New Member Saying Hello

[CrowBar]

Indeed...well said.

I think the British press put it correctly in the late 1990's when describing 75 ownership: "Keep after the timing belt, change the fluids, and mind the drive shaft, and the driveline is literally bulletproof"

-CB

[wrenchman]

Hello itgb. how did you come across 2.3-16s? I'm an apperentice at the mercedes dealership and I've only seen one and almost nobody knew anything about it. I tried looking for info on them on the internet and found almost none. The one I drove was a grey-market car, is yours? I heard a lot of tem are. I really liked special things like the shifter setup, special seats front and back, and of course the awesome body kit it comes with.
Still, it seems like the e30 m3 would be the better car, the 190e is so much bulkier. Also, it seemed like even poor examples with over 100k were going for like 12k. I'm not trying to say I don't like them, but it seems you'd really have to want one to own such a car. Mercedes parts are so expensive, and aren't they even more expensive with such a rare car? Tell me what captivates you about them, I'd love to know. It's good to see enthusiasts of such rare and unique cars.
For the kind of money it takes to get a 190e 2.3-16, you could get a 202 c-class or a 124 400e, but I guessthose don't come with manual transmissions. Two of the team leaders there have clean 500e's. I rode in one once, it was quite impressive. It's funny that a '94 500e is faster than a 2004 E500.

[Itgb]

Timo: Well put. But preventative maintenance will solve the problems of any car, not just an Alfa. Also, electrical problems(which this car has a lot of) cannot be prevented by routine maintenance. Those things fall under the fix when you have to category. Unfortanately, the Milano we bought was previously owned, so who knows what happened to it beforehand? At least (after some bad experiences) we found a great shop called Italian Performance in Belmont, CA(if anyone knows where that is) and they have taken great care of the car for the past couple of years. They are expensive, but worth it if you really care about your Alfa.

wrenchman: I could be here forever trying to explain my madness with this car. The 190E 2.3-16V is a very rare and misunderstood car. It doesn't have the high hp figures like today's cars, and this turns away a lot of people. What no one understands is the driving experience of this car. I switched off between my parents' 190E 2.6 auto and the Milano 2.5 5-speed in high school and knew that I wanted a manual transmission when I bought my own car. After researching, I found out about the 16V and it was everything that I wanted(in my price range). The E30 M3 was out of my price range at that time, and it took a long time for me to warm up to the M3's styling anyways. So I bought a US-spec 16V. 16V's now sell from $4k - $9k. Maybe an absolutely mint, low mileage expample will go for $12k. There are no W202's or W124's(available in the US) that can match the driving experience of the 16V with a manual transmission. If you want anymore info on the 16V's, please visit the forum I posted a link to earlier.