Maybe someone can help me understand here.. but why do they call the 3.0 V6 C class a 280 and not a C300??? I know MB has done this in the past, but I never understood why, isn't they logic that the number equals the engine size?

 

a C230 now is a 1.8 ....why??? i guess mb is rating by power rather than liters?

 

in that case, mine should be an E550 cdi..

 

just to fck wit your head like they did with the 1.8l 230k lol!

 

the '06 is a 2.5 liter, not a 1.8....

 

they r placing numbers according to performance.
and they dont want to go backwards on numbers.

 

take a guess what the E90 325i is using?? yup a 3.0 liter with 215hp.

C280 sounds better than the C300 anywayz. It was used for the w202 why not use it again.

 

How so???

 

c300 is too similar with 300c...

haha...anyway, i think mb just wanna lower our expectation...the c240 uses a 2.6 engine (dont feel like a 2.6...thats why they badge it as a 240 to make us think it is a 2.4)

 

Yeah, for old-timers like me, this recent trend is a real head-scratcher. It started with BMW several years ago, when they called a 2.5 engined car a 323 in the States, because its power output approximated what a EU car with the ACTUAL 2.3 liter displacement made. And it started to go downhill from there. MB started to do the same thing, where instead of actual engine displacement, the badging began to reference models of approx equal hp, some of which had been dead for years. Now it seems pretty much out of control, and the marketing dept almost pulls this stuff out of the air.

The general consensus is that this is an attempt not to devalue the resale value of cars that have widely varying actual engine displacement, but similar hp outputs. All it really does is make all concerned appear addled. Oh, well....

 

look at the distance the piston travels, back on the old 240 and 320, they were the same exact engine but had different piston travle lengths

 

They are testing the waters until the new body design comes out. After that, you'll see the proper name/number.

 

The new BMW 325i and 330i both have the same engine size. The C240 has a 2.6L. It's just marketing magic. The only one that MB sayed Oops on that I can remember is the SL350 in 1971 I believe with the 4.5L motor, the subsequent years it was renamed the SL450.

 

I know that when the 271 engine came out that was 1.8 liters, they called it a C 230 because of a possible customer perception that 180 would be not as good as 230, when in fact it was.

It all comes down to marketing. But, in a stupid move, the new 273 engine is going to come in two different displacements, however they will both be called 500s. Now that is going to cause problems!

 

Once again you amaze us with your indepth advanced info. Please provide copies of those confidential memos you seem to have access to.

You might want to qualify your post with US only since in ROW MB used different monikers for different variations, based on SC (2 versions) or not, as well. :p

 

Amdeutsch, why don't you just ban this nicedeboy/lookinforbenzpart/c230 617 alias?

 

apparently there was a lot of brand equity in the old W202's "C280" moniker (I'm not sure if a W203 version existed until now). Same goes with the C230 name, thats why the 1.8L was still called C230K. They are trying to make the most out of the C230 and C280 names.

 

Because he'll sign back on with another alias. Don't worry about it though, a few more days and it'll be better

 

Well as far back as the 60's they had 280SEL 3.5's and 450SEL 6.9's in the 70's so this is nothing new, but I still don't know why?

Maybe a few German marketing people are they only one's that ever will.

 

should be an 2.8L

 

You're right. Like most Americans I keep forgetting about the rest of the world! And that's one quality I hate about Americans......