190 Evo, 190 Evo 2 & the E500/500E

[iluvmercs]

How many of these rare production beast made it officially to the UK?

I've heard 6 Evo 2's were originally registered here. Is this figure correct?

What are the figures for the other models, mentioned in the thread title?

My Merc specialist services an original UK registered 190 Evolution - it's only got 30,000 miles on the clock

Thanks,

Darren

[pentoman]

There's a few Evo 1's I've come across. One had 230,000 kms on it. I think this one has been for sale around £8k on autotrader recently. I spoke to the previous owner when he had it.

There's a few Evo IIs about too, I'm surprised. One I spotted in Cardiff, was P-registered (late registered for some reason hence the P-plate) and belonged to a chap called Mario who also had a E30 M3. Others lurk and the owners occasionally appear on forums. However none of them seem to use them regularly or be to geeky about them. All seem to be owned by older collector-coveter types. Some Evo 1's have different wheels but Evo IIs are all very much standard and unmolested.

I think I might have posted a thread here about an Evo 1 that was found in Croatia! Was in a bit of a state but the finder was renovating it. Was about 4 months ago now, the owner is 'Medic' on mercedes190.co.uk.

[duggan]

Guys,

Have just picked up (last weekend) my Evolution 2 and intend to use it on a regular basis - cars are there to be driven - it was originally registered in Germany can came over here a few years ago (number 201 of 500 (although I understand 502 were actually made)) with 30k on the clock. Had it out on Saturday and was mightily impressed with the performance of the car - only downside is the limited rearward view due to LHD and the half cover over the rear screen. Aim to take it out to a few events this year - is there anything worth attending from a Merc standpoint?

Cheers,

Duggan

[iluvmercs]

duggan said:

Guys,

Have just picked up (last weekend) my Evolution 2 and intend to use it on a regular basis - cars are there to be driven - it was originally registered in Germany can came over here a few years ago (number 201 of 500 (although I understand 502 were actually made)) with 30k on the clock. Had it out on Saturday and was mightily impressed with the performance of the car - only downside is the limited rearward view due to LHD and the half cover over the rear screen. Aim to take it out to a few events this year - is there anything worth attending from a Merc standpoint?

Cheers,

Duggan

Can we see some piccys please??
I know pentoman will appriciate them more than most

Merc stand point? Mercedes-Benz Owner's Club are holding a Concours event in late July at the new Brooklands centre. It's incorporated into a 3 day event going on at Brooklands. Apparently parking and entry into the museum is free. The concours is on Sunday 22nd July IIRC.

Darren

[pentoman]

iluvmercs said:

Can we see some piccys please??
I know pentoman will appriciate them more than most

Darren I should make you my official spokesperson or PA or something! Very nice car, yes I'd love to see pics, what made you decide to buy this of all cars? I have just a plain old 2.5-16 myself which takes up all my time and money but its great. Have done a track day in it in January where it took to the track like a fish to water (unlike the Pirelli tyres - NB what tyres does this Evo have?). Are you planning to use it on track? What spec is it? Half or full leather? I've seen a few of the UKs evo IIs, one with black 'dateless' number plates, the other "A35 EVO", another "P100 EVO" which used to live in Cardiff (this is the only one I've seen in the flesh) and one which belonged to a guy that changed to an M3 CSL in 2004 or so. Is it any of these?

Good to hear that you'll be using the car, as everyone says it's what they're for, but especially so in the case of a 190E Evo II. The combination of Merc build quality and all that track-oriented engineering make it a real race car for the road. There's a 235,000km Evo I (same short-stroke engine block as the Evo II but without the AMG power pack) somewhere in the UK, and another one in Eastern Europe with even more miles IIRC. Frequent oil changes are supposedly good for the 16v engine to ensure longevity, and don't be surprised if it develops idling problems, they're all like that sir! I am currently ingesting the factory service manual to try and solve mine.

Otherwise apart from a few expensive parts (computers, exhaust manifolds, Evo bodykit parts, self levelling suspension parts - again more of these on the Evo than other 16v models, exhaust valves, and nearly any major moving part in an Evo engine) you should find the car pretty sensible to run day to day. Does the drivetrain jerk and make it a bit jerky to drive at low speed?

I mostly reside at mercedes190.co.uk, a somewhat makeshift-looking site but full of great people with a lot of knowledge and enthusiasm for all 190 models, including some knowledgeable German members. We have a few Evo owners there and a lot of 2.3-16 and 2.5-16 owners who can answer nearly any and all questions (except of course for "how can I make my car idle properly?".

Anyway hope you enjoy it. Hopefully see you out on the road , or maybe at race events - I see you went to Le Mans Classic, I was there with a team running a car in '06.

Edited by pentoman on Monday 19th March 16:47

[iluvmercs]

pentoman said:

Darren I should make you my official spokesperson or PA or something!

I mostly reside at mercedes190.co.uk

Any post mentioning the '201 series, I know you'll at least read it, and more than likely post some useful/knowledgable information on it.

Plus I noted early on, your links to mercedes190.co.uk

Darren

[iluvmercs]

Duggan,

Just out of interest, where did you purchase your Evo 2?

I've seen a few floating about on the internet recently, including the A35 EVO example mentioned by pentoman and an example from Classic Benz Ltd was recently sold.

Darren

[duggan]

Gents,

Little reluctant to post my reg over the internet following various posts concerning this on Pistonheads, but I suspect you'll know which car it is when I say its featuring in Mercedes Enthusiast next month & purchased in Sherringham, Norfolk.

Its totally standard, with Half leather (the way in which I intend to keep it) - I'll have a look at the tyres and let you know the make - with a full merc sevice history and 30k miles on the clock. Will register on mecercedes190.co.uk shortly as I'm sure I'll need some advice at some point and the Brooklands meet sounds like the one to go to this year.

Cheers,

[phumy]

Around two years ago I went to look at an EVOII in North London at a Merc specialists, it was P reg and one of the only 6 UK registered cars, the reason for the P reg (P* EVO) was that it had sat in the Merc dealers for ages as a show piece, then they sold it in '96. It had 20k on the clock, it was in excellent condition, although a couple of bits needed doing, there was damage to the nearside wheel, (looked like heavy kerbing) front splitter missing, (the kevlar part at the bottom of the airdam) and there was the slightest bubble of rust on the boot lid where the rear splitter attached to it, other than that it looked a peach. After looking round it for a couple of hours and raising the funds 4 days later, i called the dealer to put a deposit on it and found someone had beat me to it the day previous. Was i sick, or what, i was particulary impressed that it was the UK version and not an import. I understand that there are only 4 of the original UK cars left, dont know where the other 2 are, perhaps died.

All this for 20kGBP, i wonder if the owner is registered on here, well done that man, for getting there before me, otherwise it would have been mine.

[iluvmercs]

duggan said:

purchased in Sherringham, Norfolk

Ah, purchased from a Martin Pearce, eh

Did you see his goreous electric blue Porsche 993?

Good man! I look forward to the feature in Merc. Enthusiast! :thumbup

Darren

[pentoman]

phumy said:

Around two years ago I went to look at an EVOII in North London at a Merc specialists, it was P reg and one of the only 6 UK registered cars, the reason for the P reg (P* EVO) was that it had sat in the Merc dealers for ages as a show piece, then they sold it in '96... After looking round it for a couple of hours and raising the funds 4 days later, i called the dealer to put a deposit on it and found someone had beat me to it the day previous. Was i sick, or what, i was particulary impressed that it was the UK version and not an import. I understand that there are only 4 of the original UK cars left, dont know where the other 2 are, perhaps died.

All this for 20kGBP, i wonder if the owner is registered on here, well done that man, for getting there before me, otherwise it would have been mine.

I always wondered what the story was with that P-reg one! I'm pretty sure I have emailed with one owner of that car about 2-3 years ago, I think his name was Marcel, and he said he had an E30 M3 sport evo as well. The car was based in Cardiff and I remember seeing it there by chance just driving through town. It was for sale at the time, perhaps that's when the London dealer got hold of it?

Why is the airdam Kevlar? Isn't that very heavy! Shouldn't it be carbon fibre or something!

Anyway, good stuff and if I can find somewhere that sells Mercedes Enthusiast I will not need to request photos of your car. But I might not find it so please post some! I used to buy it each month, and even tried to get work experience there (I am a very occasional motoring journalist!), but Mr Trent didn't reply to my emails despite my name dropping of a good friend of his. Never mind, another rant for another day...


If you did do any single modification, I would love to see it running on aftermarket electronic fuel injection/ignition. This is becoming common in the US and Germany on the "cosworth". German 2.5-16 owners have ~230bhp from non-Evo 200bhp 2.5s on EFI. Another Swedish tuner adamantly claims approx 30bhp gain on a standard-throughout 2.5-16. I imagine the Evo engine is even better suited to this modification? Done properly (e.g. by the guy who writes in Circuit Driver) it shouldn't affect the value of the car and might make it more desirable to those for whom the (relative) lack of straight line go is a problem. You could always put it back to standard as well.

[phumy]

Pentoman,

The EVOII i was hoping to get was a P reg with one number then EVO on the plate and not as you described further back up the thread (P100 EVO) so this one is different, The dealer in London told me it had come from a Mercedes Main Dealer in Manchester as they could not shift it up there. The first Main Dealer, the one who used it as a show piece, was in Northern Ireland, apparently.

As to the reference of the kevlar, sorry i just assumed it was kevlar, as there wasnt one there to see, it was missing, so assume im talking from my bum

[duggan]

I seem to remember the P100 reg was in EVO magazine recently (under a feature about all things named "EVO".

With regards to the Air Dam at the front of the car, there is some literature that came from Mercedes with regards to the splitter which is fully adjustable (along with the upper and lower rear wing), but didn't mention the construction material.

Haven't had the judder on the gearbox, but the dog-leg takes some getting used to - have been pulling away in 2nd when I first get back into the car - but had a great drive back through Norfolk - its one of theose deceptive cars, when you're actually going faster than you think. Off to LeMans this year so intend to take it down to that.

I'll try and take a few pictures over the weekend and get them uploaded.

Cheers,

Duggan

[iluvmercs]

I remember a P-reg Evo 2 that was up for sale on here and Autotrader about 18 month - 2 years ago.

It was a private advert with the car advertised as 1997 P-reg (so first half of '97), and was in Cardiff IIRC; but don't remember if it had an "Evo" plate.


Darren

[pentoman]

iluvmercs said:

I remember a P-reg Evo 2 that was up for sale on here and Autotrader about 18 month - 2 years ago.

It was a private advert with the car advertised as 1997 P-reg (so first half of '97), and was in Cardiff IIRC; but don't remember if it had an "Evo" plate.


Darren

Yes it may well have not had an Evo plate, that's probably something I fabricated, assuming there couldn't be two P-reg Evo IIs around!!

[iluvmercs]

Over a P-reg one, I'd rather take that extrememly low mileage Evo 2 up for sale at the moment

Quoted in the ad is that it's done 1200 miles

I saw another for sale in Germany with only 100km on the clock!!! Was about 70,000Euro IIRC

BTW pento, I wasn't say you're wrong about the P100 EVO plate. I could always have been re-registered

Darren

[phumy]

iluvmercs said:

I remember a P-reg Evo 2 that was up for sale on here and Autotrader about 18 month - 2 years ago.

It was a private advert with the car advertised as 1997 P-reg (so first half of '97), and was in Cardiff IIRC; but don't remember if it had an "Evo" plate.


Darren

ilovemercs

Yes we are on about the very same one it was around 2 years ago, advertised on here and Autotrader it had the
P* (one number) EVO plate. It has 20,000miles on the clock and was an original UK registered car.

[pentoman]

Very interesting link, especially for an Evo II owner!

A very small sample:




The biggest anti-roll bar I've ever seen


Does the rear door of a roadgoing Evo II look like that??


I don't fancy being the engineer setting up that suspension..!


is that black and yellow stuff Carbon Fibre?

The chap is doing photo requests...

Edited by pentoman on Thursday 22 March 09:31

[phumy]

pentoman

Brillint pictures and the link is even better, now you really have set me heart racing, i knew i should have had that one in N London 18 months ago. In the link pictures there were a couple of surprises:

1 The size of the suspension spring, wow that short!

2 Brake caliper, FFS, wow that big, look at the size relative to the guys shoe standing near it in the shot

3 Love the placement of the oil cooler and the aerodynamic scoop to create a low air pressure zone to ensure air gets sucked up into it and flow through it.

4 Something is being belt driven from one of the shafts! Not sure if its the main prop or a half shaft, any ideas?

5 What BHP were these putting out in full race trim in their heyday?, i had heard figures of around 500

Once again, excellent pics

[iluvmercs]

I agree! Excellent link and pics, pentoman!

Superb cars!
I always said I wanted more cylinders in my next Merc, but my God do I want an Evo 2 now

phumy said:

What BHP were these putting out in full race trim in their heyday?, i had heard figures of around 500

I heard they push out 340bhp, but weighed under a tonne. (Don't quote me on that, as its probably wrong)

Darren

Edited by iluvmercs on Thursday 22 March 14:46