Car Model Guide/ Mercedes-Benz/ C-Class/ S204/ C 180 Kompressor

C 180 Kompressor M271-KOMP

Supercharged pre-facelift petrol. Simple and quiet, and carrying one catastrophic fault. The balance-shaft gear wears and fixing it means the engine comes out.

Overview

The C 180 Kompressor is the M271-KOMP petrol version of the Mercedes-Benz C-Class wagon (S204), sold 2008–2011 with 156 PS and manual or automatic. Avoid unless documented at level 5. The balance-shaft gear wears out and fixing it means the engine comes out, a bill several times the value of the car. 10 failure modes are recorded against its engine, gearbox, chassis and shared components, one of which is a walk-away item without documented proof. Prices on this page are illustrative placeholders rather than a sourced market sample. See the methodology for how the bands are derived.

Power156 PS

Torque230 Nm

Years2008–2011

Fuelpetrol

DriveRWD

EnginesM271-KOMP

Biggest risks

Ranked by probability × repair cost. 10 recorded in total.

18High risk

Balance shaft gear wear€2,500–€4,500partly checkablewalk away
Front control arm bushing wear€300–€700checkable
Run-flat tyres and kerbed or cracked wheels€150–€900checkable

Risk level −44 · Walk-away failures −12 · Likely spend vs price −26 · all issues →

System by system9 systems reviewed · 3 with no recurring fault reported

Engine⚠ attentionBalance shaft gear wear, €2,500–€4,500. Walk away without proof.

Fuel system✓ clearNo recurring fault reported for this system on this engine.

Intake & air✓ clearNo recurring fault reported for this system on this engine.

CoolingwatchCoolant expansion tank cracking, €120–€250.

Emissions✓ clearNo recurring fault reported for this system on this engine.

TransmissionwatchxDrive transfer case actuator failure, €600–€1,200.

ElectricswatchFootwell module (FRM) failure, €150–€700.+2 more in this system

Suspension & brakeswatchFront control arm bushing wear, €300–€700.+2 more in this system

Body & interiorwatchCorrosion at the rear subframe and arch seams, €300–€2,000.

Pre-facelift or facelift, this engine spans both

The same badge either side of the changeover. Bands are split at the facelift year from the generation record.

Phase	Years	Low	Average	High	Good buy	What differs
pre Pre-facelift	2008–2010	€2,750	€4,500	€7,150	€3,650	The specification the car launched with.
LCI Facelift (LCI)	2011	€3,000	€4,900	€7,800	€3,950	New front end and lights; revised interior; OM651 replaced OM646; M271 EVO replaced the supercharged M271

Known issues, ranked by expected cost

Faults recorded against this engine, its components and its chassis, ranked by likelihood × repair cost. Costs are indicative ranges with a stated labour basis.

Balance shaft gear wearM271 1.8 Kompressor€2,500–€4,500

Check-engine light with camshaft/crankshaft correlation codes, rough running, and eventually a car that won't start. The balance-shaft gear was manufactured too soft on a range of early engines and wears against the crank gear until timing is lost. Mercedes revised the part.

Check: Scan for correlation codes before anything else. A clear scan today doesn't clear the car, but codes present are decisive. Ask for a balance-shaft repair receipt with the revised part number; engine number ranges are published and a specialist can check yours.

Later parts: Revised gear; not present on the M271 EVO from the 2011 facelift

EnginecommonPartly detectablewalk away without proofevidence: documented100–200k km

Front control arm bushing wearE9x chassis€300–€700

Knocking over bad surfaces, vague or wandering steering, uneven front tyre wear, steering shimmy under braking. The front lower arm bushings are a known wear item on this chassis and go well before the ball joints.

Check: Drive over a rough road at low speed with the windows down and listen. Check the inside edges of the front tyres for feathering.

SuspensionuniversalDetectable at viewingevidence: documented80–150k km

Run-flat tyres and kerbed or cracked wheelsE9x chassis€150–€900

Harsh ride, vibration at speed, slow punctures. Stiff-sidewall run-flats transmit impacts straight into the rim, and these alloys crack rather than bend.

Check: Inspect the inner rim edge of every wheel for cracks and hairline splits, not just the face for kerbing. Budget for a set of conventional tyres; most owners switch and the ride improves markedly.

SuspensioncommonDetectable at viewingevidence: documented

Corrosion at the rear subframe and arch seamsE9x chassis€300–€2,000

Bubbling at the rear arch lip, scaling on subframe mounting points and rear suspension components. Age plus road salt. This generation isn't a notorious rotter, but nothing from 2005–2013 is immune in a salted market.

Check: Put it on a lift and look at the rear subframe mounting points and the arch lips from behind. Largely a non-issue on cars from southern Europe, a real one on northern and Baltic cars.

Body & corrosionoccasionalDetectable at viewingevidence: documented

Footwell module (FRM) failureE9x chassis€150–€700

Headlights, indicators, windows, wipers and central locking stop working at once, usually right after a battery change or a jump start. The module's memory corrupts when supply voltage dips. It is the single most common electrical failure on this generation.

Check: Test every window, both mirrors, the wipers, all exterior lights and the central locking before you drive. If any cluster of these is dead, this is why.

ElectricalcommonDetectable at viewingevidence: documented

Rear shock mount wearE9x chassis€250–€500

Knock from the rear over speed bumps, a hollow thump from the boot area. The rubber mounts perish. On hard-used cars the mount can crack the surrounding turret metal, which is a far bigger job.

Check: Lift the boot floor and look at the top of the shock towers for cracking or a lifted mount. Listen for a knock over bumps.

SuspensioncommonDetectable at viewingevidence: documented100–180k km

xDrive transfer case actuator failureE9x chassis€600–€1,200

Grinding or binding at low-speed full lock, 4x4 warning lights, a shudder when manoeuvring. The actuator motor and the transfer case's internal chain wear, especially on cars run with mismatched tyre sizes.

Check: Full-lock circles in both directions in a car park, slowly, listening for binding. Check all four tyres are the same brand and wear, mismatched tyres destroy these.

DrivetrainoccasionalDetectable at viewingevidence: documented120–220k km

iDrive CCC head unit failureE9x chassis€300–€900

Black screen, rebooting, refusal to read the drive, non-functioning navigation. The early CCC unit's hard drive and mainboard fail with age. Later CIC units are more reliable.

Check: Turn it on and use it for a few minutes: navigation, radio, settings. Reboots during that window are the fault showing itself.

ElectricaloccasionalDetectable at viewingevidence: documented

Ranked by probability × repair cost, not by how loudly a failure is discussed. Inherited from the engine, gearbox, chassis and shared components, each written once. All 10 issues in full →

Mileage and servicing

What the odometer does and doesn't tell you here, plus the service items whose neglect causes the expensive failures above.

Mileage is close to irrelevant next to the engine number. Cars in the affected range fail across a wide mileage span, and a low-mileage example isn't safer.

Service item	Interval	Cost
Correlation code scan It is the only early warning of the fault that writes the car off	before purchase and at every service	free with a scan
Engine oil Wear rate tracks oil condition	15,000 km or annually	€110–160
Supercharger clutch Wears and is audible before it fails	inspect from 150,000 km	€300–700

What to pay

What this engine sells for, against the median of every engine in the chassis. All figures are illustrative placeholders. See the basis chips.

median €4.7k

€2.8k€3.6k€7.8k

Cheapfind the reasonGood buyif it checks outFairnormal moneyOverpricedneeds justifying

Asking price (€)Mileage (km)

Enter an asking price to get a verdict against this variant's band: cheap, fair, good buy or overpriced.

United States vs Europe

1 EUR = 1.08 USD · 2026-07

🇪🇺 Europe · EUR€3,650band €2,750–€7,800

🇺🇸 United StatesNot soldC 180 Kompressor M271-KOMP was never a US-market car

What that meansNo US band exists to compare. Any car you find there's a private import, parts and specialist knowledge are thinner, and the price says more about import cost than about the market.

US figures are the EU band converted at a stated rate. No US market differential is modelled: we hold no sourced US asking prices, and inventing one would be worse than saying so. What the comparison does show for real is availability. Most of this range was never sold in the US.

ModelMercedes-Benz C-Class C 180 Kompressor
ChassisS204
EngineM271-KOMP
Years2008–2011
MarketCentral EU
Windowrolling 12 months to 2026-07

Good buy at or under the marker · Median asking price · bar spans the 10th to 90th percentile · dashed line is the s204 median, all 4 engines

Good buy isn't the same as cheapest. Any car without documentation for balance shaft gear wear should be priced as if the repair is still owed. Full breakdown by facelift phase →

Buyer notes

Our judgement, kept separate from the records it's built on.

Our read, not a record

This is the cheapest way into a W204 and there's a reason for that. The pre-facelift supercharged M271 has a balance-shaft gear that wears against the crank gear until the engine loses timing, and the repair means the engine comes out. Routinely more than these cars are worth. Some were fixed under goodwill and those cars are fine. Everything else about the car is decent: it's quiet, comfortable and cheap to insure. But don't buy one without a scan for correlation codes and, ideally, a repair receipt. If you want a petrol W204, buy the facelift M271 EVO instead.

Everything above this line comes from the issue and specification records. This paragraph is our judgement on top of them. See how we reach it.

Full specification

Manufacturer figures for this engine and body, as recorded in the variant and engine data.

Engine code	M271 1.8 Kompressor
Configuration	I4, supercharged · 1796 cc
Fuel / injection	petrol · port
Model years	2008–2011
Facelift phase	Sold either side of the 2011 facelift, 2008–2010 pre, 2011 LCI
Power / torque	156 PS · 230 Nm
Transmissions	6-speed manual · 5-speed automatic (5G-Tronic)
Gearbox families	5G-TRONIC
Drivetrain	RWD
Economy (real-world)	8–10 l/100 km mixed
Markets	EU

C 180 Kompressor M271-KOMP

Overview

Pre-facelift or facelift, this engine spans both

Known issues, ranked by expected cost

Pre-purchase inspection

1Static checksEngine off, ideally on a lift.

2On the driveInclude low-speed manoeuvring, not just an open road.

3PaperworkOn these cars the folder is most of the value.

4OBD scanMandatory. A seller who refuses a scan has answered the question.