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Rally 190E Azzurro

1990 190E 2.3 · Stuttgart, Germany

Slot 030
After
Before
Before After

For my 18th birthday I was given a 190 E 2.3 automatic in miserable condition. From that day I have put almost every cent I earned into this car. I started by rebuilding the body and overhauling the engine. Over time it kept evolving. It still is.

It is hard to put into words how strong the connection is. Blood, sweat, tears, time, money, love. This car means everything to me. It carries the memories and the visions for the future. In nearly ten years it has been through a lot. It was written off after it ended up in the woods. It has caught fire twice.

It started as an M102 2.3 automatic. After the first accident that engine came out. I put in a 2.6 with a manual, an M103, and built it out to 3.1 litres with tubular headers, an aggressive camshaft and larger throttle bodies. That engine caught fire at around 250 km/h on the Autobahn after about 60,000 kilometres. Back to the drawing board.

Now it runs an M104. 3.2 litres, tubular headers, and the rest of the work I don’t need to list here. 255 horsepower. More than a 2.3-16 Cosworth. I was never building a Cosworth lookalike. I was building my car out of the best Mercedes parts I could put my hands on.

Inside is a complete Azzurro interior. Incredibly rare now. I believe one of 950, from 1992. That colour does not stop at the seats. It goes into the livery, the seat belts, the steering wheel, the brake calipers, the centre caps. Outside I went for the Evolution I body kit, with customised arches so the car can sit around seven centimetres lower than a factory Evo I. Seventeen-inch BBS RS. Custom suspension. And the detail I care about most: removable Hella lights for fog and high beam. A nod to what these cars did on rally stages. The livery I designed with Max Salzborn.

I do everything myself. The smallest bolt. The smallest sticker. My father taught me a lot about automotive engineering. This car has been my greatest teacher. It laid the foundation for my work as an automotive technician, which I still practice today at a Mercedes-Benz dealership. For me it is a way of expressing myself, my style, who I am. I have been developing it for a decade. My horizon of ideas keeps expanding, the same way we do as people.

I drive it at least 30,000 kilometres a year. Long road trips. Holidays. It is not a garage piece.

Seeing that people appreciate the work, especially when kids look at it with wide eyes, makes me happy. It keeps me motivated. It shows me I must be doing something right.

Rasim Divrik

FILE / BUILD.LOG, CHRONOLOGICAL

Build log88 entries

2026
Aug 30, 2026

2DUMB 🚫 @acoztks

Aug 20, 2026

@sturzfahrt

Aug 20, 2026

Rentner Benz? Wenn ich Rentner bin, dann würde ich gerne diesen Rentner Benz fahren 😊🤌🏽 ____________________________________________________ 🚗: Mercedes Benz W190 🔑: @rasim_190e ____________________________________________________ 📸 Dir gefallen meine Bilder? Du möchtest dein Fahrzeug ebenfalls professionell in Szene setzen lassen? 🚗✨ Dann schreib mir gerne eine DM und wir planen gemeinsam dein individuelles Shooting. Ob Detailaufnahmen, Rolling Shots oder komplette Fahrzeugshootings – ich halte dein Auto perfekt fest. 📩 Für Anfragen & individuelle Angebote einfach melden. 😉📸 ____________________________________________________ #mercedes #190 #mercedesbenz #mbfanphoto #classiccars

Aug 17, 2026

FILE / INTAKE.2026

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