Valvy: '85 Mercedes-Benz 190E 2.3-16

I'm bored at work, so I figured I'd share my dream car that I've owned for the last 6 or so years.

I grew up around MBs, 190s and 123s in particular, so when my parents bought our first one in '96 ('89 2.6) when I was just a kid, I fell in love with that chassis at that young age. The 2.6 would eventually become mine again for a period of time when I moved back to Germany in 2005, but I returned it to my uncle who sold it off to someone, when I had plans to take it back to the states with me.

Upon moving back to the states in 2009, I found myself looking for a 190E, but it had to be a European-spec car. Spent years looking, and ended up with my 500SE before eventually finding Valvy in California back in 2013. I wanted a mechanically solid car, and didn't care too much about the cosmetics. The motor had a fresh rebuild and the body only had about 88K miles on it. A deal was struck and the car made its way to me where it's been my main daily driver ever since.

I've still not fixed any of the cosmetics yet, but that should change once I have a place to do some paint and body work.

Plans for the future will be EFI, perhaps a 6-speed from a later MB, and maybe a turbo, but for now I just enjoy driving it the way it is (minus the fact that I've been unable to drive it the last three months, which I'll explain why later).

Now for some photos. Here's the car a few days after picking it up off a car hauler in a Walmart parking lot:

Here it is after I got my EVO II Ceginus wheels refinished and on the car:

Momo AMG steering wheel:

My custom panel for double-din head unit upgrade:

And that's pretty much just the basics. Interior is in great shape, save a few small scrapes on the door panels, and the carpet.

Now onto why I haven't been able to drive it...

Back in August, the rubber element in the harmonic balancer decided to give up the ghost right as I pulled into the driveway:

After pulling the unit, sent it off to California to a recommended shop for a rebuild since this part is NLA from Mercedes, and no aftermarket alternative currently exists (I see a need for it, honestly). Got this back:

Not bad, nice and beefy. Toss it on the car, start it up, and am greeted with the worst belt squeal I've ever heard in my life. Turns out, the damper was rotating out of round... Chucked it up in the lathe to confirm it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbVGulj4JpM

Call up the proprietor of said shop to let him know there's an issue, he says send it back; I do just that. Get a call a week later asking why it's back... I refresh his memory and then he states that's not possible due to the bearing and retaining clip. I tell him to chuck it up and see for himself. He says he'll do that and call me back. Two weeks pass with no updates, so I call, turns out he admits he didn't seat the bearing correctly, and a new one has to be ordered.

Fast forward another month, I call again and he says his bandsaw jammed up on a piece of aluminum he was cutting for me damper (how coincidental) and that his shop hand should be back and it should be back out to me as of last week. Nothing in the mail so far, no further updates, no shipping confirmation, nothing. I will patiently wait until Monday before I call, again.

At any rate, I just want to drive my damn car, and I don't trust grabbing a part from a car at the yard, as it's only a matter of time before that rubber element fails too. I'd really like to look at getting a fluid-filled unit made, but I got some ridiculous quotes ($1500+) for a one-time thing.

But there you have it; I'll add to this thread as I making any further changes or improvements to my car.

Car is beautiful. But for some reason I prefer the wheels you bought with, instead of the Evo. Then again my opinion isn't worth anything

following 

Love it. EVO wheels are better.

In reply to tuna55 :

For sure. I found a set in the PNW that needed refinishing, so they were cheaaaaaaaap. Couldn't pass them up!

In reply to mr2s2000elise :

You know, the 16" versions of those 15-holes I have on my 500SE (what some people call the EVO I wheels, as the EVO I 190E had the same 16" R129 wheels) would have gone on this car to replace the 15" ones that were on the car when I bought it had I not found a deal on these EVO IIs.

The look of the 15-holes is actually why I went from the 15" pentas on the 500SE back to the 16" 15-holes that came with THAT car.

My dad has a 500E, he won't let me touch. He bought it new, 5,400 miles on it 

sigh 

Yay, I've had three. Loved them all.

In reply to mr2s2000elise :

Oooo, a 500E would be lovely!

They've shot up in value over the last few years.

Received an email that my part is being shipped, 2-day priority, so I expect to have this thing back on the road next week...

I'm going stircrazy not being able to drive this thing.

Just a few more days.

I love a w201, but for the life of me I can't source all the parts needed to do a M104 and manual swap.  

Good luck getting yours back on the road.

In reply to JesseWolfe :

For as long as I've waited I could have done just that!

My getrag will bolt right up, but lots of folks prefer to use the 6-speed from a C230.

I've always wanted one of these. In for more updates 

I've always wanted one of these too.  All the goodness of the e30 M3 without having to pay the insane buy in prices.  Plus who doesn't want a dog leg gear box?

In reply to docwyte :

I've got a soft spot for E30s too, but I prefer 4-door sedans, so the M3 was never really an option for me. Shared an E30 wagon with a friend in high school, though. Miss that car.

However, the price of these are starting to go up in the last two years. In fact, I bought mine at the right time, when the prices were their lowest in some time.

On another note, the part came in and all seems good now:

I nearly cried I was so happy to drive it again, that's how much I love this thing.

A quick spin around the neighborhood was much needed.

Up next is to fix the horrible exhaust placement on the car.

Back in 2015, I took the car on a trip to Florida, and a rough stretch of interstate on I10 just outside of Katy, TX, cause such vibrations while driving that the weld between the stock muffler and the resonator gave up the ghost. The exhaust hangers kept the now seceded muffler in place and caused it to hit the bumper chipping off paint from the inside (that's why that sticker is there).

Fast forward a few month, I foolishly decided to cut out the stock resonator and do straight pipe; terrible idea. I got back to the shop and look for my resonator that I set aside only to find someone recycled it (a common occurence at the shop until someone was fired...) so it was up to a glass pack and the new replacement Magnaflow muffler I had purchased. I had other work to do around the shop, so I trusted this to the other capable hands around and this is what I ended up with...

You can see how low it sits compared to the heat shield of the original:

I was fully expecting to cut out a relief in the bumper to position the muffler more appropriately instead of letting it ride on the ground. The higher I place it, the more aggressive of a chunk of the bumper I'll need to take out, but I don't want it looking odd. I've also thought about just flipping the muffler upside down, widening the cutout on the bottom edge of the bumper where the original muffler exited and just having it poke out underneath just a bit.

Here's a quick, crude PS of what I envision:

Haven't been able to work on my exhaust project, I expected a TIG welder this year for Christmas, but haven't received yet; the Millers up at the shop are also all dead.

I cannot MIG exhaust tubing to save my life. I can tack it with the mig, but forget laying a proper bead.

Other than that, I've begun toying with wrapping this car after pulling/patching some dents and dings. I'd love to just take it down and paint it, but I can't do that here at the house as my nosey neighbors would squeal to the PoA.

That is a really nice car. Whats the current value on these? They were at 5000$ canadian for a driver few years ago.. i bet they are way more expensive now...

I could enjoy that with the familly instead of riding motorcycles..

Now to kijiji... ;)

physician said:

That is a really nice car. Whats the current value on these? They were at 5000$ canadian for a driver few years ago.. i bet they are way more expensive now...

I could enjoy that with the familly instead of riding motorcycles..

 

Now to kijiji... ;)

They've shot up, ridiculously. Not quite to E30 M3 levels, but I've seen some worn examples going for well beyond what I paid for mine. I could, in theory, double my money right now if I so desired.

However, this is and has always been my dream car, so it's not going anywhere. I do need to just make it cosmetically perfect again.

Looking for an idea to make my own three-port vacuum fitting for the back of my AC switch:

They are NLA from the dealer, and these can't be found on North American cars; they'd probably be just as deteriorated anyway. If I had a junk of rubber carve up and make some holes in, I'd probably be good, but where to source said rubber?

My current solution of using three separate lines isn't work so well.

I love the W201 16v. I've been running one in vintage racing and BMW CCA Club Racing for several years now. Here's my build thread:

https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/build-projects-and-project-cars/87-mercedes-190e-23-16-vintage-racer-build-pic-heavy/62702/page1/

Looks like Photobucket took down my pics :(

Try here: https://www.facebook.com/Hammerzeit-642984859203237/

Feel free to ask if you have any questions!

I'd been watching your thread since I rejoined 190Rev back in 2011, so I'm very familiar with your car!

I've often toyed with getting a 2.3 or 2.6 to use as a shell for an M104 swap to do some racing, but I'm just not the racing and track type, unfortunately.

It has NOT been a good day for me today.

I decided to get a jump on the day and get my truck's wheels and tires rebalanced, and take the wheels from the 190 and get them rebalanced as well since I don't trust them going to town with their ugga dugga guns on my Ceginus wheels.

Well, not only did they jam my berkeleying tailgate on the truck to where I can't get it open after they put the wheels back in, but they also gouged one of my mother berkeleying wheels.

I already called them on the tailgate, and they wanted to file a claim and all that E36 M3, but I don't have time to deal with that for a '96 pickup; I just let them know to tell their yahoos that if something isn't shutting, don't berkeleying force it. Get the owner and ask questions. Chances are they know what you're doing wrong.

THEN in the process of unloading my wheels, I discovered that gouge. I'm not happy camper today.

Since removing the downpipe to facilitate getting the transmission out to swap the clutch, I discovered it was cracked. Seeing as new OEM parts are no longer available (unless NOS on ebay or something) and an aftermarket is close to $1000 for the downpipe alone, I did my best to stitch it up with my MIG. I'm stuck with flux cored wire as well. I will eventually get a TIG if and when I can get a new house, because I don't feel like driving to the shop to use that older Synchrowave that's probably three seconds from failing.

Not my best work, but it passed the flashlight test.

I may go back and stitch a few more of those small pores, but I may just paint it and go.

I've been going at this at 1/10th of the pace of a snail. With the new clutch in, the car has been ready to drive for months, but between this whole virus deal and work, I've had very little energy to see this through. Rather ironic given the fact that I miss driving this car.

Fortunately for me, just about every trip out of the house has required the need of my 1-ton.

I've tacked the final piece, waiting for my elbow that i painted to dry before I finish the test fitting and welding the rest of it up. I should be driving this car again tomorrow, assuming I don't slack off tonight.

The big reason I don't share any photos of the exhuast progress is that my MIG welding is so damn atrocious, I'm ashamed of it. It doesn't help I'm limited to 110V AND flux cored... give me a TIG and I can stack those dimes...

When this is done, I will move on to starting the manual swap on the Durango, and from there work on my 500SE.