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David arrived in a Triumph, the disciples were greeted with Acclaim, God drove Adam and Eve in a Fury, but the wise men followed the star
I like to think that after many years motoring my driving is of a reasonable standard, any weird noises are investigated immediately, and the car driven to the garage for immediate attention.
I expect most of you are saying, well that is what I would do, or put it right myself. So when I went back to the garage with a slight problem I was dumbfounded to be told,”its your driving”.
Having driven for probably over 1 million miles in a variety of cars, I was not actually impressed, however as one gets more mature there is always the uncertainty that defects have crept in.
So, okay I will give it another go, well first the garage demonstrated that there was nothing wrong with the car, we went for what I can only describe as a hair raising experience.
So the car appeared perfect, you are probably wondering what on earth could the problem be.
Well, having had one of our friends from Stutrtgart’s 250 diesels, which decided to become very unco-operative, when having an NCT, in that the seat belt light failed to go out, despite many visits to the garage and umpteen computer programmes, they were unable to solve the problem.
So having spied a W201, 190E sitting in the showroom, it was time for a change. The baby Merc as it was fondly known appeared in 1982, in various engine capacities, from 1.8 up to 2.5, at the top of the range was an Evolution and Cosworth models which became well respected in saloon racing circles and are sought after by collectors..
It was said that Mercedes spent over 600 million designing this car and that it was technically over engineered, life expectancy of the motor alone was in excess of 300,000 miles.
The w201 was actually a milestone in Mercedes car production programme, in that future models would greatly benefit from the development of the W201.
Though the W201 ran into trouble at the first hurdle, it was intended the car would be made in the factory at Bremen, but no, the production line was in full swing making commercial vehicles, so the factory at Sindelfingen was utilized, knowing the standard of German engineering it probably made very little difference. However after one year production did move to Bremen. Strange as it may seem the baby Merc was also built in Thailand at Thonburi, though I am no wiser with that information.
Mercedes had built in some remarkable attributes, ABS brakes were becoming more popular, naturally disc brakes were fore and aft. A rear 5 link suspension was patented and it also appeared on later models, anti roll bars at both front and back, plus anti dive and anti squat geometry, airbags of course and seat belt tensioner’s, so this baby was full of no nonsense engineering.
Sales to the USA were dismal at the start, so much so some versions were not even exported, however between and final production in 1993 nearly 1,9 million W201’s were made.
One of the things that never cease to amaze me is a car like the baby merc do deteriorate at an average rate, despite the initial high price, the sales gizmo’s said it was a compact executive car.
I guess you have to pitch a model at a sector of the car owning public, though the interior really was not up to the standard of either the 3litre Rover or the Jag, any model, however perhaps it is a Germanic trait, austerity, say no more.
I have to deviate at this point, the 190E has a super efficient disributer pump injection system, which eliminates the need for complex computer systems, due to the system using the air entering the throttle body to adjust the air fuel mixture accordingly, now doesn’t that sound grand. It might have been when the car was new, read on.
A diesel version of the 190 appeared and is known for its ruggedness and reliability, many examples have already exceeded 500,000 miles, there was three engines available, the 2.0 and then a 2.2 and lastly a 2.5 turbo job.
A special edition was produced for 1993 for the UK and here, it was the LE 190, plus one also acquired a certificate with a unique number. The car was produced in three colours, Blue, Silver or Red, what made the LE stand out from the crowd was the options available on the other models were thrown in to the LE and the resulting price was considerably lower.
There were two engine options available, the 1.8 and the 2.0, and you could not specify any other equipment, probably didn’t need it anyway.
One mention of Cosworth and speed dominates the conversation, the special 190E came with either a 2.3 16 valve motor or a 2.5 16 valver, these were really mean machines and not for the faint hearted, top speed was in the region of 143mph, and 0-60 is quoted as less than eight seconds, take yourself back to 1983 and it was something else.
As usual there was something a bit shady going on, it is said that the 2.5 engine was actually a Cosworth built unit, naturally Mercedes were not prepared to admit that their ultimate sporting machine had a British engine.
There was a slight problem with the 2.3 engine, which was replaced in 1988 by an enlarged 2.5 unit due to snapping of valve timing chains on the 2.3 unit, which must have really put the cat among the pigeons, the new motor had double chains. There is no mention of warranty claims.
The 16 valvers were slightly different from the standard cars having body kits to reduce the drag co-efficient to 0.32 which was brilliant for a four door saloon at the time, a smaller steering wheel was fitted and the steering ratio was quicker.
A Getrag 5 speed manual box was fitted, which is a racing designed box and is identical to the one fitted to the BMW M3, unfortunately the Merc version was criticised as being notchy and baulky, but it really should not have been any different.
The fuel tank was enlarged to 70 litres and an oil cooler fitted, you also got a stopwatch and a voltmeter fitted.
Here is another bit of high tech for you, all the 2.3 16 valve had limited slip differentials as standard, you could also specify ASD which is standard on the 2.5, okay, okay ASD I am still trying to work out what it means, but we won’t worry about letters, it is an electronically controlled, hydraulically locking differential which activates automatically when required, honest no kidding, there is more the electronic control allows varied amounts of differential lock from the standard 15% right up to 100%. It is not a traction control system and can only maximise traction rather than prevent wheel spin. Well I had come to that opinion at the start, and obviously you had, of course.
Naturally the suspension was nothing like the base car, in fact it was probably as far removed as Mercedes could get it, When they reopened the Nurburgring in 1984 they had a race with identical 190’s driven by current and past formula one driver’s, the winner was no other than the late Ayrton Senna.
The Evo model, well only 502 were ever built to comply with homologation rules, apparently these were all sold prior to being officially announced , not bad for an 80 thousand dollar car.
I am sorry to say it was anything but ordinary, you got blue/black metallic whether you wanted it or not, two cars 501 and 502 were silver, top speed was in the region of 155mph, again it is hearsay that this car had a very large rear wing and an equally large rear window spoiler coupled with 17 inch wheels. Now this with the special body kit was wind tunnel tested,and the results were phenominal, apparently an official of BMW said if that works we will need to redesign our wind tunnel, BMW redesigned their wind tunnel.
The base 190 was a 1.8, by the way all these cars are front engine with rear wheel drive. The engine was a four cylinder in line overhead cam, driven by a single roller chain, 5 bearing crankshaft, either a four speed manual box or 5 speed and also available 4 speed auto.
The 2.o litre motor was same except of course for more power, giving it a top speed of around 118 mph. The base vehicles all had the same configuration of suspension, brakes etc.
The w201 was in reality a test car for the future, Mercedes threw virtually every conceivable idea into the baby benz, whether they expected it to last twenty years is another story, I doubt it.
From a classic car ideology the top spec cars are sought after, however many of the base vehicles have been scrapped, but as always enthusiasts are responsible for saving and maintaining a faIr selection.
Well I had a 190E for a short period, it was very nearly my last car, I would never buy another Mercedes, interior wise the bolsters on the drivers seat appear suspect, slight under statement, the seat really needed to be re-upholstered.
given a mileage of only 150K, there were many other niggles, the boot, was small, far too small for a car of that quality, they had obviously chopped the end off to make it smaller, any executive type would no doubt have carried a set of golf clubs, even if only for show, there would not have been room for much else, having been used to Volvo 240’s I was accustomed to carrying washing machines and the likes.
The best bit of all, coming up to roundabouts I like most drivers will slow down, either as a result of traffic in front or to make sure the way through is clear, this did not suit the baby Merc, well it did and did not, depend on the day, the motor would let the rev’s fall to about 500, it might then pick up or die, I had no idea what was going to happen. It was one of those situations where you really could not blip the throttle at the same time, I thought of a bit of heel and toe, but changed my mind.
You might have come down the hill to Carrick on Suir from Lemybrien, there is a lovely horseshoe bend, our baby obviously hated going round it, as without fail the engine died, the power steering went and the brake servo with it. One dragged the car into the side and put on the hazard lights, a quick flip of the starter and away we went , It would then drive all the way home without a problem most of the time.
Despite going back and back, it never played up in the garage, the perfect car, a nightmare, now one would say unlucky, no, I went on a Merc forum and it is quite a popular thing, apparently there are so many aspects that can cause this, I was asked if I managed to sort it would I let people know how.
Apart from all that it was a brilliant driver, it was a real beauty ,though petrol consumption was not its forte. My problem was the uncertainty you never drove in comfort.
One last word on 92LH, it sailed through the NCT with flying colours, so much so the examiner said one perfect car, hmm
However I am now happy driving my old Toyota Avensis, it might not have the charisma of a Merc, it has been described as dull and uninspiring, I don’t care I love it to bits.
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