My friend is thinking about purchasing a 2011 MB C300(he's still thinking about 4MATIC or not but he's scared that it might be expensive to fix if it breaks) since it will be out of any type of warranty.

What are the Pros and Cons of this car? How reliable is it and are there any reliability concerns or electrical gremlins he should double check or be aware of?

What year should he aim for the W204? Did the C-class have any major mid-cycle changes during W204?

I know this is a MB forum but he's also checking out the 2011 BMW 328i coupe, I know they're completely different cars (4dr vs 2dr) but he's fine with either. What do you guys think?

TIA

 

The two major things to watch out for are transmission on 4Matic and EIS on prefacelift, facelift happened in MY2012. 2013 should be the best year since it would still be under warranty, have a more power engine than 2012 and a different transmission. If is out of budget, 2012 will still do, it hasn't had any EIS issues like 2008-2011 and has the upgraded interior which is a huge improvement. It does have the older transmission and engine though which is a bummer, but will be good enough for daily driving. 2011 would be the cheapest, but the odd year.

 

I own a 2011 C300 4matic that has 66K on it. It is my daily driver and I drive it hard. I have had no problems with it. I still have a warranty on it but I do all the maintence on it. It's just like any other car one needs to do oil changes and transmission oil changes as needed.

You can check out TrueDelta they have a list of the problem years for C300.

 

Do you think the '13 is a huge difference compared to '12? Might not be able to budget into a '13. However, '11 to '12 is a MUST?

Edit: For some reason my original account doesn't let me change my pw :/ so gonna use this one.

 

Well, all the '13 gets you is 20hp and 30tq extra, a transmission that needs to be serviced half as much, some warranty left that could be extended and the possibility for more options like Sport Plus and some of the other packages that were hard to find in 2012. If you don't mind the extra transmission service and the loss of hp, then 2012 will do just fine. 2011 will be OK for a bit, but is really starting to show its age being that it is now 1 1/2 generations behind. The interior will start to feel dated quickly and the repairs will come a bit more often being that is going on 5 years now.

 

The '13 has an updated interior vs. '12 and '11?

From a quick google, seems to be the same?

 

12 and 13 have the updated interior and exterior, the 11 does not.