Dorian (Ascot) Grey Mercedes 190E (not so spartan)

[OEMster]

A long time forum member with little of interest to post until now..

A not so glorious car previous history 1974 £140 Mini, Marina Coupe, Mk2 Escort, Fiesta 950 PP, Sierra, Sierra Sapphire, Cavalier, then Rover Mini Coopers x 2, MX5 x 3 and then a very very long succession of company steeds.

Lockdown boredom, and leveraging 'mental health benefits' with my spouse I started looking for a set of mild project 'wheels'. I had started down the Ford Puma coupe route (find one without rust if you can), Audi TT Mk1, nice idea but no room for a kids seat, and then thanks to the inspiration of r129sl and his 'Spartan' the MB 190E came into the frame. The range of prices from £800 sheds to £10,000 minters was frankly daunting. I viewed many (virtually), using the MOT history as my best friend, which quickly ruled out many even pricey cars with noted issues of "hole in boot floor" and "many welded patches", exited quickly stage left on those two. As I also did with the "private seller" who currently has three examples available on a well know used car platform.

"So get to the point you cry" - after all this due diligence I chanced upon as Ascot Grey (primer grey to the uneducated) example with lowish miles, electric windows F/R, electric sunroof, front armrest and a Becker Europa radio/cassette at auction, some history was mentioned the MOT check was very encouraging.... so I promptly registered to bid paid my deposit and bought a 31 year old slice of German Mercedes goodness blind which turned up today..

The good: history file is a box file's worth of service invoices (new rad, thermostat, fan not many years ago) original purchase invoice (!) handbooks/service books and a Haynes manual, jacking points seem solid as does the rest of the bodywork.

The not so good: driver mirror has seen better days and central locking only works from the passenger door, other than that nothing much... yet

Plans: Keeping it stock to be clear, but a damn good wash and general valet, clear the water drains as I can see there is a lot of muck on the ones under the bonnet. Then get a specialist to change the gearbox oil, maybe coolant and diff oil as well. Other small stuff I'll try to do myself. Oh, and dig out some cassettes.....
Any tips from other 190 owners most welcome!
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[RobFerrari]

I love a good 190!

[Northbrook]

124 owner here, with a tip.

You need to take lots more photos, as soon as you can, and post them on here.



They're good cars. I hope it treats you well.

[seawise]

I have been very lucky and owned some pretty special cars over the years, but there is something about the 190 that makes me very very relaxed and content. How many miles ?

[r129sl]

I really think this is the most stunning colour. I know, I know, it's primer grey... Except it isn't. It is a lovely, ever-so-slightly blue-grey. And the non-metallic paint polishes so deep and lustrous.

What would I advise you do? Nothing. Just drive it. I cannot think of anything my car really, truly needed. It wasn't transformed by new shocks; the rear suspension arms did not make much difference; rear sub-frame bushes did but only because they were knackered. The biggest deal? New wiper blade? New windscreen (the joyous clarity of a new screen)? Yeah, I know. LED headlamp bulbs. These costs a bomb and were a bit tricky to fit but they transformed the night time driving: https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B07LG7Y821/ref... But hey, the nights are getting lighter.

New tyres, they were a big win. Posh Continental All Seasons are still only £63 each at Camskill, summer tyres are only £50. Give it a good service. It costs peanuts and is so easy. 5litres of 10W-40 (about £7), a Mann oil filter (£7), a Mann air filter (£15), Mann power steering filter (£3), a couple of litres of P/S Febi fluid (£10). I would say do the brakes even if you have never lifted a spanner before, it is such an easy car to work on. You can do the diff yourself. Transmission probably for a specialist but it's not expensive.

And get it washed and polished, the trim blacked up, the glass properly cleaned, the interior vacuumed and dusted.

Becker Europa. Whatever you do, don't change it.

Maybe get rid of that tow bar.

More seriously, press it into use. A few things will fail but that is how you diagnose what it needs. And yes, more photos. I'd like to see the interior.

I came across this Ascot Grey 190 on my travels. It has a 2.3litre supercharged M111 engine from a CLK 230 in it. It looks great even in the rain:







Edit: found it. There's nothing wrong with that. I'd get the air filter lid powder coated and I'd order some new genuine-style mats. I'd probably have the brake fluid changed (it looks very dark). Might as well do the plugs and the poly-v belt. It has got the factory four speaker option to go with the Becker, quite unusual because very expensive. I'd probably get rid of the alarm. Aftermarket driver's door mirrors are rubbish: try and get a decent used one.

Second edit: you can get a bluetooth dongle for the Becker headunit, though I think you'll have to send it off.

Edited by r129sl on Thursday 4th March 21:16

Edited by r129sl on Thursday 4th March 21:17

[ilovequo]

That looks lovely
Moved my ce today and had forgotten how quiet it is! Hardly hear the wngine running

[Mr Tidy]

That looks lovely OP.

I made the smart decision in 1997 to replace a Sierra Sapphire with a metallic Blue/Black 190e with the same goodies as yours, but a pretty rare manual gearbox. It was a great car and I still miss it. The C280 that replaced it was nowhere near as good - apart from being a bit quicker!

Good luck getting it sorted so you can enjoy it.

[OEMster]

Thanks guys. The car has just 81,000 miles, showing 71k but had a documented speedo change at 10k. I haven’t seen many on such low miles so that was a good point for me, although logically condition trumps mileage alone.. I think possibly it was off the road from 2017 to 2020, though on the basis it’s got some fairly new Michelin cross climates it may have had a bit of recommissioning and possibly a bit of paint in the past but this seems to have been well done.

[OEMster]

[carinaman]

I wasn't aware of that colour. I like it lots.

[OEMster]

First short essential trip out and filled with fuel on the way (it was empty allegedly),

The good, ride nothing short of amazing to be honest seems to run ok, gets up to temperature. Not so good, electric aerial sticking but easily resolved I think and, as I now know, the fuel gauge doesn’t works, sender unit maybe and unlocking from the driver side. Sisters partner pronounced it “solid” underneath.

Otherwise seems ok, and hope to solve a few things at the weekend.

[muchacho]

Perfect. I'd agree with r129sl about losing the towbar but am otherwise quite jealous.

[anonymous-user]

Lovely car op, and that one RS has posted looks great on those big steelies.

[OEMster]

Working instead out I focused on cleared 10 years+ grime to reveal a very clean interior with minimal effort and ‘Dodo juice total wipe out’ on plastics and fabric. It’s a seat of grey inside too, albeit a very durable sea of greyness.

The scuzzy petrol flap was tackled pictures suppressed but trust me disgusting. Good news it has a spare wheel and jack, electric sunroof works still, bad somebody has carried plaster in the rear boot wells, the Becker has stopped working after the electric aerial jammed halfway... maybe fuse.

Tomorrow first wash..

[OEMster]

And

[jahbrown]

Looks like you've picked up a lovely car. Excellent colour. I recall seeing this at one of the auctions.

The rear screen seal start to leak in the lower corners, now starting to cause a bit of a rust issue. Pop your head in the boot and look up to where the boot hinges bolt to the body, hopefully they're OK, but if there's some then I'd think about getting it treated. Clean the drain holes around the sill jacking points also, as well as the drains in the battery and fuse box areas.

[OEMster]

Thanks jahbrown, it’s not with out a bit if crusty ness sadly.. I see a couple of small patches, probably rear screen is slightly worse, will need to decide how best to sort once it’s has it’s service bits refreshed..

[OEMster]

And

[OEMster]

A satisfying weekend of cleaning and small jobs. Lubricating the door handles, freed off the jammed seat runners, replaced some festoon bulbs than had failed with some LEDs. Cleaned all the wheel arches of mud and the drain holes I found... there may be more but these were clear and on washing water ran freely out of the bottom drain exit. List of other job grows and a good machine polish would help, but for now I still fairly pleased.

[OEMster]

Off to the local Merc specialist in Reading for a health check which hopefully won’t uncover too much work I don’t know about. Dorian’s in the company of far more expensive machinery!