Car Model Guide/ Mercedes-Benz/ E-Class/ S212

Mercedes-Benz E-Class Estate, S212

One of the largest estates in the class and the reason many buyers choose a W212 at all, with standard rear self-levelling air suspension that's a genuine running-cost item as it ages.

Overview

The S212 is the wagon Mercedes-Benz E-Class, built 2009–2016 and facelifted in 2013. 10 standard engines are documented here, each with its own issue list, inspection sequence and price band. Asking prices across the standard range run €4,200–€24,050, and 0 of the 10 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 E 200 CGI M271-EVO from €5,450, while the E 200 M274 is the lowest-risk engine at €8,850, 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 E-Class wagon (S212) · photo Mercedes-Benz E 350 CGi Estate (4979954100) by nakhon100 · CC BY 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Body style	wagon	Production	2009–2016
Platform siblings	W212 sedan	Facelift (LCI)	2013

What changed at the 2013 facelift

Single-piece headlamps; new bonnet and bumpers; M274 replaced the M271 EVO petrol four; M276 replaced the M272 V6; Diesels migrated from CDI to BlueTEC. 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, 2009–2012

The 8 variants sold before the 2013 facelift. Power and years come from the variant records; prices are illustrative, not sourced.

FilterFuelGearboxRisk ceilingGood buy under8 of 8

Badge↕	Engine	Fuel	Years↕	Power↑	Torque↕	Risk↕	Issues	Price band↕	Good buy↕	Verdict
E 200 CDI	OM651	diesel	2010–2012	136 PS	360 Nm	R3	9	€4,400–€11,550	€5,800	Buy w/ conditions	View
E 220 CDI	OM651	diesel	2009–2012	170 PS	400 Nm	R3	9	€5,050–€13,650	€6,650	Buy	View
E 200 CGI	M271-EVO	petrol	2009–2012	184 PS	270 Nm	R3	6	€4,200–€11,050	€5,450	Buy w/ conditions	View
E 250 CDI	OM651	diesel	2009–2012	204 PS	500 Nm	R3	9	€5,900–€15,750	€7,700	Buy	View
E 250 CGI	M271-EVO	petrol	2009–2012	204 PS	310 Nm	R3	6	€4,850–€12,600	€6,300	Buy w/ conditions	View
E 350 CDI	OM642	diesel	2009–2012	265 PS	620 Nm	R3	9	€6,850–€18,900	€9,200	Buy	View
E 350 CGI	M272	petrol	2009–2011	292 PS	365 Nm	R3	6	€5,800–€15,250	€7,650	Buy w/ conditions	View
E 350	M276	petrol	2011–2012	306 PS	370 Nm	R2	6	€8,400–€22,050	€11,050	Buy	View

Engine matrix: facelift / LCI, 2013–2016

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

9 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.

FilterFuelGearboxRisk ceilingGood buy under9 of 9

Badge↕	Engine	Fuel	Years↕	Power↑	Torque↕	Risk↕	Issues	Price band↕	Good buy↕	Verdict
E 200 CDI	OM651	diesel	2013–2016	136 PS	360 Nm	R3	9	€4,800–€12,600	€6,300	Buy w/ conditions	View
E 220 CDI	OM651	diesel	2013–2016	170 PS	400 Nm	R3	9	€5,500–€14,900	€7,250	Buy	View
E 200 CGI	M271-EVO	petrol	2013–2013	184 PS	270 Nm	R3	6	€4,600–€12,000	€5,950	Buy w/ conditions	View
E 200	M274	petrol	2013–2016	184 PS	300 Nm	R2	7	€6,850–€17,150	€8,850	Buy	View
E 250 CDI	OM651	diesel	2013–2016	204 PS	500 Nm	R3	9	€6,400–€17,150	€8,350	Buy	View
E 250 CGI	M271-EVO	petrol	2013–2013	204 PS	310 Nm	R3	6	€5,250–€13,750	€6,850	Buy w/ conditions	View
E 250	M274	petrol	2013–2016	211 PS	350 Nm	R2	7	€7,800–€19,450	€10,100	Buy	View
E 350 CDI	OM642	diesel	2013–2016	265 PS	620 Nm	R3	9	€7,450–€20,600	€10,050	Buy	View
E 350	M276	petrol	2013–2016	306 PS	370 Nm	R2	6	€9,150–€24,050	€12,050	Buy	View

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	09	10	11	12	13	14	15	16
E 200 CDI OM651		◐	●	●	●	●	●	●
E 220 CDI OM651	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
E 200 CGI M271-EVO	●	●	●	●	◐
E 200 M274					◐	●	●	●
E 250 CDI OM651	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
E 250 CGI M271-EVO	●	●	●	●	◐
E 250 M274					◐	●	●	●
E 350 CDI OM642	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
E 350 CGI M272	●	●	◐
E 350 M276			◐	●	●	●	●	●

● full year · ◐ arrives or leaves mid-generation. Years from 2013 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.

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€5,450E 200 CGI M271-EVO

Median good buy€7,700across 10 engines

Dearest good buy€11,050E 350 M276

Full range€4,200–€24,050P10 to P90

Every standard engine · cheapest first · E 200 M274 highlighted as best value

€5k€10k€15k€20kGood buy

E 200 CGI M271-EVO€5,450 E 200 CDI OM651€5,800 E 250 CGI M271-EVO€6,300 E 220 CDI OM651€6,650 E 350 CGI M272€7,650 E 250 CDI OM651€7,700 E 200 M274€8,850 E 350 CDI OM642€9,200 E 250 M274€10,100 E 350 M276€11,050

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.

Electronic steering lock (ESL/ELV) failureE-Class platform€150–€1,200

The engine cranks but won't start and the steering stays locked, sometimes after several attempts, with steering-lock fault codes. The small motor that drives the locking bolt wears out and the module eventually blocks further attempts. The cause is consistent motor wear rather than anything variable.

Check: Do several cold starts. Listen for the steering-lock clunk as the key goes in, and scan for B2254 and related codes; intermittent no-starts are the early warning.

ElectricalcommonPartly detectableevidence: documented80–200k km

Rear self-levelling air-suspension leak (estate)S212 body€400–€900

The rear sits low or sags overnight, a suspension-malfunction message, and a compressor that runs long or fails. The rear air springs perish and leak, the air lines chafe, or the compressor wears. The S212 estate has rear self-levelling air suspension as standard, so every one of them ages into this.

Check: Park it level overnight and check the rear ride height and for warning messages the next morning; inspect the airbags and lines for cracks and a long-running compressor.

SuspensioncommonDetectable at viewingevidence: documented100–200k km

Front thrust-arm and control-arm bush wearE-Class platform€300–€600

A clunk or knock over bumps and when turning at low speed, vibration through the wheel, and vague or wandering steering. The aluminium front arms use fluid-filled hydraulic bushes that rupture and leak; the bushes aren't separately serviceable, so the whole arm is replaced. The cause is consistent.

Check: Look for brown hydraulic fluid weeping from the bushes, rock the arms for play, and listen for a clunk over rough roads and on full lock.

SuspensioncommonDetectable at viewingevidence: documented95–160k km

Panoramic sunroof drain blockageE-Class platform€50–€400

Wet front footwells and carpets and damp A-pillars after rain, with soaked module connectors as the secondary risk. The sunroof drain channels clog with debris and water backs up and overflows into the cabin. The cause is consistent; the cost jumps if carpets or modules are soaked.

Check: Lift the footwell carpets to feel for damp, and pour a cup of water into the front sunroof channel to confirm it drains quickly.

Body & corrosioncommonDetectable at viewingevidence: documented80–200k km

Written once against the chassis and shown on every variant page below, so nothing here is repeated 10 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.

Identical engine and gearbox questions to the saloon, with two additions: the rear self-levelling air suspension leaks and sags as it ages, and the tailgate wiring loom is worth checking. So park it overnight and look for a dropped rear end the next morning before anything else.

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

E 200 CGI M271-EVO : from €4,200, risk 3

E 200 CDI OM651 : from €4,400, risk 3

E 250 CGI M271-EVO : from €4,850, risk 3

Lowest risk

E 200 M274 : risk 2, good buy at €8,850

E 250 M274 : risk 2, good buy at €10,100

E 350 M276 : risk 2, good buy at €11,050