E30 Zone

I know they are not as good as an E30 but boy are they cheap

I have had many 190's Great cars still lots or £200 cars around, a cozzy can be bought for a few grand !

Cheap Prestige FTW

They are fundamentally worthless. I think the engines let them down a bit compared to and E30. But they rust less, they cost peanuts and they cant go down anymore.

£400 gets you a mint one

Never mind the nasty 190 ! Lets have some pics / details of the 300 (?) coupe !

That's when Mercs were proper, albeit a very long time ago now.

I hope I don't see Lewis Hamilton at the controls of a 300SL.

..a prefacelift 2.6 would be my choice, definitely better looking without the tupperware

There was a 2.6 auto 190e in standard form, I think it had 20k ? at the NEC last year, truly mint in everyway... the geezer wanted 4k for it, !!

IMO they drive better than an E30 !

senna wrote:I know they are not as good as an E30

What do you mean,, i am not trying to be rude,, but they ARE A LOT BETTER CARS vs E30... build quality etc etc

Fantastic value...

some rust,, yes i know they are NOT as sporty as the E30,, and were not made to be at all,,

but a 2.3 sportline is a great car,, the 2.6 is best of the best in the W201

we are not talking about W201034 or 036,, they cost hefty and the EVOII is perhaps the most Vulgar Mercedes ever made

but 2.6 is a super buy ,, and enough pulling power for anyone

S38B38 wrote:

senna wrote:I know they are not as good as an E30

What do you mean,, i am not trying to be rude,, but they ARE A LOT BETTER CARS vs E30... build quality etc etc

Fantastic value...

some rust,, yes i know they are NOT as sporty as the E30,, and were not made to be at all,,

but a 2.3 sportline is a great car,, the 2.6 is best of the best in the W201

we are not talking about W201034 or 036,, they cost hefty and the EVOII is perhaps the most Vulgar Mercedes ever made

but 2.6 is a super buy ,, and enough pulling power for anyone

Well it's only an opinion.

I have a 325i and a 190E
I have owned 2x 2.6 w201 as well as 2.3-16 and 4 other 2.0E

Yes the W201 is a good car. It is probably better built, does not rust as much and the suspension is much better. But the engines are so soulless in my opinion
The manual gearboxs are agricultural
The 2.6 feels recalcitrant
The steering is a bit vague

Overall if I drove in 1989 for example I would have bought a new w201 over a 320i but not so sure about the 2.6 vs 325i

I like my 190E and it definitely feels like it is carved from granite
It is one of Bruno Saccos best designs and my father had a fully loaded 2.0 which he cherished in the 80s

But I think relative values may indicate relative desirability

The supply of low mileage rust free survivors in this country is much much higher than E30s - they come up fairly often. 6 months ago I bought a 56,000 mile 2.0. It's a great car but dammit without front armrest.
Also, the four door only format means they have a narrower appeal than E30s.

swindler wrote:The supply of low mileage rust free survivors in this country is much much higher than E30s - they come up fairly often.

Thats because, like 320i autos, they were purchased by coffin dodgers as a retirement car. Great for keeping a car in decent nick as long as you can put up with an interior smelling of p!ss.

I agree ,, manual W201 are not as good transmission as the Getrag on BMW

IMO the 190 is a better car to use on a daily basis. Even the 190 Cossie vs e30 M3 argument. The M3 needed heroic driving in the corners, the 190 had it on the straights. I don't know about anyone else but for a daily whip I'd like some grunt rather than red lining everywhere.*


I can't speak to the situation on the mainland BUT here? You see 190's being driven all year round. E30's appear for a few months of the year and then vanish again.

I think their day will come.


Owning one has not made me biased in the least.


* Given the choice I'd still pick the M3

Now that I am sans 325i the 190E is getting much more use. More economical
A lot slower though