Faults:

Radiator hose, leaking radiator, replaced the lot (very expensive) but worth it.

Electric window passenger side failed, fixed by myself and some cheaper mechanism parts sourced online.

Previous owner said auto-box was playing up at around 110K miles, expensive refurbishment was carried out - now shifts smoothly.

The car has all the wear and tear items replaced as expected of a 30 year old car; exhaust and suspension pretty much entirely.

The engine has been taken care of, every oil change on time since 1991. A little smokey now but still sounds good, and no leaks and good power. Cosmetics - No rust! The car was always garaged and looked after.

General Comments:

Bought as a classic car, at over 20 years old this has been one of my favorites. Always wanted one of these cars - it came from a time when Mercedes was Mercedes - they built cars from an engineers point of view, not a company accountant.

The 190 E is a solid car. Famous for reliability. I have to be honest though - the car has had its fair share of problems, and they have been expensive to fix. The point is though it is worth it - these cars are very dependable in general, and hold their value exceedingly well. What I paid for it I will get in return if I decided to sell it, even with higher mileage. Market is very strong for these, you will always find a buyer.

2.0 with auto box is the best option; the 1.8 can be a little slow for a car of this weight. Fuel consumption is respectable, managing more than 30 mpg on a long drive.

Interior is just gorgeous, such a high quality feel even after all these years. A smaller car by today's standard, it does feel as though there is decent space however, but outside the car looks like a compact executive car, which is exactly what it was market as. The BMW 3 series was its main rival, have not drove one of them so cannot comment on which is best. There is probably little in it and likely will come down to what you prefer.

If you are looking at buying one of these, go for it, their value will only rise with age.

Faults:

Grinding noise from gear change - never solved.

Faulty rear window stopped working.

Small oil leak.

Engine regularly overheated in traffic.

Faulty speedometer - read higher than the actual speed. This is apparently not uncommon in the 190.

General Comments:

This car was a great disappointment for me.

The car is very sluggish with a top speed of 107mph.

The bodywork was mint and showed no sign of rust.

The interior is very dull and the standard sound system is very weak.

I was naive enough to believe this car was similar to the Mercedes Cosworth. The 190 however is extremely heavy and is poorly balanced, and steers very badly around tight bends.

The good news is I managed to sell the car for over a 1000 pounds recently. The car looked the part, but sadly the beauty was only skin deep.