Do these engines have any other acchiles heels?

Any suggestions or comments appreciated.

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Larry Bible
'84 Euro 240D, 516K miles
'88 300E 5 Speed
Over 800,000 miles in
Mercedes automobiles

i am also considering the same car for my daughter. did some research and found the 93 model 2.3 to be less problematic based on consumers feed back. 94 model and upwards are more desirable, but with the new body more money is necessary.

The last of the 190's were made in 93. This is the only 2.3 that I would own. Make sure that the oil is changed regularly!!!!! If not, the damage is done.

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Benzmac:
1981 280GE SWB
1987 16V
ASE CERTIFIED MASTER AUTO TECHNICIAN
SERVICE MANAGER FOR 14 BAY FACILITY
MERCEDES SPECIALIST 8 YRS
PARTNER IN MERCEDESSHOP.COM

The 190 also has a smaller back seat, which is a plus from a parents point of view! Also, I recommend starting teenagers out with a stick shift, otherwise they will always never learn a stick!

Good luck!

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Deezel
87 300TDT
150,000 miles

Larry:

Stick with the 190..small, fuel efficient, and has a newer body. All teens these days are looking for a trendy car, and the 190 would be a perfect fit for a female teen. I wouldnt recommend a 240D, sluggish acceleration, stocky looking--just not a teen type car. Im sure she would love a 190--great car to get back and forth to school, and on the weekends


Agron
1989 300E

I have a 91' 190e 2.3 that has been a great car drivetrain wise. The engine and tranny have never given any trouble. I only have 67k on mine so maybe problems lie ahead. I hope not! The a/c, a few electrical problems and faded paint have been my gripes to date. I refuse to spend the $1500 to have the a/c evaporator replaced! The car rides better than my wifes new Volvo and is very stable on the freeway for such a small car. It is a little slow but if you work the transmission when you need to get on it, you will be pleased at how much power that little motors got. I run 80-85mph no problem! I guess for a teen however that is still to fast!

Good Luck!

My first car was a 1975 300D, this was about 5 years ago, so not too long ago. I have loved mercedes since my dad bought a 1987 300E new in 1987 (which is now my car) so I had to have some sort of benz when I turned 16. The 300D was slow and not very pretty (yellow) but it was bulletproof! The diesel (either the 240 or a 300) will be larger, slower, and probably more reliable than the 190, but the 190 will of course be more stylish. I didn't care too much at the the time, and I wish I still had the car, but it wasn't practical to keep both cars for me at that age. Anyways, I think the diesel is a safer option, but the 190 is not at all bad.

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Chris
'87 300E
158k

In the UK the 2.3 engine is used widely in the 124/123 and 190 series cars, they are very long lived if properly cared for and the later 89 onwards engine has a duplex timing chain which never needs changing. These comments are based on the fact of a 123 series that did 170 odd thousand and two 124's that have done 130,000 and 205,000 without any problems. I hope this helps.
Hamish.

I bought an '85 190 2.3 5 years ago. At the time it had 81K. It now has 126K and we have put virtually nothing into the car, just routine maintenance. Even the A/C has been trouble free (lucky?), and in Sacramento (100 degrees +) that is important. We are now beginning to have a very small tranny leak, probably just the seal, but that is expected of a 15 year old car.
Of course,prior to purchasing the vehicle, we made sure it had all the records and had it checked out by our mechanic. These cars will run forever if properly maintained, so RECORDS, RECORDS, RECORDS!

Chris
'85 190E 2.3 - 126K
'87 300 SDL - 67K

The 190 2.3 is a pretty nice car. An '86 190E 2.3 was actually my first car. From a teenager looking cool perspective, its hard to beat it for the price. I put some 17" Momo wheels on it and it really nice. I would actually get people asking me if it was brand new or not.

From a reliability standpoint, I don’t know. This was a 11-12 year old car at the time, and it showed. I've had tons of small problems with it, everything from the windows getting stuck in the down position and the sunroof cable snapping leaving it useless. Probably the biggest things is that a/c wouldn’t work and the latest thing is that it was idling really ruff and now will no longer pass emissions (now that I want to get rid of it). If you get one, definitely get at least a couple years newer...

Good luck.

I must get my gwagen plug in here. Early 80s 280GE or even 230GE are good choices for new drivers. They are slow and built like a tank. They sit up giving an excellent view and yet they are very difficult to tip. Typical MB reliability is standard. Very unique in this day of SUVs. The virtues I like are the visibility and supreme crashworthiness. Good ones can be had for 10-15k. Maybe too much for a teen but an alternative.

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90 300GE 5sp
95 740iL

My advice is to find something that you won't care about if she runs into something in a parking lot, or just plain trashes. Not saying anything critical about your daughter but from my experience, the teenage girl driven Benzes that come into the shop are for the most part very ratty. In fact, I just replaced the grille and right headlight assembly on a 280TE wagon that is driven by a high school girl in the area. She really did a number on it. To boot, the whole left side is scraped up and creased and the inside is pretty beat up. So you might even want to consider somethign other than a Mercedes for her first car. If after a year or so she proves to be a safe, responsible driver, then you can go looking for a 190E or 300D. Just my $0.02


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Rgds,
Aaron Greenberg
MB technician
Precision Motorcars, Cincinnati, Ohio
'67 250SE Cabriolet
'77 450SL
'80 300SD
'85 380SE
'89 420SEL
'93 300E 2.8
'74 Jensen Interceptor Mk.III
'81 DeLorean DMC12
'85 BMW 745i Turbo

My 17 yr old daughter drives my 25 yr old 240D that she is proud of because it is a "Benz". It's worth $2000. It is in excellent condition mechanically, and looks almost new inside and out. If she proves to be a bad or careless driver she does it in a "bullet proof" car that, if totaled, will likely leave her alive and in good shape; and all this for about $50 a month added on to my insurance, since it isn't worth comprehensive coverage (that alone encourages some extra care on her part). What car, other than a Mercedes, (and an old 240D stick shift at that) would be safer for her to start off with?
She can't hotrod it but she can now forever drive a stick with the finesse learned from trying to, and she has the bonus of learning she must always check the oil!

Roger is a good man, he is precisely right! Sounds just like my first car, except mine was an auto 300D, but a 1975 model. Great decision! And it is still a benz, you can't ever take that pride from a young driver, trust me!


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Chris
'87 300E
158k

Hear hear. My first car was a 1980 300D. I got it in 1987 with somewhere about 130k miles on it. Tough to beat the reliability and safety-factor. Although I did not wreck it, it WAS engineered well enough to get me through a few times when I SHOULD have - and probably WOULD have - in a lesser car.

It was slow. That was a good thing at the time, as I COULDN'T very well hurry anywhere and more importantly, taught me the invaluable lesson of FLOWING with and through traffic (read: you learn by necessity to look ahead, leave space in front of you, learn to hold speed v. accelerating and decelerating constantly, etc etc). Insurance is cheap and you can still find great examples with 150k miles (or less) for $3-6k. One word of advice - the 300 could accelerate OK if required. A 240 has so little power that you kill ANY and EVERY chance of escaping from hazards through acceleration - basically all you have is steering and brakes (depending on your attitude, this may be OK, however I believe in a blend of offensive AND defensive driving).

Parts are plentiful, the interior takes a hell of a beating and if you live in snow country your daughter will learn the fine art of winter driving *very* quickly. My biggest gripe was ice-and-snow handling when going to Tahoe in the winter, but chains are required out here. I don't know how well snow tires work on these things.

My two cents

[This message has been edited by makakio (edited 03-24-2000).]