Eddles

Hi all, I'm looking to buy a manual W204 C-Class estate, something like the C220 AMG. Which engine is the most reliable in this model? I would prefer petrol due to my current driving style (12,000 miles per year, 80% city, 20% highway) but will consider diesel if it's more reliable. I don't care about power or anything - just must be reliable & come in manual.

Many thanks!

Plutoe

Then forget the AMG.all others are fine!

Adi-Benz

Wrong, amg is more reliable than 4 cylinder petrol m271 (no offense)

The 3.0/3.5 V6 petrol are very reliable. Some of the diesels are hit or miss. C320 is a good choice for diesel.

Eddles

I'm really sorry about the confusion, the C220 I linked isn't an actual AMG, it's just the trim level. That particular one has a bog standard 2.1 CDI engine.

The actual C63 AMG and C350 are way out of my budget, and I don't believe any of those come in manual anyway. I'm trying to figure out which of the below engines are the most reliable:

1.6 or 1.8 L M271 supercharged Kompressor I4
1.6 or 1.8 L M271 turbocharged CGI I4
2.1 L OM646 I4
2.1 L OM651 I4

Many thanks for advice!

alecmascot

The OM646 by far. No DPF on the 2007-2008 car, dual cam chain, but not sure about you finding a manual.
The later M274 1,6 turbo petrol engine will be better than the M271. From about 2011 or so.

Eddles

Excellent, that's exactly what I'm looking for! So the OM646 is the one to go for, shame it's such a narrow window on the W204 - only 2007 - 2009 model years has this engine.
So something like this is what I need to be looking for?

Thank you so much for your help!

Eddles

Oh yes, and how do I tell which W204 car has the OM646 or the OM651 engine? Cheers!

alecmascot

Ask the vendor, its on the V5. Or decode the VIN.

superangrypenguin

Most reliable engine: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercedes-Benz_M272_engine

The M272 is your best bet.

W204Motorsports

M272 by a long shot. 3L or 3.5L, the 2.5L seems to work a little too hard and not have enough power to pull the weight of the w204.

alecmascot

Very rare in the UK and early ones have balancer shaft issues.

capt_paul

Eddles

Thanks again for all your suggestions!

The OM646 is quite hard to find on the W204, while the OM651 is plentiful. Is the OM651 really that bad?

Adi-Benz

Most of us are from North America and do not get the low displacement/diesel variants. I would check on mbclubuk I believe is the site in addition to this one.

alecmascot

Its the later engine with extensive emission mods that make it inherently less reliable, but probably no worse than other Euro5 diesels.
There are water pump issues and some early injectors were bad. The odd report of timing chain issues.
In reality its a bit of a lottery. Check the service history and have a good listen when it's cold.

https://forums.mercedesclub.org.uk/i...engine.127811/

Eddles

Thanks to everyone for advice! Will definitely check out mbclub.co.uk and mercedesclub.org.uk and see. All this is really putting me off a Mercedes-Benz, unless I find a perfect W204 with the OM646....

Cheers!