Mercedes-Benz C-Class Saloon, W204
The quiet one of the three. Softer and less involving than an E90, better built than a B8 inside, and the one whose faults are concentrated in the engine bay rather than spread across the car.
Overview
The W204 is the sedan Mercedes-Benz C-Class, built 2007–2014 and facelifted in 2011. 4 standard engines are documented here, each with its own issue list, inspection sequence and price band. Asking prices across the standard range run €2,600–€15,250, and 1 of the 4 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 180 Kompressor M271-KOMP from €3,450, while the C 180 CGI M271-EVO is the lowest-risk engine at €7,650, so which engine you buy matters more here than which year. Prices are illustrative placeholders rather than a sourced market sample. See the methodology.
Mercedes-Benz C-Class sedan (W204) · photo Mercedes-Benz C-Class w204 amk by AngMoKio · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons
| Body style | sedan | Production | 2007–2014 |
| Platform siblings | S204 wagon | Facelift (LCI) | 2011 |
Engine matrix: pre-facelift, 2007–2010
The 3 variants sold before the 2011 facelift. Power and years come from the variant records; prices are illustrative, not sourced.
| Badge↕ | Engine | Fuel | Years↕ | Power↑ | Torque↕ | Risk↕ | Issues | Price band↕ | Good buy↕ | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C 180 Kompressor | M271-KOMP | petrol | 2007–2010 | 156 PS | 230 Nm | R5 | 2 | €2,600–€6,800 | €3,450 | Avoid |
| C 220 CDI | OM651 | diesel | 2009–2010 | 170 PS | 400 Nm | R3 | 6 | €4,200–€12,000 | €5,700 | Buy |
| C 320 CDI | OM642 | diesel | 2007–2010 | 224 PS | 510 Nm | R3 | 6 | €4,800–€14,000 | €6,600 | Buy w/ conditions |
Engine matrix: facelift / LCI, 2011–2014
The 4 variants sold from the facelift on, priced at a 9% premium over the pre-facelift car.
4 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.
| Badge↕ | Engine | Fuel | Years↕ | Power↑ | Torque↕ | Risk↕ | Issues | Price band↕ | Good buy↕ | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C 180 Kompressor | M271-KOMP | petrol | 2011–2011 | 156 PS | 230 Nm | R5 | 2 | €2,850–€7,400 | €3,800 | Avoid |
| C 180 CGI | M271-EVO | petrol | 2011–2014 | 156 PS | 250 Nm | R2 | 3 | €5,900–€14,700 | €7,650 | Strong buy |
| C 220 CDI | OM651 | diesel | 2011–2014 | 170 PS | 400 Nm | R3 | 6 | €4,600–€13,100 | €6,250 | Buy |
| C 320 CDI | OM642 | diesel | 2011–2011 | 224 PS | 510 Nm | R3 | 6 | €5,250–€15,250 | €7,200 | Buy w/ conditions |
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.
| Variant | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C 180 Kompressor M271-KOMP | ● | ● | ● | ● | ◐ | |||
| C 180 CGI M271-EVO | ◐ | ● | ● | ● | ||||
| C 220 CDI OM651 | ◐ | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ||
| C 320 CDI OM642 | ● | ● | ● | ● | ◐ |
● full year · ◐ arrives or leaves mid-generation. Years from 2011 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.
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.
Every standard engine · cheapest first · C 180 CGI M271-EVO highlighted as best value
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 4 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.
Two questions decide a W204. On petrol. Is it a pre-facelift M271 with the balance-shaft gear, because that's an engine-out job worth more than the car. On diesel. Is it an early OM651 with the first-generation piezo injectors, because a set costs four figures. A facelift car sidesteps both. The M271 EVO and the revised injectors are the reason the 2011-on cars are worth their premium.
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 180 Kompressor M271-KOMP : from €2,600, risk 5
C 220 CDI OM651 : from €4,200, risk 3
C 320 CDI OM642 : from €4,800, risk 3
Lowest risk
C 180 CGI M271-EVO : risk 2, good buy at €7,650
C 220 CDI OM651 : risk 3, good buy at €5,700
C 320 CDI OM642 : risk 3, good buy at €6,600