190D 2.5 advice & MPG

[AndrewP]

Im looking to buy a 190D 2.5 (non-turbo) and wonder if anyone could advise what sort of fuel figures I could expect over a mix of fast motorway and town driving. (Sussex to London commute) Is there anything thing else I should look for when buying this model.
Any advice will be much appreciated. Thanks.

 

[Dominic]

Hi Andrew
I owned an '88 190 with the 5 cylinder diesel and did a similar commute to the one you're intending. Fast? forget it - these are gruesomely slow without a turbo - especially up hills, but expect mid to late 30's to the gallon. The gearbox on mine wasn't very good (reverse was a dark art), and the drive train was a bit noisy, but nothing unfixable. If the exhaust hasn't been attached properly (via a rubber sling), the resonances through the car at certain engine speeds are bad too, but again, its easy to fix. Bottom line is that its hard work keeping up with the traffic, but v.cheap to run and unbreakable.
Happy hunting
Dominic
'84 280CE

 

[Chris S]

Hi Andrew, I've just turned 230 thou on my 2.5D which I've only had a couple of months so its still on probation. First mpg was 46 which was great but the other night cruising up the M1 @ < 60mph it was only 42 (I was hoping to crack 50). It cost me 800 quid.
First impressions were: comfy, quiet, nice cornering and brakes but much plainer than I imagined a Merc would be and What A Slug! But I was coming out of a 4-litre TD Toyota where it all happened under 2000 rpm and had not had a normal car for years. Once I got into added ankle articulation it got better and sits on 70+ OK.
It has this very annoying forward and back rocking on low speed gearchanges as if the engine mounts were worn or there was a worn rubber component in the prop (cant say I know, yet). But other desert driving Merc mates have also described this effect so it may be normal on the sort of bangers we specialise in. (fyi, you can buy a 190 in NL for ?1000 and flog it in south of the Sahara for 3 times as much, see http://www.sahara-overland.com/Sfiles/ - bottom 2 reports)
And as Dom says, the gearbox is horrible - like stirring chopped up tennis balls in porridge. Even the gearknob is rubbery foam - an attempt to disguise a crap box?
But for that mileage engine oil pressure (if not leaks) is still '3' and the general condition (rust, interior + electric things) is all remarkable.
We had a poke around underneath yesterday (renewing clutch just in case) and only found one totally worn-out bush on the back hub plus the front shock top bushes coming apart (would not matter but only noticed after changing original? shocks and springs).
Dont have any diff whine that I can tell and new parts from Euro or GSF are cheaper than Tojo too, with plenty of broken 190s around (tho not so many 2.5Ds). And for a slug it's in a high insurance group (12?). They wanted 500 quid TP. F & Th!

I did a fair amount of research for the best three-figure desert diesel and, (insurance apart) so far am satisfied and hope to turn a quarter mil before the wheels fall off.

Hope this helps

Chris S

 

[flagstaff]

the 'desert' thing sounds great ... but anyway: best mpg i ever saw was an 80mph run over 50 miles, when i returned 65 to the gallon. it couldn't have been wrong, because it started and ended with a tank fill-up. i puzzled over it for ages, and then just decided to accept it. regularly got 40mpg around town also. don't have that car any more.

just a side note on how good merc made the 190s: my current 190E 1,8l has done 10,000 miles since i bought it May '03, including a high speed (and high ambient temp) run to France - and at it not only returned 36mpg, but recently passed its MOT without so much as a wiper blade or bulb required.

man, i am sold on mercs for life. only wish they were still getting made the way they always were ...

 

[willydog]

I would agree with flagstaff, 190 are pretty well made. my 190 only cost £150 for MOT & service last year and nothing has gone wrong since.
The best mpg I got was 38mpg and that was on fast motorway run averaging 80mph.