1993 Merc 190e LE 1.8

[Jizmondo Scrotmondo]

I purchased this motor from the classifieds on this very site! It's a 1.8 auto LE in Avantgarde (some say Azzuro?) Blue. The last owner had it for fourteen years and it's in exceptional condition with no rust whatsoever. It drives beautifully. It's my first Merc and I'm completely won over by it.
It had a few jobs that needed doing when I bought it. Bottom balljoints, fuel leak, new tyres and other bits and bobs were all sorted for the MOT. The balljoints were a real horrible job and took up a whole day. I refurbed the wheels and mopped it and it's coming along nicely.
It passed the MOT with no advisories!

[peter96]

Looks really well. Can't beat a tidy 190 . Enjoy.

[marsh300ce]

Yeah looks nice. Like 190s.
Ive not long entered into the world of merc too, not going too smoothly so far.
Yours must be one of the last on an L plate?

[Jizmondo Scrotmondo]

I've heard different things about the LE. They were the last 1000 made and only came in 3 colours with either grey or biscuit chequered interiors and had electric windows all round with a sunroof. Apparently there was an A3 sized numbered certificate which came with each LE.

I'm sure someone in here knows more?

[Mark]

190 is the only Merc I've owned. I really like the way they look, especially in white. Yours looks good though. Nice car!

[Jizmondo Scrotmondo]

Cheers. I had my mind set on an E30 but this was tidier than any E30's I'd seen. It only has 107k on the clock.
This is also the first auto I've owned......and it's making me lazy.

[peter96]

Automatics are the way to go in a Mercedes. The manuals are horrible. Mind you there's an LE for sale here but its a manual which is putting me off looking at it.

[thechef]

Great cars, I've had two 190 E's, first one was a 1.8 manual, it had 8 hole alloys and steelies for the winter, it was immaculate, k reg in silver,so among last of the 190 E's, had it for almost 4 years, only sold as cos I wasn't really using it. After a few other cars including a C class (200 sport auto|) I missed the 190 E, eventually found another at an auction in Glasgow, it was another K reg 2.0 auto in smoke silver with 105,000 miles, and immaculate.

They are great cars imo, and built to last, made from girders , enjoy it

[rr69h]

Wow,

you do seem to have something special on your hands. So here's a quick recap on the W201 Avantgarde factory specials. There were three different versions, all of them were limited production runs.

Exhibit a: The Avantgarde Rosso.

This was the 1.8-litre petrol. It had a special shade of red (note the lower plastic trim is almost in bodycolour) and looked like this on the inside:

Yes, really.

Part of the package were these options:
- sports suspension
- 15-hole alloys
- ABS
- outside temperature gauge
- Radio Becker Europa 2000 with electric antenna
- tape holders in the centre console
- electric windows up front
- electric sunroof
- central locking
- rear headrests
- 'Avantgarde'-label on the glovebox

About 2500 were made.

Exhibit b: The Avantgarde Azzurro.

This was the 2.3-litre petrol. It came in this fetching shade of blue which I'm almost sure your car also has. These came with one shockingly 90's-looking interior:

It came with all options which the Rosso had plus the following:
- driver's airbag
- leather shiftknob
- 4 electric windows
- rear interior light
- heat-insulated glass
- carbon-fibre trim centre console

About 950 were made.

Exhibit c: The Avantgarde Verde

This is there rarest of the rare as only about 750 were made. It's powered by the 2.5 litre n/a diesel.
It (unsurprisingly) was very green. A theme which they continued on the inside:

Options were basically the same as on the Rosso, with only heat-insulated glass and a catalytic converter added to the mix.

Exhibit d: The Avantgarde ''
A while ago a works-prototype turned up to a meeting:


This car was supposed to be the final Avantgarde model in form of the top-of-the-line 2.6-litre inline six. Sadly it never made it into production. Which is a shame, because look at the brownness of that interior!


Anyway. I've never heart of a car outside the works-Avantgarde program wearing that Azzurro-blue from the factory. There was another green edition for the Italian market only, but that's all I know.

Do you happen to know if your car ever had a complete respray?

[Jizmondo Scrotmondo]

I love the interior on the Avantgarde rosso. Some great info there mate, really interesting!

This is what Wikipedia (must be true....?) says about the LE-

LEs were available in three colours only; Azzuro Blue (blue/purple), Brilliant Silver and Rosso Red (Burgundy). The Azzuro blue coloured cars came with a grey checked cloth interior, the silver ones with black checked cloth and the Rosso Red with biscuit/cream checked cloth.

LEs were equipped with extra features that had been options on the other models and were only available with the 1.8- or 2.0-litre engine. Both the 1.8- and 2.0-litre models were equipped with a standard electric tilt and slide steel sunroof, four electric windows, electric aerial, 8-hole alloy wheels, Blaupunkt Verona CR43 Radio/cassette and walnut wood trim (as opposed to Zebrano wood). The 2.0-litre-engined version had in addition rear headrests and a front armrest. The LE was nearly £3500 cheaper than a non-LE 1.8 car of identical specification, and £2000 cheaper for a 2.0-litre.

I'm 100% sure that is what mine is. There was one being broken on Ebay identical to mine (I doubt the scrapper had any idea what he had) I've never seen a Silver or red LE.

[shampooefficient]

Just stumbled into this topic - that looks lush!

MrsSE and I have a red 190 LE project, its nowhere near as tidy as that yet - need to get it running properly before we tackle the bodywork.

Also got a 1989 2.0, which is currently getting gentle mods and attention, its 99% mint. More than good enough for us!

[Mercdan68]

Very rare car the le,, my boy has seen one near our in laws place went to have a nose, a clean car but looking a little neglected I want!