Why The Mercedes W201 190E 16V Is a Motorsport Icon

[Music] in this video i will go over the story of the mercedes-benz 190e 16 valve models as well as the involvement of amg then i will discuss what 190e 16 valve buyers should look out for in today's market [Music] the w201 190 was the first mercedes offered in the compact sedan segment when it was introduced in 1982 one of bruno sacco's most respected designs the 190 was the entry level mercedes for the 1980s which was built to satisfy a new demand for compact cars with a new small and nimble platform mercedes wanted to get back into racing and take the w-201 rallying mercedes asked british engineering firm causeworth to develop a powerful four-cylinder engine for the rally car during this time the audi quattro was released with all-wheel drive and a turbocharged engine making the rear-wheel drive 190e uncompetitive for rallying mercedes had the cosworth engine ready and still wanted to go racing so they turned to the german touring car championship or dtm however to compete in dtm the cars had to be based on a road-going model thus the 190e 2.316 otherwise known as the 190e cosworth was introduced in september 1983. the engine was based on mercedes m102 engine which was a 2.3 liter four-cylinder mercedes removed their eight valve cylinder head in favor of a detuned 16-valve head that cosworth had developed for racing the 16 valve head had improved airflow to the cylinder and allowed the engine to rev higher and produce more power the pistons were strengthened compared to the normal 2.3 to handle the higher revs of up to 7000 rpm the 190e 2.316 engine developed at 185 horsepower and 174 pound-feet of torque without an exhaust catalyst at 10.5 to 1 compression the 2.316 valve cars were fitted with a get drag 5-speed manual gearbox with a racing style dog leg first gear giving an h pattern from 2 3 to 4 and 5. the rear axle featured a mechanical limited slip differential and a 3.07 to 1 final drive ratio a four-speed 722.4 automatic transmission was optional by 1985. the 16 valve cars also had stiffer sports suspension fitted with larger anti-roll bars and a lower ride height compared to the regular 190e self-leveling hydraulic suspension was used in the rear to complement the state-of-the-art 5-link rear suspension the steering ratio was also tighter than the regular 190e and the fuel tank was enlarged to 70 liters instead of 55 liters the 2.316 weighed just under 3000 pounds or 1360 kilograms the 16 valve 190s had special highly aerodynamic exterior bodywork with lower bumpers in the front and back as well as a spoiler integrated into the trunk lid the interior featured recaro sport seats for the front and rear passengers as well as a few more dials in the center console the 2.316 was available in only two colors pearl black and smoked silver the european market 190s had many options available such as leather seats a sunroof and height adjustable suspension among other options may 12 1984 was an important day for the 190e 16 valve to celebrate the opening of the new nurburgring and to show its new car mercedes organized a race of some of the world's top drivers competing in identical 190e 2.316 the 20 cars on the grid featured all of the same minor modifications such as stiffer suspension upgraded brakes tires and safety equipment the star-studded grid included former f1 champions nikki lauda and sterling moss among many others future champions were also on the grid including alain prost and ayrton senna prost took pole position but it was senna who won the race with lauta in second place the race was a good boost for senna's career but it also kicked off the 190e's racing story private racing teams such as amg entered 2.36 teams in dtm races throughout the 1980s taking the fight to bmw and ford teams in 1986 the 190e 16 valve was introduced to the u.s market the u.s spec cars had lower 9.7 to 1 compression engines and thus lower power at 167 horsepower and 162 feet of torque and could only rev up to 6 500 rpm the rear axle on the us model also had a shorter 3.27 to 1 ratio compared to the euro version the us model also had different headlights and came fully loaded with power seats air conditioning a sunroof and so on 1987 would be the last u.s model year for the 190e 16 valve in 1988 mercedes introduced a larger 2.5 liter engine again with a cosworth developed 16-valve head to increase its competitiveness this time the engine used a dual-row timing chain compared to the older 2.3 engine which used a single road timing chain the 2.5 liter 16 valve produced 195 horsepower despite having an exhaust catalyst and lower 9.7 to 1 compression paired with the 2.5 engine was a different rear axle with a shorter 3.27 to 1 ratio and electro-hydraulic rather than mechanical locking the 2.516 added colors such as almendine red astral silver and later brilliant silver for the 1988 dtm season mercedes started officially participating in dtm by backing five teams driving 190e 16 valves amg was the leading mercedes team and they built a partnership on the racetrack through the late 1980s bmw ford and mercedes fought for the championship with mercedes teams never placing higher than second in the driver's title despite numerous race wins with a continued focus on motorsports the 2.516 evolution was unveiled in march of 1989. the evolution was built to satisfy dtm rules that require the race cars to have the same exterior shape as the road cars the evolution featured a different engine than the standard 2.5 with a shorter piston stroke and bigger bore which allowed the engine to rev higher among other engine improvements once again the engine was developed by cosworth power remained at 195 horsepower with an exhaust catalyst a power pack option engineered by amg was available on the evo the power pack option included improved intake and exhaust camshafts a larger diameter throttle body as well as an improved intake and exhaust system the result was an increase of 30 horsepower over the standard evo bringing the power up to 225 horsepower at a maximum of 7 600 rpm reportedly a few power packs were actually fitted to standard non-evo 2.5 16s the wide fenders set the evolution apart as well as its larger rear wing the brakes were improved and a stiffer height adjustable suspension system was fitted as standard bigger 16-inch wheels from the sl were fitted on the evo's wider track all evolutions were painted in pearl black a year later in march 1990 the 2.516 evolution 2 was unveiled the evo 2's 2.5 engine produced 235 horsepower and 181 pound-feet of torque the engine was a further development of the evo 1 engine now with a different intake cam stiffer valve springs and 10.5 to 1 compression among other improvements the evo 2 could now rev up to 7 700 rpm the engine and the evo 2 switch back to a single road timing chain to make room for an upgraded oil pump the rear axle on the evo 2 had an even shorter 3.47 to 1 ratio the bodywork featured even larger fenders and a massive rear spoiler to improve downforce like the evolution one the suspension was height adjustable but went even lower down the evolution twos were also fitted with 17 inch light alloy wheels all of the evolution 2s were painted in pearl black except for two cars in silver back on the racetrack with the 2.516 evolution 2 the 1991 dtm season was looking up for mercedes four mercedes-back works teams competed klaus ludwig driving for team amg came in second place in the drivers championship and mercedes won the constructors championship for 91. even with very close racing the mercedes teams then dominated the 1992 season with no less than 16 wins for the 92 season evolution 2s ran a 370 horsepower 16 valve with a massive air box and dry sump lubrication the cars weighed just 980 kilograms for about 2160 pounds [Music] ludwig took the driver's title and mercedes took the constructor's title for 92. with these successes amg became an extremely well-known mercedes tuner because of its 190e racing winds the 190 e-16 valve earned a strong racing pedigree on the track and has gone down in history as one of the most iconic race cars to come from the golden era of dtm where customers could buy a road version of the racing car overall production numbers of those 16 valve road cars are as follows a total of 19 487 2.316 were produced about 1953 of those were for the us market [Music] 5743 2.5 16 were produced in total and then 502 evolution ones were produced all built in 1989. 502 evolution 2s were produced all built in 1990. amg led the way on the racetrack with its valve car but it also made some performance versions of the 190e for the street that were separate from the 16 valve cars amg offered the 190e 3.2 amg in 1987. the engine was a tuned version of the m103 12-valve inline-six found in the 190e 2.6 power was rated at 231 horsepower thanks to a better camshaft and that larger 3.2 liter displacement automatic and manual versions were produced distinctive amg bumpers were fitted as well as amg wheels about 200 of these cars were built by amg in black or silver amg also sold plenty of separate parts such as bumpers and wheels for 190 mercedes at the time but ultimately the 16 valve cylinder head in the 190e cosworth was so good that amg really had a limited roll with the 16 valve street cars amg's main role was on the track the 190e 16 would end an era of mercedes trying to develop its own performance cars going forward emg would slowly be handed over the role of performance division of mercedes thanks to its racing successes 190e 16 valves are a good classic car to own because they are relatively simple they are fun to drive and they have a good story here are some things to keep in mind when buying a 190e 16 valve the m102 engine should run smoothly with no hesitations the bosch ke jetronic fuel system is reliable but it is difficult to set up if the engine is not running correctly and may require specialist attention the 2.316 cars have a single road timing chain that can't stretch or fail this was corrected with the 2.516 dual road timing chain early 2.316 also had a weaker head gasket compared to the later cars when driving the car the manual gearbox should not require excessive force to change gears and the automatic cars should change gear smoothly it's good to see frequent fluid changes in the service history of a 190 e-16 valve rubber parts such as driveline flex discs and suspension bushes should be inspected for wear also check for any leaks around the pump or lines for the self-leveling hydraulic suspension keep an eye out for rust on the lower parts of the body panels and also check the condition of the rubber seals especially around the windshield inside the car the dashboard can crack power items such as the sunroof and windows should be checked for proper operation this may seem like a lot of things to keep in mind but these are 30 to 35 year old cars so it has to be expected when looking at the market today the 190 16 valve cars have been steadily rising in value at the low end of the market you can get a good 2.316 with the automatic transmission for about 10 to 15 000 us dollars even with lower mileage but because of the character of the 190e the automatic transmission is obviously the least sought after version next up are high mileage manual 2.3 and 2.5 16s and they sell around 15 to 20 000 [Music] low mileage examples of 16 valve cars trade between 30 and forty thousand dollars evolution one cars sell for around one hundred thousand dollars with relatively low mileage evolution two cars sell for around two hundred fifty thousand dollars even with some modest mileage evo twos have sold above four hundred thousand with less than ten thousand miles evo twos are the pinnacle for collectors and it was the evo twos that became so successful and iconic in dtm racing that's it for this guide to the 190e 16 valve cars i think it is clear that the 16 valve is an icon in the history of mercedes-benz and amg thanks for watching and if you want to support the channel take a look at my store link is in the description if you want to see more mercedes and amg content subscribe for more videos like this one

Channel: AMGmeister

Views: 78,612

Rating: 4.9499183 out of 5

Keywords: amg, mercedes, used mercedes, reliable, engine problems, performance car, 500e, mercedes 500e, e500, classic mercedes, collector mercedes, r129, sl500, 500sl, w124, w210, w140, w201, m102, 190e, 2.3-16, 2.5-16, Cosworth, buyer's guide, 190e evolution, evolution 2, 190e evolution ii

Id: tMKsXal1NMo

Length: 15min 27sec (927 seconds)

Published: Sat Feb 20 2021