So I've been driving my car and thinking to myself that it feels a bit peppy. I bought a 2008 C300. Debadged it for fun.
Long story short- I was looking at the carfax report and the car was in and out of shops for a while. I think at one point the motor was swapped.
I did a 0-60 run on a local road and the video is below. Taken from a dead stop and an acceleration WITH traction control on (you can see the caution symbol flash) and a bit of tire spin in the beginning.
I have measured the time and I get between 6.4-6.6 each time I check. I don't see any other way that I could be a second faster than a stock C300 than a motor swap... am I crazy?

Before anyone says this is a down hill road- it's not, it's one of the more level roads in my area and I've tested my race truck out there and it's very accurate to when I'm on the track.
Now I'm dying to hit the strip.

Here's the video:
http://gallery.me.com/nberges#100016/IMG_1928

Sorry to burst your bubble, but I don't think you have the 3.5L engine. No engine is built the same, I have a 2009 c300 4matic, and my sister has a 2011 c300 4matic. If you look at my Youtube video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZWTwHosyWQ

You can see that I got a 6.2 second run (approximately). And I average around 6.4-6.6. Where as when I have a go in my sister's car, I am lucky to get under 7 seconds, and wind up in the low to mid 7 second range (7.3ish). Thats a full second in 0-60. I thought it was bizarre, but I guess that no two engines are bult the same, it also doesn't help that she runs regular gas... Lol

But to answer your question. I don't know of a way to tell the difference. Maybe there are identification markings when you lift up the engine cover?

That's what I was wondering too, maybe match VIN numbers or something.

I totally agree though. No two engines are the same, and if it turns out that my car likes to scoot faster on all stock parts, I'll take it. Better starting point
I always fill 91 or 93 octance too fwiw.

Now I wanna see what intake and exhaust might help. Nothing like an NA motor breathing a bit better.

Depends on a few factors , how much grip you have , engine temperature , ac or heat us on or off , oil , gas . It can be different depending on all these factors . If you tend to have a heavy foot your ecu will tell your transmission to shift in a sportier fashion . Also most companies projected 0-60 times are stated higher than they actually are . MB says the 350 does it in 6.1 but Motor Trend has it at 5.8 . Regardless of s that stuff it seems that like how it performs and that's really all that counts .

Sry for bad spelling I'm typing from my phone .

Highly unlikely that you have a swapped engine. Obvious thing to me is that my C350 has a deeper tone to it than the video. Have you driven a 350 so you can compare the way they feel? Dyno it if you're really interested. Question is, why did you buy the car if the CarFax showed it in and out of the shop a lot? That'd make me nervous.

That'd be one blinding reason why they drive differently. Engines do not vary if any, at all. The variations in the way a W204 can also be the result of the transmission ECU (the thing that learns your driving style), if its on Comfort vs. Sport mode, tires, wheel size, temp, etc.

A carfax report alone isn't saying much, I know enough people to understand that a carfax is listing what they want you to see. My car was in and out for minor things and all problems it went in for were addressed, and none were major issues.
Driving the car now, there isn't any way I would be worried about it and with 35,000 on the odometer when I bought it, I knew it had plenty more life in it.
I was concerned at first too, but I looked into it more and decided I would be ok, especially because I have the remained of the warranty on the car still.

My topic is basically to find out if there are any marks (even for 3.5L owners) to know about your motors origin, or actuality, kind of like old camaros and chevelles with matching vin numbers for accuracy. I know this may be odd, but I'm a gear head and like to know the ins and outs of everything I own, front to back, up and down. So I find out as I go.
Thanks for all the help everyone!

The engine cover say 3.5 liter on the 350

It does ?

Where ?



is all I have seen to indicate type of engine

lol

I think the engine covers in the CLK's 3.5L written on them. But these C class covers only say V6 no matter what displacement is underneath.

Looks like I was wrong I Thiught mine said 3.5 on it . Still there's no way engine was swapped . If you drive quick the engine will respond quick .

Every now and then a certain car may be faster than the rest or most others just like it, consider yourself lucky! There is actually a name for it but I cannot think of it now... It occurs across all brands and models. It makes sense if you think about it, since not every car is built exactly the same way, same parts yes but there are lots of random variables and some engines just run/breath better which makes them faster. I had a 2006 Honda Civic Si with no mods that always drove faster than the factory numbers, quite a bit faster.

Are you thinking of a "factory freak"?
I am thinking that about my C300, it has some serious pep to it's step, and I don't mind

the rear wheels save yourself the embarrassment of 16 second 1/4 mile times they will put you to sleep and leave others to wonder the purpose of watching a car take an eternity to go the 1320ft
Factory freak

If I want to go fast I'll pull out my truck... 11.5-11.8 all day. It has more HP per tire than this car has under the hood

By the feel of this car, I don't think it's in the 16 second range. Maybe mid 15s on a bad day, but I think this car still isn't too shabby for bone stock. But it isn't a 16 second car though.

The C300's (4Matic) run a consistent 15.5-15.7 I have never seen one run over a 16.0 even with a bad driver lol

My last run couldn't even crack below 10 sec mark...
MB rate it @ 8.4 sec from 0-100km/hr

Engine, just like any other part on the car has its part number (or a few of them). If you can find where it is printed, you can tell which one you have.

C300 has 228 hp and 221 lb-ft of torque (+27hp and +40lb-ft)
C250 has 201 hp and 181 lb-ft of torque
I found it hard to believe to see you guys are below 7 sec

just see how much room you have left in the engine compartment. the 3.5 fits pretty snug in there.

No one would do that swap..it wouldn't be worth it.

Having said that, my car feels WAY faster than the 2010 loaner I just had all last week.

If your original engine died for some reason and you needed to put in a new engine, how much more expensive would it have been to use a C350 engine instead of a C300 one?

But if you get the 3.5L engine, don't you need a different ECU, different tranny, upgraded differential, etc?

True, but this is highly unlikely, and if the engine did die on such a new car I'd think MB would be replacing it.