1986 Mercedes-Benz 190 E Cosworth 2.3-16: More than meets the eye

Here’s something you don’t see pop up very often in Australia. It’s a 1986 Mercedes-Benz 190 E Cosworth 2.3, and it is pure German bliss.

If your not familiar, the 190e Cosworth was sort of like Mercedes answer to cars like the BMW M3. It came about after a failed attempt to enter the world of rally with their mid-sized sedan, the 190e. Mercedes had originally enlisted engine builder Cosworth to build their rally engine, a 320hp, naturally aspirated 16 valve four cylinder. However, shortly before they were set to go rallying, a plucky little Turbo AWD known as the Audi Quattro broke cover. This quickly scared Mercedes into submission, and they pulled the plug on the rally dreams.

Rather than scrap the project all together, they turned their focus to DTM- the German equivalent to our V8 Supercar series. To get a gig in that series however, the race car needed to be based off a road going model. And so, Mercedes detuned the Cosworth donk and the 2.3-16 was born. Another amazing road car thanks to homologation!

The 190e Cosworth 2.3-16’s (and 2.5-16 that followed) was more than just an engine swap too. They featured a body kit that reduced the drag coefficient to 0.32, one of the lowest values on a four-door sedan back in the 80’s. They had a Getrag 5-speed manual gearbox which featured a dog-leg change pattern. It also had a strictly four-seater interior, three extra dials, smaller steering wheel, larger fuel tank, LSD differential and self leveling suspension amongst a host of other changes.

If you’re a fan of Top Gear (the original, not the one with Joey), you may remember the Cosworth from the “Everyday Sports Saloon Challenge” back in 2010. The trio were given just £5000 (AUD9300 in today’s money) to pick up an old Sports Saloon. James May used his £5000 to pickup a pretty cool 190e 2.3-16 Cosworth. Chump change for such a cool car, but back then they were a somewhat forgotten 80’s sports sedan. And to be honest, a quick search on Euro car sites uncovered that 9 years on, a Cosworth can still be had for pretty good money.

Unfortunately, there aren’t too many floating around on Australian shores, so prices are a little steeper. This example for instance is currently advertised for $60k. Not unreasonable, considering their rarity in Australian and pretty cool racing pedigree. But still, a fair bit of coin for the average punter.

You can find it on the “Unwanted Big Boys Toys Australia” Facebook page here for $60k.

1986 Mercedes-Benz 190 E Cosworth 2.3-16: In the owners own words

Mercedes Benz 190e COSWORTH
– this is a genuine cosworth not a mock up
– 2.3 16v
– dog leg manual
– still in lhd configuration
-registered
– body in awesome condition with
– sunroof
– imported from Japan
– has 2 x recaro race seats up front
– factory lsd
– car drives good and plenty of power (engine is healthy)
– power windows etc
– electric passenger mirror
– street slicks

Will need an o2 sensor as haven’t had time to get it changed due to work commitments.