Mercedes-Benz C-Class Estate, S205

The W205 with a longer roof and a boot that's usable rather than generous. It's as refined as the saloon and a much better all-rounder.

Overview

The S205 is the wagon Mercedes-Benz C-Class, built 2014–2021 and facelifted in 2018. 2 standard engines are documented here, each with its own issue list, inspection sequence and price band. Asking prices across the standard range run €10,900–€24,950, and 0 of the 2 carry a risk level of 4 or 5; the facelift cars sit at a premium over otherwise identical pre-facelift ones. The cheapest way in is the C 200 M274 from €13,000, while the C 220 d OM651 is the lowest-risk engine at €13,800, so which engine you buy matters more here than which year. Prices are illustrative placeholders rather than a sourced market sample. See the methodology.

Body stylewagonProduction2014–2021
Platform siblingsW205 sedanFacelift (LCI)2018
What changed at the 2018 facelift
OM654 and M264 engines replaced OM651 and M274; Revised lights and bumpers; Digital instruments available. The engine changes are the ones that matter, a car built in the changeover year can carry either engine, so check the engine code on the block rather than the registration date.

Engine matrix: pre-facelift, 20142017

The 2 variants sold before the 2018 facelift. Power and years come from the variant records; prices are illustrative, not sourced.

2 of 2
BadgeEngineFuelYearsPowerTorqueRiskIssuesPrice bandGood buyVerdict
C 220 dOM651diesel20142017170 PS400 NmR23€11,450€22,900€13,800BuyView
C 200M274petrol20142017184 PS300 NmR33€10,900€21,300€13,000BuyView

Engine matrix: facelift / LCI, 20182021

The 2 variants sold from the facelift on, priced at a 9% premium over the pre-facelift car.

2 variants from the facelift on, carrying a real market premium of roughly 9% over an otherwise identical pre-facelift car. Variants appearing in both tables were sold either side of the changeover, the build month decides which one you're looking at, not the model year.

2 of 2
BadgeEngineFuelYearsPowerTorqueRiskIssuesPrice bandGood buyVerdict
C 220 dOM651diesel20182018170 PS400 NmR23€12,450€24,950€15,000BuyView
C 200M274petrol20182018184 PS300 NmR33€11,900€23,250€14,200BuyView

Market availability varied by country; check the engine code stamped on the block rather than the badge on the boot. · Compare every engine side by side →

Model-year availability

Which engines were on sale in which year, from the year ranges in the variant records. Availability varied by country.

Variant1415161718192021
C 220 d OM651
C 200 M274

● full year · arrives or leaves mid-generation. Years from 2018 in the accent colour are facelift (LCI) cars. Verify the engine code, not the model year.

Rating map, price against risk

Good-buy price plotted against risk level for every standard engine, so the value corner is visible at a glance.

Every standard engine in the chassis, plotted at its good-buy price against its risk level. Cheap and low-risk is the top-left; expensive and fragile is the bottom-right. M cars are excluded, they would stretch the price axis and tell you nothing about the rest.

cheap · low risk€13k€13.3k€13.5k€13.8kR1R2R3R4R5good-buy price →risk ↓C 200 M274: Buy, risk 3, good buy €13,000C 200C 220 d OM651: Buy, risk 2, good buy €13,800C 220 d
Buy / strong buy Buy with conditions Caution / avoidLeft is cheaper, up is safer. The top-left corner is where the value is.

Prices across the range

Where the money sits across the whole chassis. Every figure here is an illustrative placeholder, not a sourced market sample.

Every standard engine on one euro axis: the bar spans the 10th to 90th percentile of asking prices, the tick is the median and the green marker is the good-buy figure. AMG cars are excluded; they sit an order of magnitude above the rest.

Cheapest good buy€13,000C 200 M274
Median good buy€13,800across 2 engines
Dearest good buy€13,800C 220 d OM651
Full range€10,900€24,950P10 to P90

Every standard engine · cheapest first · C 220 d OM651 highlighted as best value

€15k€20kGood buy
C 200 M274€13,000C 220 d OM651€13,800

at or under the good buy · good buy · median · bar spans the 10th–90th percentile

Chassis-wide issues, every engine inherits these

Faults recorded against the bodyshell and running gear rather than one engine, so every variant on this page inherits them.

Written once against the chassis and shown on every variant page below, so nothing here is repeated 2 times: AMG cars included, since the bodyshell and electronics are shared.

Buying summary

Our read on the chassis, built on the records above rather than added to them.

Best value: C 220 d, the later OM651 that avoids the early injector and chain faults. The C 200 suits short journeys better than the diesel and it's cheaper to run in town. Check the tailgate and the boot floor for water, and work the powered tailgate if one is fitted. So read the service history for oil intervals, because these engines last well only when the oil is changed on time.

Cheapest and dearest in this chassis

The ends of the range by good-buy price. Useful for sanity-checking anything you're quoted.

Lowest entry price

C 200 M274 : from €10,900, risk 3

C 220 d OM651 : from €11,450, risk 2

Lowest risk

C 220 d OM651 : risk 2, good buy at €13,800

C 200 M274 : risk 3, good buy at €13,000