TheNeedForZ Posted March 19, 2007 Share Posted March 19, 2007 I may have been bitten by another car bug after the S30Z. This time it's the Mercedes 190E. I caught sight of a few several times on the street and in parking lots. They don't look very special, in fact they are one of those "boxy" cars that I thought I would never liked. But the more I look at them the more I like them. No reason. That is before I found the similarities between 190E and S30Z. It turns out that 190E is similar to the S30Z in several ways : The 190E was designed to let Mercedes-Benz break into the market and to make the public change its mind about the image of the company. Similarly, the Z were designed to be embraced by Americans and to turn the company image of (Datsun)Nissan into something other than a maker of econo-box cars. The 190E spawned a series of C-class cars following it just like the Z spawned a series of Z cars. They were hot items of their time. Like the Z, 190E's were sold a soon as they hit the dealership. They are strong race contenders as they dominated races even when they are ten years old. "Together with the cheaper BMW M3, which enjoyed far better sales worldwide, the 190E 2.5-16 continues to dominate the "Normally Aspirated cars up to 2500 cc" class in endurance and 24 hour racing at the Nürburgring Nordschleife, as newer models from BMW and Honda are not designed to be as competitive as these two 1980s veterans.(from Wikipedia)" Lastly, 190E and Z both started their own cult of fans and followers. More info of 190E on Wikipedia : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/190E My Z project will certainly continue, but I'll be looking out for that one special 190E 2.3-16 that is going to be mine, someday. It bothers me that I found another "me" car before the Z is finished, but deep down, I am glad that cars I've liked all turn out to be strong, ground-breaking cars in the automotive history. Any 190E fans here? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
e_racer1999 Posted March 19, 2007 Share Posted March 19, 2007 i was thinking about getting one of these before i decided on getting my I30. nice cars tho, and they can look pretty sweet painted black and dropped... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slownrusty Posted March 19, 2007 Share Posted March 19, 2007 Love the 190E, the 4cylinder ones are totally gutless....the 6cylinder would be the one to get or if you are lucky the Cosworth 2.3-16 Lowered on AMGs they are plain ole tough! Yasin Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheNeedForZ Posted March 19, 2007 Author Share Posted March 19, 2007 Love the 190E, the 4cylinder ones are totally gutless....the 6cylinder would be the one to get or if you are lucky the Cosworth 2.3-16 Lowered on AMGs they are plain ole tough! Yasin Exactly, the 8 valve four cylinder version will drive just like my daily driver(Jetta GLS,auto) or worse due to age. If I ever get one it's going to be either straight 6, dohc 4 or engine swap. Seeing how the 190E engine bay can fit a straight 6 (again, like the old Z), it'll prolly swallow some bigger engine....hmmm... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thanh Posted March 19, 2007 Share Posted March 19, 2007 Love the 190E, the 4cylinder ones are totally gutless....the 6cylinder would be the one to get or if you are lucky the Cosworth 2.3-16 Lowered on AMGs they are plain ole tough! Yasin Drools Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alexideways Posted March 19, 2007 Share Posted March 19, 2007 Lots of people put SBC and ford 5.0s in there... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheNeedForZ Posted March 19, 2007 Author Share Posted March 19, 2007 That's good news, know a support forum/website somewhere? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest l28et Posted March 19, 2007 Share Posted March 19, 2007 When I think ugly Mercedes, thats what I think. Not a fan of the 190E... gotta love the faux-peeling wood grain. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corzette Posted March 19, 2007 Share Posted March 19, 2007 I had one dropped ,rims,tinted windows, porche red, body kit and it was SWEET!!!! My brother in law has it now and doesnt run. I always wanted to get it back and put in a 383. I will probably do just that!!!! Ill dig up some pics if I can find them later!! Terry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twoeightythreez Posted March 19, 2007 Share Posted March 19, 2007 It's not ugly. It just looks like a shrunken mercedes of that era. As far as teh woodgrain goes, how is that any different than the current "ricer" and "bling" fads? (I know I'm getting flamed for this but it'll be worth it) At least the 80's cars started out ugly, so the woodgrain didn't do too much damage. The ricer movement is worse. I wonder what goes on in thier heads. "Lets take a perfectly proportioned small car (like a 10-yr old civic) and let's make it look as outlandishly gaudy and tacky as we can! Sweet, now that's a chick magnet!" "Now, let's take any room left for chicks and fill it with sound equipment! Ya that's f'n sick dude!" NOw let's put an exhaust that sounds like fingernails on a chalkboard, and add brightly colored illegal lights that run all the time and blind everyone else, then drive like a-holes, and when we get pulled over it's police profiling!! So now to prove how badass we are we're gonna give the cop attitude so he can search the whole car!! Fun!! It's like when this fad started they saw "austin powers" and actually thought it wasn't an exaggeration, so they decided to exaggerate. I sincerely hope that "topgear" is still filming when this crazy fad is over so we can all watch these automotive tributes to abstract art get destroyed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
veritech-z Posted March 20, 2007 Share Posted March 20, 2007 I had one dropped ,rims,tinted windows, porche red, body kit and it was SWEET!!!! Terry Terry, you're such a pimp. VIP style, baby! Do these videos make you want one even more: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pNF-W4ucQ4w (cheesiest driving music award goes to....this video right here!) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkSA4Bwru40 And what really made me want to have one was finding this video of a car I'd driven in GT4: http://videos.streetfire.net/video/d85e3371-5439-4779-ad1c-982a00594863.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
datsunlover Posted March 20, 2007 Share Posted March 20, 2007 I'm a big fan, but never found any in my price range.. not that I need ANOTHER project/fixer anyway! (Dually 1 tone, 280z, 85 RX7 awaiting the V8, uh.. HOUSE, garage...) There are a few around here, but nothing 'pimped out' just stockers driven by older Germans. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moridin Posted March 20, 2007 Share Posted March 20, 2007 One of the guys I know has the Eurospec with the 2.5l motor. Its one of his favorite cars ever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
datsunlover Posted March 20, 2007 Share Posted March 20, 2007 Dam you!! Now I'm on autotrader cheking out 190's ....and I find one for $1500!!! AGGGHHH!!!!! Visions of my freash 355 in a Mercedes instead of the RX7!! (85 and older are exempt from emisions up here, and the rest of the car looks great!!) Sonova... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corzette Posted March 20, 2007 Share Posted March 20, 2007 HAHAHA...mine was 2.6L. I bet I could get it back for $1000. They need money for drugs real bad..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hoov100 Posted March 20, 2007 Share Posted March 20, 2007 this is the reason i love 190e's Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheNeedForZ Posted March 20, 2007 Author Share Posted March 20, 2007 Haha, I turned on my GT4 to collect both the touring car and the regular car and then proceed to pimp out both. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mray Posted March 20, 2007 Share Posted March 20, 2007 oooh i like the 190e evo3's. Those loook soooo deadly. I see a nice evo1 in my area. I believe it cost around 10k to fit those kits. Almost got one before i decided on my s30. Main reason i didnt get it is because there's no real aftermarket support for them in the US, and i cant swap it since i live in CA unless i want to go through all of the trouble of making it smoggable. Im thinking about getting a 190d someday and swapping. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Posted March 21, 2007 Share Posted March 21, 2007 I drove an automatic 6-cylinder 1991 190E for about a week (300 miles mixed city-highway) last fall. Competent car, but nothing particularly special. 1st gear would not engage unless the gas pedal were really mashed; otherwise it would leave the line in 2nd. Top gear felt unusually short for a German car; highway rpms were quite busy. Looking under the hood, its swap candidacy did not impress me; the L6 fits snugly, and distance between the strut towers looked considerably less than a Z. But the seats were comfy and the interior felt more solid than in my similar-vintage BMW 325is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aziza z Posted March 21, 2007 Share Posted March 21, 2007 why dont u upgrade too the 300e and buy the one im selling on ebay for cheap? haha. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=018&sspagename=STRK%3AMESE%3AIT&viewitem=&item=280093319550&rd=1&rd=1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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