A friend of mine has a little 190e with 300,000 plus miles, and the transmission finally broke in it. So the idea came to me that I could possiably put in a new used tranny for purely the price of parts. I would at that point have about $700 into it and I could possiably turn it around and sell for $1800. The question I have for you guys is, does this sound like a bone head idea? Is a benz a nightmere to work on? Or could I possiably make a quick $1000? Let me know what you guy's think.
Eric

I worked on a 190E and a 190E 16valve. Both were pretty easy to work on other than the valve train on the 16V which I didn't touch. Bout as complicated as a Carrera dual overhead 356 motor if you ask me.
Geoff

I am sure you have better things to do. Run, do not walk, away. Do not look back. Quick now...

I would not attempt this project without first locating / price the trans and then establishing the labor time to r&r the trans. During the early 80s I worked at a euro garage. Removal is pretty straight forward.

Yeah, it seams to be a real toss up on this project. A used tranny would be around $500.00. The car would be around $150.00. So I wouldn't be in it real deap, but I bet there is gona be other things wrong with it once I get in there.
Eric

When was the last time any of us finished a quick project on the 914? Except the Doc of course.

Sounds like a good idea, but usually doesn't work out that way. Remember you have to sell it after you're done. Sometimes that's harder than you expect. As long as you can live without the $1000 you'll invest for at least 6-8 months then you should consider it. If you're trying to make quick money, then you'll probably be disappointed.

I've owned several Mercedes and currently have an '87 190E. Although I've never done tranny work I was amazed at how easy they are to work on - much easier than a 914. Get a Haynes manual and go for it.

I always wondered if a 5.0 and a 5 speed from a Mustang would drop into one of those!!! Would be a heck of a sleeper...

The German racers turboed the 16v cars with great success turning out 300hp IIRC. Shit, those things must fly then and they turn pretty well too.
Geoff

Conduct yourself a little experiment. it'll cost you $15, but it will be a Very Good investment. take out an ad in the local paper: "1986 Mercedes Benz 190E, 300K, nice body, good interior, new tires. $2,000 obo"

See how many calls you get.

If you were going to fix and keep the car yourself i would say yes go for it.
But to try and sell with 300k + miles not sure you will have many buyers.

I know MB run a long time but 300k is near the end of life for that motor.

Yeah 300,000 is a lot, and a friend of a friend (yeah I know that sounds really good) has a 190e with a bout 150,000 but the car is rusted out and need's a starter. So he want's to get ride of it. I was thinking about doing an entire engine and transmission swap, it would probably be less hassle as well. Who know's. By the way the ad in the paper is a great idea!
Eric

If either of these cars become parts cars, I need a cheap (smaller) steering wheel to replace the stock 18 wheeler style on my 85 300td.


Thanks,

John

Working on a Benz is pretty easy. MB did ALL the engineering on those cars so it's generally pretty rational.

You can probably have the existing tranny rebuilt for ~$1200 by a skilled independant tranny shop that's seen one before. You can crap shoot a junk yard tranny but you're relying on luck. Are you lucky?

Personally I'd s*it-can the car. It's had most of the good miles driven off it already. It'll be a heart-breaker

Two things to keep in mind one of which I know to be an absolute truism:
1) The most expensive car you'll ever own is a cheap Mercedes.
2) There's probably no market for a 300K mile 190E (none here on the west coast anyway)

Well, it would help to know the year and whether it is a 2.3 or 2.6., Auto or Stick (I'm going to assume if it was a 2.3-16V you wouldn't be asking, and hopefully would already be swapin')

300,000 is a lot of miles but if it is a sportline or a later 2.6, I think it would be worth the trouble. Might be a candidate for a v8 swap ala Brabus too.

190E's get a bum rap, but we just bough our daughter one and I love the thing , course it has half those miles on it, but it is a great little car.

87 2.3 auto