Car Model Guide/ Mercedes-Benz/ C-Class/ W204/ 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 sedan (W204), sold 2007–2011 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. 2 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.

Mercedes-Benz C-Class sedan (W204) · photo Mercedes-Benz C-Class w204 amk by AngMoKio · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Power156 PS

Torque230 Nm

Years2007–2011

Fuelpetrol

DriveRWD

EnginesM271-KOMP

Biggest risks

Ranked by probability × repair cost. 2 recorded in total.

14High risk

Balance shaft gear wear€2,500–€4,500partly checkablewalk away
Electronic steering lock failure€600–€1,400not checkable

Risk level −44 · Walk-away failures −12 · Likely spend vs price −26 · Undetectable big repairs −4 · all issues →

System by system9 systems reviewed · 7 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.

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

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

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

ElectricswatchElectronic steering lock failure, €600–€1,400.

Suspension & brakes✓ clearNo recurring fault reported for this system on this engine.

Body & interior✓ clearNo recurring fault reported for this system on this engine.

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	2007–2010	€2,600	€4,300	€6,800	€3,450	The specification the car launched with.
LCI Facelift (LCI)	2011	€2,850	€4,700	€7,400	€3,800	New front end, bonnet and lights; revised interior and steering wheel; OM651 four-cylinder diesel replaced OM646 across the range; M271 EVO direct-injection petrol replaced the earlier supercharged M271, ending the balance-shaft problem; Seven-speed 7G-Tronic Plus became standard on most automatics

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

Electronic steering lock failureW204 body€600–€1,400

Key won't turn, no crank, or a car that starts intermittently and then refuses. The electronic steering lock module fails, immobilising the car. It strands rather than degrades.

Check: Can't be checked reliably on a viewing, it fails without warning. Ask whether it has been replaced; a receipt is worth having, and a car that has already had one is lower risk than one that has not.

ElectricaloccasionalNot detectable at viewingevidence: documented80–200k km

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.

Pre-purchase inspection

The same issue records, reordered into the sequence you can actually check them in: cold start, static, drive, paperwork.

2 checks · saved in this browser ·

1PaperworkOn these cars the folder is most of the value.

Electronic steering lock failureCan't be checked reliably on a viewing, it fails without warning. Ask whether it has been replaced; a receipt is worth having, and a car that has already had one is lower risk than one that has not.

2OBD scanMandatory. A seller who refuses a scan has answered the question.

Balance shaft gear wearwalk away without proofScan 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.

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 €4.5k

€2.6k€3.5k€7.4k

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€3,450band €2,600–€7,400

🇺🇸 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
ChassisW204
EngineM271-KOMP
Years2007–2011
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 w204 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	2007–2011
Facelift phase	Sold either side of the 2011 facelift, 2007–2010 pre, 2011 LCI
Power / torque	156 PS · 230 Nm
Transmissions	6-speed manual · 5-speed automatic (5G-Tronic)
Gearbox families	Mercedes 5G-Tronic five-speed automatic (722.6)
Drivetrain	RWD
Economy (real-world)	8–10 l/100 km mixed
Markets	EU