Chapter 1
My 190e purchase and restoration journey by Santosh Ponen
For as long as I can remember I have always loved Mercedes benz. This love of this superb brand of car began when I was about 6 years old my Dad purchased a w108 280s 1969 model it was a lovely green color with red leather interior column shift gears and petrol tank behind the numberplate james bond style.
Over the years I have driven and owned many Mercedes like w123, w124 and w126 even driving my late mother in laws c200 sport 2017 model but the seed of the love of these cars was planned with the W108, but german engineering at its best but in terms of sheer driving pleasure and german overengineering nothing comes close to the w201 190e my poison of choice the 1 I purchased 190e 2.3 sportline 1993
I started my journey looking for a merc and low and behold I managed to get 1 at an absolute bargain marked for R16 000, there was a catch however the vehicle was part of a decease estate was last licenced in 2013 and I purchased the vehicle in September 2020 at the discounted price of R14000 however the third party gentleman that I was purchasing the vehicle from did not have the logbook and was selling the vehicle as is. Being a legal person myself I said its worth the risk and the deal was done and I was driving the car home. See pic below of what the car looked like when I got it home.
Missing and cracked tail light cracked windscreen badly worn out shocks, the list went on and on but the hidden gem has just 267000km on the clock had 1 owner from new and partial service history and the hoodlining and interior was good for its age. So the restoration began I repaired the torn leather seats. Replaced the shocks all round, put in a new windscreen because the car was parked off for a long time did a full service and replaced all fluids and brakes all around. The merc was getting back to her former beauty. At this stage the windscreen set me back R6000 had to repair a leak around the head R4000 shocks all round R2000 and state of the art double din deck with subs, tweeters and mids was fitted with reverse camera for around R10000 after all you need thumping sound when you cruising in a sportline. The car was ready to hit the town but alas it was unlicenced and that’s why the previous temporary owner sold it so cheap and voetstoots word to the wise, never buy a vehicle from a person if it is not licenced and the logbook is not in their name to rectify can be a costly affair. Funds were draining as I continued with the restoration and to get the licence up to date I had to contact the lawyer of the deceased estate the vehicle used to belong to a lovely gentleman named Gavin Claase who owned an earthmoving business and tragically passed away in an accident during a fishing trip to Mozambique, God rest his soul but I felt his presence restoring the vehicle and it was in memory of him even though I had never met him but getting all the paperwork in order to get the vehicle transferred out of Wesbank the financier and then to the decease and then to my name with the outstanding licences set me back a cool R12000 but it was worth it . IT was a 190e 2.3 sportline 1993 after all the spend was worth it. With funds running out and the car needing to be resprayed being a charou from Durban I made a plan and bartered a smashed merc with the local merc king Uncle Ramoo and got a respray in exchange for the write off merc. Unfortunately the respray was not up to scratch see pics below
The 190e was done licenced till 2022 now all that was left to do was sell her advertised her for R60 000 conservative because of her poor respray quality eventually got offered R50 000 after deposit paid of R40 000 when buy saw vehicle we eventually settled on a purchase price of R35 000 sold it for a song. But even though at the end of the whole journey I lost out big time the journey was worth the loss. To drive this car is something that you can only experience by taking the 190e sportline for a long drive on a Sunday morning heads will turn, and the merc purists will know what a special car the 190e 2.3 sportline is.
Some interesting facts from Mercedes Benz South Africa below.
190E`s was only imported by MBSA during 1993. Any other date is a grey import. We got Europe stock (England - RHD) due to the fact that the W202 was launched and they had a surplus of W201`s. So it was shipped to SA in partially broken down form and reassembled here .The 2000 consisted of 500 1.8`s, 1000 2.0`s and 500 2.3 8v Sportline`s. Some 2.3 16v`s was imported by private owners.
The 2.3 Sport line is the best to own, and also very rare in South-Africa these days.
The merc 190e 2.3 has brought me great pleasure in restoring and driving this sort after classic if you ever have a chance to purchase make sure it’s a 190e 2.3 sportline you will not be disappointed.
