Rust is their only real life ending issue , have a good poke around underneath . Well serviced and looked after they go forever . High geared and slow as a week in the jail though haha
W201 was well built, double wishbone suspension, compact (compared to normal MB) saloon.
M102 engines pretty much go on forever.
Rust is only real issue, and if memory serves ignition barrels.
Should still get plenty stuff from likes of ecp
The spring platforms rust out, my uncle is ex-mercedes garage and still has a couple of W201 customers coming to him as an independant decades later, and he's had to weld in several new spring platforms.
Like others have said, rust is the main problem, they were built to last, otherwise
Have owned one for about 5 years. Probably not as well made as I expected, but a comfortable, enjoyable car to drive. They seem to rust preferentially in two common spots - the outer sills near the jacking points and the bottom corners of the rear window. The rear window rust can eat into the parcel shelf etc.
They seem to have a list of fairly consistent problem points ... e.g. heater blower switch, heater blower fuseholder, tops of door cards curling, sump plug rounding off, oil filler cap sticking (!), oil pressure sender going unreliable, temperature gauge erratic, wing mirror adjuster mechanism seizing, propshaft center bearing mount failing, gearshift bushes wearing. The good thing is that most of these faults and fixes are well known on the internet.
Parts availability isn't bad at all and in a pinch, Mercedes genuine parts often aren't as expensive as might be expected. Most OEM parts have the part number cast/moulded in somewhere which is handy. There are often confusing sub-model to model variations of things like ohh.. engine mounts which seem to come in about 56 different stiffness grades (possible exaggeration but you get the idea).
I'm glad I bought mine - hope you enjoy owning and driving yours!
Weren't they once called "The accountants car" ? I'm sure there was period where they had one of if not the highest residual value.
I still chuckle about James May quoting Martin Brundle as says "The 190E 2.3-16 was the one of the best chassis ever made", Clarkson rang him and he denied ever saying it
Not a lot to go wrong with them. Just an old car which suffers from old car problems. Rust is the main concern at this age, but a lot seem to hold up fairly well. Generally quite solid otherwise. 1.8 will be very slow.
Watch out for lower ball joints, as they can snap if not caught in time.
Someone at my work runs a W124 early 90's E500 with air suspension -quite a car for it's age, only issues have been an air suspension leak and a little rust round the rear arches, he also has a Jaguar S-Type 4,2 V8 but much prefers the older Mercedes. Seems the older the Mercedes the better the quality!
Most disappointing car I ever drove. Climbed from my Alfa 75 Ts and drove a mates back when they were nearly new - sailed straight past the right turn I intended to take when I braked at similar point to where I would int he Alfa . . .cross-axled the thing trying to get it out of my mums drive in the same way ever other car before or since did or has.
But the badge was nice And wondering why they ran out of big mirrors on one side
The W201 / W124 / R129 era were the last of the 'quality models', before Jürgen Schrempp took over the helm.
I've run a few old Mercs for 15 years and I have never heard of weak front spring perches on 201s. That was a W210 speciality. Replacements were routinely held in stock and were quite cheap. Fairly easy to weld back in, although the WIS surprisingly advocated riveting them, with not that many rivets!
W202 perches are not prone to 'peeling off' like the W210s do but at 20+ years old, the perches do rust through on top.
I still have a 1983 W123 estate project, as I found one by chance with an uncommon amount of rot (knowing where to look ...)
Well I've got the old girl, starts and runs perfectly... Indicators and horn not working though, both on fuse 11 so probably gone but I can't get in the engine bay with the lever handle broken
Subframe coatings are finished but I'm suprised at the body tbh, nowhere near this much paint/coating on British cars I'm used to
Of course the arch lips are crusty though, no big deal,
I'll probably end up giving the subframes a refresh and the underbody a good going over at some point.
Oh I'm leaving it standard too, none of this wide arch spoiler business