03x05 & 03x06 - Mercedes Benz 190E 2.3-16 Cosworth (Part 1 & 2)

[bunniefuu]

Hello and welcome to
Wheeler Dealers, the show that

likes to buy, restore and
then sell on classic motors.

This week I'm after an 80's
legend, the motorway muncher

that become a yuppie icon, the
awesome Mercedes Cosworth.

At first glance it looks like a
ordinary 190E but look again and

there's a subtle body kit and it
gives it a lower, more aggressive line.

Inside it's pure class, wall
to wall leather and Recaro

bucket seats that hug
you in all the right places.

And this is what all the fuss is
about, the 2.5 litre engine with 16

valves briefed on by everyone's
favourite tuning specialist, Cosworth.

The Mercedes 190E Cosworth is a pedigree
track racer that made it onto the streets.

It had the price tag,
around 50 grand in today's

money, of a high end coupé
and the power to match.

It appealed to rich professionals who
preferred a discreet saloon to a 2 plus 2.

With 190bhp from it's screaming 16
valve 2.3 motor it was an instant classic.

I've got 3 grand to spend
on a car that we can fix up

and sell on but finding a
cheap Mercosy is far from easy.

Your best bet is to tap into the enthusiasm
of Mercedes Cosworth owners clubs.

There's lots on the Internet and there's
even magazines dedicated to fast Mercs.

I had a gander through it
earlier and one that has caught

my eye and I do think
it's worth a call is this one.

It says metallic silver,
although it looks gold

in the advert but they
always do for some reason.

It also says that company car forces sale
and that makes all the right noises to me.

And listen to the price, it's only 3,000
pounds so it's definitely worth a call.

Hello, yes I'm ringing about your car.

Avoid a maxed up Merc, they
may have been loved in their own

way but they don't have the
appeal of a mint original car.

Another no no is a noisy
engine, if you need a new head

you'll be spending time and
money and you won't get it back.

This one has a full service history
in a smart postcode, sounds good.

Well it sounds great, he's
getting a load of calls for

it and I need to get over
there and see it straight away.

He's asked to meet me at a yacht club so no
time to spare, I'm going to get it bought.

Stop looking at that watch, I'm here now.
Andy, how are you?

Yeah good, there it is,
the Mercedes Cosworth.

I love these cars,
real real enthusiast.

Okay, right first thing let's
have a look round it shall we?

No problem. Okay,
it all looks nice and

straight down on the
front wing, that's nice.

Down to say there's a bit of a scratch
on the door there. Oh just a bit of dirt.

That's more than a bit of dirt, I'll
have to get the old tea cup out.

It needs a wash, the whole
thing needs a wash. Yeah

I mean that always helps
when you're selling a car.

Yeah it's a good point but it's such
a solid car underneath it'll sell itself.

Okay I'm wondering if the dirt's hiding
anything else though? Absolutely not.

Sounds a pound.

Yeah some of the body
kit is a little bit loose but it's

never been in any bumps or
scrapes or anything like that.

So you've never had an accident in
this car? Not at all, sounds a pound.

Right good, and it's the 1987 on a
D, 2.3, 16 valve, the Cosi engine.

That's the model you
want. Fantastic, it all

looks nicely straight
down here doesn't it?

I like the alloy's, they're nice.
Yeah they're good, not scratched.

So alright to have a look round inside?
Yeah, help yourself.

Wow, look at that
leather interior, fantastic.

It's even got the original blank put
stereo. Yeah I've kept it pretty original.

Look at this, places where you can
put your cassettes, it really is nice.

It's got everything,
four electric windows,

got the electric
sunroof, it all works is it?

Everything works.
Oh it's lovely, leather

steering wheel, I feel
right at home in here.

It's cracking isn't it?
Yeah it's good, it's comfy.

Woah, look at this!
Yeah I told you I was an enthusiast.

You really are an enthusiast!
I've kept pretty much everything.

You've got everything, old
original MOT's and this is so

important when you're buying a
fragile sort of supercar like this.

It's important that you
keep all the paperwork, it

makes such a difference
when you come and sell it.

And it appears that
you've got receipts for

absolutely everything,
even things like wiper blades.

Yeah, it's all there. That is fantastic,
you really are an enthusiast, think you?

Cool, okay, I love it.
It's lovely in here. Right, good.

It is, it is lovely. I don't want to smile
too hard because I don't want to give away.

Yeah, no it's very sound, it's very sound.

But I tell you what, the thing is, you've
got to drive it to get the most out of it.

And yeah, it is one of those
cars you have really got

to drive. Is it alright to
take it for a spin then?

Treat yourself. Lovely.

My first drive of a Mercedes 190
Cosworth for many, many years.

And I love the sound
of that, Cosworth.

That means this car
has got racing heritage.

A 2.3 16 valve engine
and this was your original

saloon supercar.
Fantastic, just listen to it.

Whoo! Superb! There's a couple of
unique things about the Mercedes Cosworth.

It's got what they call a dog-leg
gearbox. That means first gear

is over and to the left and that
takes a bit of getting used to.

Some people have made the
mistake of pulling away in reverse

because reverse gear is
where you'd normally find first.

And if you're ever going
to go and buy one of these,

the first thing to check is
accident damage at the rear.

Because if you're pulling
away at the lights, put

your foot down, bang,
straight to the car behind you.

Now I'm starting to
frown. That's because

unfortunately I've found
a couple of problems.

The first of which is a blow
coming from the exhaust at the rear.

Also there's a terrible
squeaking and groaning

noise coming from
the rear suspension.

In fact, on some corners it sounds like
I've got a budgery car locked in the boot.

Now that could be rear
shocks, it could be rear

bushes, it could be a
major suspension problem.

And I would imagine on a car like
this, that's not going to be cheap.

Now Andy seems to me
to be a sharp customer.

He wants three grand
for this car and if I was to

be honest with you, I
think it's worth all of that.

I can remember buying these back
in the day for fifteen, twenty grand.

So if I start him off at two and
a half grand, I think that's fair.

Let's see how far we go.

What do you think Mike?

Well to be honest with you, my enthusiasm
is dampened a little bit because.

although it does drive like a 190 Cosworth
should do, there are some problems with it.

Number one of which, the exhaust is
blowing terribly and it's rattling around.

Is it stainless steel or normal?

No, that's a steel one.

So that's not going to
be too expensive but the

problem that is going
to be expensive is this.

Can you hear that?

That's the sound of the
spoiler squeeze isn't it?

It's not actually, it's the
sound of the suspension and

on the drive it's banging
around and creaking at the back.

It's probably the struts or the
bushes, could be anything really.

And I haven't done it for years but I would
imagine on this car it will be expensive.

Also we've got the exhaust
problem, the bodywork's

hanging off, there's a couple
of marks on the paintwork.

And I thought you looked
after this car because it runs...

Yeah, it's pretty service regular.

But it runs really roughly.

I haven't been using it
the last six months or so.

It could really do with a good tune up
and probably a short service as well.

How much did you want for it?

£3,000.

Would you take £2,500 for it?

No, I'd need more from it than that.

What do you need?

£150 off, £2,850.

I will walk away from this car
although I do want it and I do like it.

I think you can sell it but I
haven't got it in my budget.

I'll give you one final
offer, £2,700 and I'll take it.

Done.

Thank you.

It's a pleasure.

Only £2,700 for a car that cost
Porsche money when it was new.

I'm happy with that.

But it's time for that tall
fella to cast his eye over it.

Because he's the one who's going to
have to get his hands dirty fixing it up.

Hey!

How's it going?

How are you?

Nice.

What do you think then?

A Cosworth 190?

It's a lovely beige motor.

Beige?

This is utterly beige.

It's gold. It's original gold. It's the
perfect colour to have one of these in.

It's a 190 Cosworth.

It's like one of the ultimate, ultimate
executive luxury sports car saloons.

It's fantastic.

And it's all original. Look at that.
Nice shape all the way around.

No problems with it.

Except for this bit here.

I thought you'd noticed that.

There's a few bits like
that actually around the car.

But it's been with us a few years
and that's the only problem with it.

That's pretty good.

Not bad at all is it?

Looks lovely inside.
Look at the originality.

It's absolutely fantastic in here.
It's totally original. Original stereo.

Everything works. It's beautiful.

Okay, so what's the catch?

There is a little catch on the
engine which is the exhaust box.

It's rattling at the back. It's got a blow.

Give me a go and I'll have a listen.

Yeah, alright.

Just a blow isn't it?

It's a bit of a blow.
I can fix that quite easily.

Okay, well why are you getting
your hands dirty? What about this?

Alright, musical suspension.
That's very nice.

It's got these bushes.

It'll be kind of easy to
fix I would have thought.

Super. Well that sounds nice and cheap.

A little bit of trim hanging off there.

Not too bad. Don't worry about that.

Look at this. This is the thing
that's exciting with this car, Ed.

Remember this car is
your fast executive cruiser.

And look at that bad boy.

That's your 2.3 16 valve, all
singing, all dancing, cosy engine.

That's pretty sporty. It looks like
a sort of tuned exhaust as well.

That looks nice. It is very, very tidy.

But I bet there's a catch isn't there?

I think it's one thing to be weary of
actually, if you're ever buying a car.

Because even me, and I'm meant
to be a professional, got caught out.

Which is when I bought the
car, it was already warmed up.

The next day when I went to
start it, it wouldn't start for ages.

And I reckon it's the cold start valve.

So if you're ever buying a car,
make sure you start it from cold, really.

So what about these wheels then?

I might have to change these probably.

Change them? Wash your mouth out, Ed.

This car is so totally original,
it'd be sacrilege to change those.

We're just going to tidy them up.

That is going to be loads of
felling, that's loads of work.

You're not afraid of a bit of work, Ed.

Well, they might come
up I guess, I suppose.

I'm sure they will come up.
So you know what you're doing?

You're going to do the wheels, you're
going to do the exhaust at the back,

there's a squeaky suspension,
bits of body kit hanging off,

throw a bucket of water over
it, repolish the leather inside,

make it look nice and shiny.

And then lunch. And then lunch.

But Ed, listen, at the end of it,
we're going to end up with a car

that I'm guaranteed to
earn a lot of money out of.

Good. Because it's so original.

Good luck with it, enjoy it.

Thank you. See you later, Ed.

See you later.

Our Mercedes has got quite
a problem with its suspension.

On the rear corner here,
it's got a bit of a squeak.

Now, of course, typically,
I can't make it squeak

now, but believe me,
when you're driving along,

it does squeak quite badly,
and it's rather annoying.

Now, when this car came out of the factory,

it was actually fitted with a
self-levelling suspension system,

which was quite high-tech.
But you can see here,

it's not actually doing a very
good job of levelling itself.

So there's obviously
a bit of a problem here,

but I'm not quite sure what it is.

I'm going to spend loads of
money and get my hands dirty.

I'm going to have a quick route around
and just see if I can see anything obvious.

All the suspension looks
the same age and condition.

Nobody has replaced anything.

And this leads me to think
that it'll probably make sense

to replace all four corners
rather than fiddle with one.

Self-levelling suspension
is pretty complicated.

A pump and reservoir in the
engine bay feeds the strut at the back.

Great if it works,
time-consuming if it doesn't.

Like most Cosworth fans,

I'm going to convert to manual
shocks as they're easier to maintain.

And at the same time, I'm
going to add new Springs.

Now, I need to remove this spring
so I can replace it with our new one,

but I can't actually get the normal
tool in, which is a spring compressor.

Now, that is like a big bolt with two hooks
either side, which hook onto these coils.

You wind it up, the coils come together,

makes the Springs smaller
so I can get it out of the gap.

Because I just can't
get that piece in there,

rather than trying to disconnect all
these suspension links at this end,

I might be a bit sly and
actually undo this bolt

here, and hopefully this
arm here will drop away,

give me enough room to get the spring out,

put the new one in, and
everything will be sorted.

And here goes nothing.

Loosening the suspension legs just
takes regular tools and some brute force.

This will give you access to the spring,

but there's still some
resting to do before it's out.

The top of the suspension
is anchored in the boot,

so I have to go into
the car to get that off.

It's a good spot to check for
corrosion and this car looks good here.

I've got to drain the hydraulic
system now as it's no longer needed.

Then I can seal the system up for good.

And there we have it,

one self-leveling suspension system
shock absorber with pipe included,

but of course we don't want this anymore
because we're going to throw it away.

Well, we've seen all the
old stuff come off the car,

so now let's see all the new
stuff that's going to go onto the car.

Well, first of all is our new spring.

You can see compared to the old one
it's obviously a lot cleaner and shinier,

but also the coils are slightly thicker

and that's where it
gets its extra spring rate.

Of course I will need
this rubber a bit off the top.

It's nice and easy to change over
and make sure it's in the right place.

That's ready to go on the car,

but before I do that I'm going
to put on the shock absorber

and you can see the new
shock absorber compared to

the old one is just like
a lot more conventional,

so it's just a pretty much
standard shock absorber

except it is uprated for
our sporty suspension.

So this will be going on now.

Putting it all back
together is not difficult,

but it is a long job.

For the price of two
struts you can get four,

so it is smarter to change all of them.

A main dealer will want a
good few quid for doing this,

so it's worth getting your hands dirty.

Back done, now for the front.

Okay, well here is the front shock absorber

and you can see it looks pretty
conventional and that's because it is.

All the magical stuff on the self
levelling goes on at the back of the car,

but you can see here
sort of lots of corrosion.

It actually looks like it's weeping
as well, which means it has to go,

but as it turns out I've
got a full set of new shock

absorbers anyway, so either
way this is being changed.

Now of course at some point
I'll have to take the top off,

which means I have to
open the bonnet as well.

Well that's quite clearly the old one there

and of course this is our
lovely new yellow one,

so I have to replace a couple of the bits

from this side to that
side, so let's have a look.

First of all, I've got
this little plastic clip here

that holds on some cables
that go towards the caliper.

Just work its way out.

One pops back in place there.

And then this bump stop.

And the gator.

It's a little bit nasty, but it'll be fine.

And now this is ready
to go back on the car.

Doing the front is much easier and faster
without the hydraulics to worry about.

All done.

The new shocks would really help handling
and ride comfort of our Thunder Saloon.

Now this job has turned
out to be a right result.

Not only was it a lot easier
than I thought it was going to be,

but also we've got brand
new uprated suspension

all round the car for a fraction
of the cost it might have been.

The horrible, horrible
squeak has gone at the back

and the suspension ride
hydrant has gone at the back

and the car is at exactly
the point it needs to be at.

And that makes me very happy.

Now, I might be being
just a bit too picky here,

but I'm pretty sure there's a
sort of vagueness in the steering.

It's very small, but I'm sure it's there.

But my thoughts are confirmed here as well

because there's some
scrubbing on the front tyre here.

Now, you know me, I want
things spot on, so I'm going to

get this car up on the ramp
and have a good look around.

Well, I can't see any obvious problems,
so the next step is to wobble the wheels

and see if any of the steering
joints have any excess play.

Aha! Well, it seems I've found the problem.

There's a track rod here
with a ball joint on the end

and there's loads of play in that, so
that's going to have to be changed.

So while I'm going to
get a new one of those,

I will of course have
to get the old one off.

And to do that, I'm going
to need to get the wheel off.

Removing a track rod arm is
something you can do at home.

A couple of locating bolts hold
it in place and it'll lift straight out.

Well, this is the track rod
arm I've just taken off the car.

You can see that the ball
joints are really, really floppy

and very definitely past
it, so it's a good thing I'm

changing this, but I haven't
quite finished with this yet.

It's part of the steering, and as such,

what it does is influence
which way the wheels point

when you're steering straight in a
line, or even around corners of course.

Now, the thing is, if I
have this length incorrect,

I could end up with either too much toe in
or too much toe out, so it's very important

that the one I put back in
is exactly the same length.

So first of all, I'm actually
going to get a tape measure.

the distance between the ball joints.

It's about 330 mil,

so what I now need to do
is the same thing on here.

Oh, 320, so I just need to adjust that.

Okay, let's have a look here.

So there we have it, 330 millimetres.

So now it's the right
length to go back on the car,

so at least I can get it out of
the workshop without any trouble.

And putting it back on
the car is pretty easy too.

Although only the right side was
perished, I'll change the left side too.

Mike probably won't notice the difference,

but I want to see this car
drive out looking perfect.

Mike's done us a real favour with this car,

because not only is the
interior fantastically original, it's

also super tidy, which means
I haven't got to do any work.

Unfortunately, that
means it's actually fitted.

with a radio cassette, and let's
face it, who still listens to tapes?

Even Mike's Rick Astley
and Brost collection is on CD,

so I'm going to bring this car bang up
to date by fitting a flip front CD player.

Huh, check out that mess.

Well, somebody's
obviously been here before.

There's loads of connectors
going onto the original wiring loom,

and what I was hoping to
find was a standard connector.

Pretty much most modern
stereos have this kind of fitting,

which makes it very, very quick to pull
out the old stereo and put in the new one.

But in this case, what I'm going to
have to do is actually cut off those wires

and splice them onto
the original wiring loom.

Normally, what I would do is actually solder
that and then use heat shrink material,

but in this case, because
this is the original stereo,

the next owner may want
to put this back in, so I'm

just going to use connectors
so they have that option.

This is really fiddly, but it is easy.

You just follow the wiring
instructions and then connect them up.

Simple as that.

But get it wrong, and
you'll have to start again.

So get it right first time.

Well, that's all the power needs connected,

so now I'm going to do
all the speaker cables,

but it's worth
mentioning at this point

that I'm not actually going
to change the speakers

because we are trying to sell this car,
and some people do get a bit concerned.

about getting disco speakers in,

and after all, the speakers in this car
are actually rather good quality anyway.

And with that connected,

the unit just slides in nice and easy.

And now for the moment of truth.

Let's see if this thing works.

Well, that's pretty flash.

Just put in one of Mike's CDs.

Very good indeed.

Ed, how are you, me old China?

I'm all right, Mike. How you doing?

Good, not bad at all.
A Mercedes 190 Cosworth.

It looks exactly the same as it
did the day I dropped it off to you.

Well, there is a reason for that.

All the work I've done on
this car has been underneath.

Oh, cracking.

Now, you may remember
there was a bit of a squeak

coming from the back end of
the car, but also the self-levelling

was a bit squiffy, so
I've now replaced the

whole lot, so we've
got sporty suspension,

but also, you might notice that
a little bit of wear on the tyre.

So I've replaced those, and
now the steering is sorted too.

Fantastic. Check out the inside of the car.

Haven't you done any of this?

We've got new sounds. It looks really cool.

New sounds? Yeah, look at it.
It's awesome, isn't it?

Oh, that is kind of nice.
It all flips down,

but part of the originality of this
car is it had a nice original steering,

and I was kind of hoping to keep it.

Well, I've still got that, just in case
the new owner wants to keep it original,

but who listens to cassettes these days?

I do. Well, maybe you should change that.

Maybe I should change.

It looks like you've done
really well, Ed, so far,

and it's been a pleasure.

The Merc was pretty straight to start with,

but Ed still had his work cut out.

That squeaking suspension has gone now,

and every corner has been replaced.

The woolly steering
was down to a

track run end, so he
sorted out both sides,

and a new CD has gone in
over the original cassette player.

He's still got some way to go before
I can go looking for a buyer later on.

So it seems Ed is far
from finished with my

Mercedes, and while
he's getting his hands dirty,

I'm off to meet a guy called Steve,

who's got a cracking 2.5
Cosi that I'm open to test drive.

Can't wait.

Right, this is Steve.

Hello, Steve, how you doing?

Steve has brought down
his very, very sharp-looking

Mercedes Cosworth 190E for us to
have a look at, and what a car it is.

Tell us about that first
turnkey experience.

When you first got behind the wheel
with your car, what was that like?

I had to jump start it, unfortunately,

down a strip of dual carriageway,

and that was when I
realised what it was all about.

You know, it drives
like a car half its size,

very poised, very well
balanced, good power delivery.

It's a very, very good car.

What about if you was to phone up
an insurance company to get it insured?

Do they hang up when they
hear the words Cosworth?

Luckily not, because it's not
classed as a Cosworth on the logbook.

Cosworth's more of a nickname.

As far as the insurance company
is concerned, it's a 2.5 litre, 16 valve.

Insurance is fairly sensible.

I pay just under 500 quid with
an agreed value on it as well.



I've paid more than that
for 1300 escorts in the past,

so it's money well spent.

That is fantastic. Brilliant.

And what about the
age-old question that I'm sure

does the circles in your little
Mercedes Cosworth world?

What is the best? Is it the 2.3 or the 2.5?

Personally, the 2.5, I think,
is a little bit more civilised.


and a little bit more raw.

They're both good cars.


power, a little bit more top end.

But whatever floats
your boat, there's plenty

of both about, so
whatever's there, really.

Right, now, yours is the 2.5.

It is the daddy, yeah.

And it wants to be driven by the daddy.

I bet it does, yeah.

This is what I was going to ask you next.

I know that you lovingly care for your car,

but I was wondering if
you'll be brave enough

to let me have a
little go in it myself.

Well, in the two years of ownership, no
one has ever driven the car apart from me.

Really?

Fantastic. Words that I like to hear.

Thank you. We'll look after it.

Good stuff. Cheers.

And here we go, for my first
drive of Steve's pride and joy.

He's beautiful Mercedes
Cosworth 190E 2.5 16 valve.

And what a car.
This was the first motorway muncher.

This car had it all.

In spades, fantastic.

It just feels terrific.

Absolutely mint.

Look at the sound.

And it keeps going.

It just keeps going.

Fantastic.

Now, the clear difference
between Steve's car and our car

is Steve has obviously
fettled with his suspension.

And he's done a cracking job of it.

The car feels much better
round these tight corners.

The directional change
is much more positive.

There's hardly any body roll.

The seat is doing all the work to
keep me embedded into the chassis.

However, our car has
got the original suspension.

And I like that.

Ed does need to do a little
bit of work to our car, but I don't

want him in any way to change
the ride height or the setup.

It's not worth lowering.

It's worth keeping totally original.

Steve's car's great, but
our car could be better.

Is our car any closer
to going like this one?

Back in the workshop,
Ed's looking at the exhaust.

Now, although this
car is really fun to drive,

it just doesn't sound the way
a Mercedes Cosworth should.

There's something wrong with the exhaust.

It's too loud, and it seems to be blowing.

Now, the thing is, I can't just change
the entire exhaust system on a whim

because it's going
to cost way over 500

pounds, and our budget
just can't handle that.

Luckily, it's in three
sections, which means I

might get away with only
changing one or two parts.

Now, first thing I need to
do is have a jolly good look

and see where the problem
seems to be coming from.

Now, the good news is, first of all,

the collectors seem okay, so I'm
just going to follow the pipe down

to our first box, and
this box is the resonator,

and its job is to change the exhaust
note and make it sound really sporty,

and it's actually in very
good Nick, so that's cool.

Now, come to the connector,
and that's okay, too,

which means the first section of
the exhaust is going to be all right.

So keep following along.
Come to another box.

Now, this is the muffler.

Its job is to actually take
out some of the noise of

the exhaust, kind of
reduce the volume a little bit,

and then also I can see
straightaway it's got a big hole

in the front here where
there's loads of carbon deposits,

and that's where the
exhaust has been blowing,

so obviously that's where
some of our noise has been

coming from, so that's
going to have to be changed.

Now, if I follow the pipe further around,

I've got this huge kind
of scab on the side here

where somebody's had
to try and weld a repair,

and that's really rather nasty, so we're
going to have to probably change that,

but I'll follow the pipe
even further on and come

to the last box, which
is also another muffler,

so I think it's safe to
say we're going to have

to replace the rear
section and the midsection.

Now, it could be expensive,

but I'm going to have to leave it up to
Mike to get us a blinding deal on this.

Years ago when I was
buying and selling cars,

sourcing parts was a thankless task.

It basically meant
number crunching all day,

but these days,

thanks to the wonders of
mobile communications,

I can choose a spot
like this wonderful field,

use my mobile phone and a laptop computer,
and I can source the parts that I need.

Now, I need an exhaust
for that Mercedes Cosworth,

and I should be able
to find one quite easily.

Well, it didn't take long, and I found
a site that's got the bits that I need.

I've got a rear box that's 105 pounds,

and a center box that's 137 pounds,
and that's very reasonable in their price.

They haven't got one in stock.

They've got lots in stock because these
firms stack them high and sell them cheap,

and the beauty of them is
they can deliver the next day,

so job done. I'm going to go for these.

A few clicks of the mouse
and hundreds of miles away,

my order is being tracked,
located and packed away.

Thousands of lines on the
shelf mean I'm sometimes

playing a fraction of
main dealer prices,

and if the order is
made out in the morning,

you can get delivery the next day.

Just what a cost-conscious
Wheeler dealer likes the sound of.

Taking off the exhaust,
the exhaust is pretty easy.

The squirt of penetrating fluid
and a couple of bolts, and it's gone.

But be aware the system is very heavy,

and one of these landing
on your head is not ideal.

Mine managed to get me a lovely exhaust.

I'm going to put that on
now, but before I do that,

I'm actually going to put some
exhaust paste around this flange here,

just to make sure there's a good,
tight seal and no more blowing exhaust.

The flange sealant will harden,
providing an air and watertight seal.

As the exhaust beds in,

the note will change slightly anyway,
but if there's more rasp than you expect,

it's worth checking this junction again.

With this new exhaust,

our Mercedes Cosworth is going
to be making all the right noises.

That's very raspy, very sporty.

I like it a lot.

Our 190 has got a real
problem with uneven tire wear.

Now, if you think the front wheel's
bad, you should check out the back.

They're even worse.

Now, it's all down to bad wheel alignment,

so before this car does
too many more miles,

it's going to have to have that checked.

But in the meantime, our Mercedes
is in dire need of four brand-new tires.

It's time for the tires to come off.

Anyone can take a wheel off, but taking
off the tire is actually slightly harder.

Having taken the valve out,

it's too broken.

This is the bit that keeps
the tire securely onto the rim,

and I need to use this powerful
machine to separate them.

Then the tire is eased off
the rim with a mechanical claw.

If you don't have one of
these machines in your

garage, your local
fitter will do it for you.

Either way, you must dispose
of your old tires ecologically.

Hi, mate.

I've got a Mercedes 190e Cosworth.

It's got the standard
set of alloy wheels on it.

I think they're 15-inch,

and I need a new set of
boots all the way around.

Okay, let's have a look.

Well, the standard size
for that car is 205.55.15.

That's the ones.

Okay.

Got plenty of choices in stock.

Good.

Good.

And the Avon and the Toyo

both at £70.44, including that fitted.

£70?

All very different.

It's a lot more expensive than that.

How come it's so cheap?

Just buy in bulk, sell
to the retail customer.

And you say there's three
different choices of tire.

Do they all look different then?

I thought a tire was a tire.

No, they're all completely different.

Do you want to come
down here and I'll show you?

Yeah, I'd love to.

So, mate, these are the
three tires we've got in stock.

Okay.

This is something like my granddad
would have on his car, innit?

Yeah, this is the Kumo 712,

so that's the cheaper tire?

That's the cheaper tire.

Right, okay.
Well, I'm not really interested in that.

This one's a bit more funky.

This one's got like a
Formula 1 style slick in it.

This is the Avon tire.

This is an asymmetrical tire,

so half of the tread's directional,

half is symmetrical,

and it has an inside and
outside facing pattern.

So it only goes on the car
one way round, this tire?

It's a bit better, but not quite there.

This is the one that's tugging me rug.

I'm excited about
getting to this one, yeah.

It's called the T1R.

It's got a directional pattern to it.

The compound of the tire's slightly softer

than the other two, so
the grip will be fantastic.

Cool. They're gonna look
right on the car, aren't they?

They're gonna look lovely, yeah.

Okay. How much are they?



Lovely. I'll have four of them.

No problem.

So now we get to put on these lovely
tires that Mike managed to get for us.

The only thing is they're
directional, which means on the

right-hand side of the car I have
two tires which say right on them,

so the next stage is to
put on some tire soap,

which helps slip the tire onto the wheel.

I'm just gonna put that
around the bead here.

Now, you may be
wondering why we have to use

tire soap to actually
get the tire onto the rim.

Well, it's because the bead
is so tightly held onto the rim

that without it, it would
be almost impossible

to get it on without
damaging the rubber.

Now, the reason the bead is so tight.

is because it's basically a steel cord

which fits into this groove
on either side of the rim

of the rim here, and the reason for that

is not only does it make
the seal, the airtight seal,

which we need to keep the tire up,
but also say you should have a puncture

and the air goes out,
then of course sometimes

what would happen is
the tire, in the old days,

the tire would just rip off the car.

This way it's actually held
in position long enough

hopefully for you to stop at
the side of the road safely.

So there we go.

And the new tires just pop
back on and Bob's your uncle.

This car really needed the new tires.

Not only were they close to ill*gal,

but handling and grip
were being compromised,

and when the wet, the
benefits will be obvious.

Now, I've done a lot of work on the suspension,
the steering, and of course we've got

brand new tires on this car,
but the story isn't over yet.

You may remember the old tires had loads
of really bad wear on the edge of the tire,

but not in the center, and that is down
to bad wheel alignment, and of course

the work I've done on the
suspension will also add to that.

So before Mike gets
hold of this car, I'm going

to have to make sure
that the tracking is perfect.

Now, I could take it
to a garage to do that,

but fortunately I've
actually got the gear here.

to work with.

Now, the equipment I'm
going to be working with

is actually the very latest in
wheel alignment technology.

It actually uses lasers, would you believe,

in two directions, which
is very, very clever.

It also uses these rather
strange-looking soup bowl affairs.

They're actually turntables.

Now, what's going to
happen is the front wheel

is going to sit in here,
keeping the suspension

fully loaded, but allowing me to steer
the wheel while I'm working on the car.

Let's get on.

Now, first of all, I'm going to get the
base plate into position under the wheel,

then the cup right on the edge of the tire.

I'm going to do the other side, and
I'm going to rock the car into place.

Okay, well, everything's set up,

and our level bubble is in position,
so now when I push this red button,

the laser comes on.

Now, you can see that it throws the
beam onto the flag at the front there,

and on that scale, it actually
reads seven and a half.

Now, on the other side, it reads seven,

which gives me an
average of half to the right.

That basically means the rear is facing.

to get in mind later on.

Now, more importantly than
that, there's a scale at the back.

Now, what this tells me is the toe
in and the toe out of the back axle.

I won't go into the very
simple maths, but basically, this

thing tells me that I've
got two millimeters of toe in,

so they're pointing in
ever so slightly to the front.

Now, that's acceptable.

As I suspected, this is okay.

It's the front axle that
needs to be sorted out.

The apparatus is then reversed,

so I can work on the front.

Well, now I've done my checks,

so to help me, I'm going to actually
lock the steering wheel into position,

so this little clever
gizmo will now hold the

steering in position
while I do the adjustments.

It's going rather well.

The back axle, we know, is okay.

I've actually taken account of its
discrepancy in the front steering already.

I've locked the steering wheel
in the dead-ahead position,

so it's along the thrust
line of the vehicle, and

I've even undone the lock
nuts on the track rod end,

so it's pointing in the right direction.

I need about two and a
half degrees toe in, so it's

about sort of there, and
then we're ready to go.

And with a quick tweak
of the track rod end,

the front wheels are literally
brought into line, and we're done.

So there we have it.

All four wheels are now perfectly
aligned, and the tracking is complete.

Now, it wasn't a
particularly complicated job,

but it was very satisfying, because
not only is the steering on this car

now going to be even better,
but also we've minimized tire wear,

and we've improved the steering.

The Cosy is finished, and I feel proud.

We've taken a car that was on
the brink and put it on the map.

It actually looks brand new.

I found this car in a Mercedes magazine,

company car for sale,

and I forced 300 pound off
the price and gave 2.7 for it.

The squeaky suspension was annoying,

and Ed didn't expect to replace all
four corners, but he was up to the job,

and now the car sits and rides on
the ground and rides better, in silence.

The Track 1 end swap took a few minutes,

but has made the handling way better,

important on a high-performance car.

The exhaust was a
lift-out and a lift-in job.

It sounds fruitier and will help
the engine breathe as it should.

The tracking was out, but thanks
to laser power, it's now 100% right.

And new balanced tires
from a discount store

complete the package
for our lovely, Mercedes.

Could the kitty take it?

The suspension was 200 quid.

The CD was also 200 quid.

The Track 1 end's just 15 pounds
and the exhaust 190 pounds.

The new tires were a
very reasonable 280 quid.

So we've just tipped over three
and a half thousand pounds,

but will we make our money back?

Ed!

Hi, Mike.

You're very excited.

Is our prestige powerhouse finally ready?

It's now 100% done, but since
I last saw you, I've done the

exhaust system, so I've done
the middle and the back boxes.

It now sounds fantastic,
no more horrible leaks.

Easy job to do.

It was actually a very easy job and
also quite satisfying, so that was nice.

I've also got a set of new tires around
the whole car and I've done the tracking,

so I've just walked over it.

Well, yeah, I just really like this car.

It's going to be a shame
to see it go, you know.

I know, and I knew you
had a bit of an infinity with it,

so when I was surfing
around the Internet trying to

find the bits and pieces
for it, guess what I got you?

Oh, that is so cute.

A little keepsake, all right.

It's not the same power
and you ain't going

to fit in it, but it
seemed like a fair swap.

Thank you, Toy, for the keys.

I want to drive it.

This one is just exceptional.

It's fantastic.

It goes like a train.

Listen to that.

And it handles beautifully.

It's nice and crisp into the corners.

The steering's perfect.

It's really communicative.

You can feel everything
that's happening with it.

I love these cars because

it's sort of a boy racer from
the 80s that's done good.

It's the executive express
for somebody who's a bit

more than their worth,
and that's exactly how I feel.

a proper, proper motor car.

Now, what have we
actually achieved on this car?

Well, when we got it, it was
kind of tiny, but let me tell you,

it was just on the cusp
of becoming a dinosaur.

It was sort of 18% there,

and what we've managed to
do is put the 20% that this car

needed back into it, and
now it just goes like a train.

The steering's fantastic.

There's no squeaks or rattles.

It feels sporty.

It's awesome, this motor, awesome.

This is one of the Mercedes Cosworth.

It's a very limited marketplace.

There's not many people
looking for a car like this,

but if somebody's out there
and they're quite serious,

this is the best car that
they could possibly buy.

Our one.

There is no better out there
for sale in the UK at the moment.

I just need to find that person.

I advertise that Mercedes Cosworth in
the prestige section of a trade magazine.

To be honest with you,

I didn't get that many calls,
but I've got this guy behind me.

He's called Damien.

He knows a thing or two about causes,

and he's after a thunder saloon.

And what better car than our one?

Let's go and meet him.

Right then, Damien.

How you getting on with it, then?

Drives well, doesn't it?

It does. And this is proper, isn't it?

This is the business end of this car for
the Mercedes Cosworth 2.3 16-valve engine.

What's been done to it?

To be honest with you, nothing,
because when we got the car,

it was all proper as well on the bodywork.

Look how nice and straight it is.

And just look at the interior.

It's absolutely fantastic.

Full leather, it's got a manual gearbox.

It's even got the original
cassette holder in it.

And when I got the car, it had
the original bloke and stereo,

but I managed to put a
more modern equivalent in it.

But the good news is
I've kept the original one.

So if you ever sell the car, you
can put the original one back in,

and you know, it's all
nice and original in this car.

It's cr*cker, isn't it?

Well, there you have it inside.

And on the exterior, just look at it.

It's all nice and straight,
all very nice and clean.

No signs of accident
damage when I bought it.

It's got brand-new tyres on it.

Riding a bit high, though?

It is riding a little bit high,

and that's because we've
changed the suspension on this car.

It was just getting a little
bit too tired, a little bit too old.

So we've renewed the suspension,
and now it handles beautifully.

So you've driven the car.

You can't deny the way it looks.

It looks fantastic.

No, no, it looks clean.

So I just want to sell it.

Come on, it's worth that.

Are you drinking?

No, I'm not drinking.

I'll tell you what I'll do
for you, all right? Cash.

You can drive the car away. 3,600 quid.

I still think it's too high.

What do you want to give me?




right way, but not quite enough.

It's just about a meeting
in the middle, isn't it?

Go on, then. Make it.



Hold out your hand.

Thought yourself a nice car.

Well done, fella.

Well, we pretty much broke even,

and I'm happy with that.

Maybe I should have asked for more
and put a bigger wedge in me back pocket,

but money can't buy
the buzz of knowing that

our Cosy is as good
as it could possibly be.

Everyone's really happy.

Damien got himself a fantastic motor.

Ed got himself that little dinky toy,

and I got myself some
money in the back pocket.

Join us next time on
Wheel of Dealers when we

rescue some more
classic cars in need of TLC.

See you soon.