Identification assistance please

[brimoton]

Sorry if this is in the wrong place on the forum, I'm new to forums and it just seemed
the most appropriate.

Trying to get some info on this 1993 190E 2.6. I got it for $300 and was about to strip it
for parts for my other 190's and junk the rest. But then I noticed the Limited Edition badge
on the center console. I did a little research and didn't find much about LE's. But from
what I've read they only made them in green and black. I thought maybe someone put a
center console from an LE in this car as it doesn't have the sportier seats either, but
it does has the pin-striping all the way around. It has the shiny chrome wheels (just
dirty in these pics). And those "vents" on the front fenders are what really have me
scratching my head.

The lady I got it from plowed it under the back of a landscaping truck last year. She just
kept using it until about a month or two ago when she said it just stopped running. The
symptoms she described were telling me alternator. Sure enough I got it home and put a
battery in it and drove it off the trailer. I went up and down the street a bit and it
literally puurrrred it's way along, and the shifts gave me visions of soft warm butter.
All it needs it about $300 in parts from the junk yard and it can be cruising down the
trail with a rattle can matched hood. It's got 220K miles on it.

So...anyone have any idea what the details on this car stand for? We already have a 1990
2.6 with 57K miles that I bought for my tiny wife (and what started my Mercedes journey)
and a 1991 2.6 with 130K that on it that I got for myself. My wife isn't too thrilled with
my new hobby of collecting 190's so I need to figure out what to do with this car before
she learns that it's going to expand to AT LEAST one other model of Mercedes. I'm still
considering junking it (minus a healthy list of parts) but thought I'd try and find out
more about it first. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Brian - in Everett, WA

[babycarlsson]

Well, I can tell you for certain, there is absolutely nothing "Limited" about this W201. Awful pep-boys/ebay limited sticker on the dash and same goes for the stick-on fender gills.

Regards,
D

[benzguy300]

Brimoton where do you live? If you're close to me I might buy it from you

[brimoton]

Yeah you're right baycarlsson. That's kinda what I was thinking at first, but I couldn't let myself believe
that someone would actually do something like that. I thought "naw, nobody's so lame they'd actually use
those stupid things". But I went out and scraped the moss from the edge and can see what looks like thin
foam under it, so it is a sticker. I must admit, they did a pretty good job of getting both sides even. Oh
well...to the great melting pot in the sky.

So what about the pin-striping? Us that an owner applied item or do some 190's have that? I haven't actually
seen that many up close yet and just started paying attention to them a couple months ago when we got our
first one. I haven't tried to peel it off and it looks pretty straight.

And yeah, I feel like an idiot. Not the first time. And unfortunately...most assuredly...not the last either.

Thanks.

[babycarlsson]

...So what about the pin-striping? Us that an owner applied item or do some 190's have that?...

To my best knowledge, no Mercedes left factory with pinstripes to be sold at the dealer's lot... Here in the US it usually applied at the dealership. Some actually hand paint those, but it is also entirely possible that prior owner/owners laid those down, as they can still be purchased at the same Pep Boys where the Limited badge and those gills came from...

Regards,
D

P.S. When I bought my W201, I actually asked dealer to remove pin stripes prior to delivery. At first I got some resistance, but later, they called me and were surprised how much better "not broken up" lines of w201 looked without them

[brimoton]

Ok, thanks for the info. We've only had our first 190 for about two months at this point. It's also my first
Mercedes so I know I've got a lot learn. But I like them a lot more than I thought I would and seem to have
been "bitten by the bug" I guess you could say. I'm already looking to get a different model. I like the late
'90's C280's. Seems to have better parts availability too!

What I have noticed though is how many 190's are going up for sale lately. Many of them not running and at
fire sale prices. I keep telling my wife that if I had a large enough property I'd start buying them up
before they hit the junkyards and start a 190 parts supply and service depot. You know, offer rebuilt engines
and trannys, fenders, doors, hoods, rebuilt ABS pumps, etc. A refurb service for wood trim pieces maybe?
Eventually expand into other models too. I mean look at how well suppliers of old American cars are doing. So
why not a European restoration parts supplier?

And the icing on the cake would be to find a supplier for new door panels eh?

I'd be willing to bet that if I searched through this and other forums I'd find a lot of other folks with the
same dream. I really think it'd turn into a good business.

Brian