W201 Modern classics: the Mercedes-Benz W 201 series (1982 – 1993)
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The Mercedes-Benz W201 is the internal designation for the Mercedes 190 series sedans, a range of front-engine, rear drive, five passenger, four-door sedans manufactured over a single generation, from 1982 to 1993 as the company's first compact class automobile. Designed by Bruno Sacco, it was succeeded by the Mercedes-Benz W202 (the first generation C-Class). Production: September 1982 – May 1993.
bmwz4coupe
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Nostalgic german test of the 190E auto in 1983. Interesting comparison with the W123 is the massive weight reduction of 280kg. It weighed only 1100kg!!! With a CD of 0.33 the performance at the time was impressive 0-100 in 10.1sec and a top speed of 193kmh.
A little annoying why?, from the outside I always thought it was super cool in addition to being effective
trader1
Turbo Tüftler
Yes it gave you a wider sweep the sound was the more annoying part. Just on a side note the w140 had one motorized wiper a la 190e on the drivers side and a conventional one on the passenger side. Cocktail party trivia.
CrunchSlaughtered
RPM Ruler
The system with one wiper was very complex. The wiper was moving up and dawn like a sledge in addition to the normal movement. It was prone to make problems and fixing them was very expensive.
Technical Curiosities:
Mercedes’ Monoblade Wiper
I’ve been captivated by this thing ever since I was a kid. Is there any more fun car activity on a dreary, drippy Tuesday afternoon ride home from school than trying to find a mid-’80s Mercedes E-Class or 190E just to catch a glimpse of the wiper in action? There is? Well… I enjoyed it.
Attempting to achieve a cross between the coverage of two blades and the economy and aerodynamic advantages of a single blade, Mercedes’ Monoblade (also known as “eccentric clean sweep”) certainly wasn’t the first single wiper system on the market. Cars as varied as entry-level Fiat econoboxes, sporty VW Sciroccos and high-end Jaguar luxury sedans preceded it with their solitary blades. What made the German automaker’s wiper system unique was the hub mechanism used to increase the wiper’s coverage of the windshield beyond a simple arc.
As illustrated above in the “single arm (controlled)” drawing, the Monoblade’s substantial coverage was achieved by designing it to extend outward toward the corners of the windshield in the course of its travel across the glass. A cam-type device in the hub moved the arm away from the pivot twice, retracting it in between so the wiper would not overextend the top of the windshield. It all sounds ungainly, but to watch it in action is to witness a quasi-mesmerizing symphony of mechanical fluidity. Call it odd, but I’m transfixed whenever I see a Monoblade going through its paces on a rainy day. I nearly have to wrench my attention away from the spectacle in order to focus on the task of driving my car.
Introduced on the pioneering W201 190E model series and also fitted to the W124 and W210 E-Class generations as well as the W202 C-Class, the Monoblade’s primary advantage was aerodynamic, as it noticeably cut wind resistance at high (read: Autobahn) speeds. Even though it seemed more simple, with one linkage instead of two, as in a traditional wiper system, the Monoblade was actually more expensive to produce and repair, owing to the number of specialized parts. Additional disadvantages included the difficulty for owners in finding the required long replacement blades and a slight, but decidedly non-luxurious rocking motion introduced to the car when the big wiper was operating in high-speed mode.
CrunchSlaughtered
RPM Ruler
Another big disadvantage of this system is the frequency of the cycle. Yes it may cover the same or even bigger area than the two blade system, but it was with a slower cycle, which is a big disadvantage in a pouring rain.
Technical Curiosities:
Mercedes’ Monoblade Wiper
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I had never really heard of problems related to that, (maybe there were), I think they stopped doing it that way, because of the costly and complex to manufacture, despite the fact that with only one managed to clean the largest area of a windshield up to that moment, plus it was great to watch, addictive.
It is for things like this that this car is unique, it was so innovative in so many ways, that the others had nothing left but to try to copy
It doesnt seem any slower than other 2 blade wiper systems. It uses a centrifugal system which extends outwards to the edges of the screen and is quieter than most 2 blade systems
bmwz4coupe
Subscriber
I always loved the Mercedes single-arm vipers. Very elegant solution and I thought and hoped others would copy it.
CrunchSlaughtered
RPM Ruler
Simple thing. It has to cover bigger area, which means that with the same speed the wiper will clean two times slower or if it cleans for the same time it has to be two times faster. Being blhevier and two times faster creates more noise and most importantly inertia, which created an unpleasant shaking through the body. This mechanism is noisier, if you have the opposite impresion is just because of the better noise insulation that the MBs had compared to the other cars at the time.
In reality it seems to be even faster than the normal ones, smoother, and I never felt it noisy neither from the outside and less from the inside, in addition to that these and the E, were cars that were 20 years ahead of the rest in isolation and novel details of construction translated into structural rigidity, even better than many cars today.
Please compared to the other contemporary systems, this was like bringing a system from the distant future
For all the BMW fan boys ,here is the wiper motion on its arch nemesis, E34 BMW 5 series.
CrunchSlaughtered
RPM Ruler
But this is the slow speed
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Mercedes-Benz Group AG is headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany.
Established in 1926, Mercedes-Benz Group produces consumer luxury
vehicles and light commercial vehicles badged as Mercedes-Benz, Mercedes-AMG,
and Mercedes-Maybach.
Its origin lies in Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft's 1901 Mercedes
and Carl Benz's 1886 Benz Patent-Motorwagen, which is widely regarded
as the first internal combustion engine in a self-propelled automobile.
The slogan for the brand is "the best or nothing".
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Official website: Mercedes-Benz (Global), Mercedes-Benz (USA)
