So I have an 07 c280 and I was looking into trying to find a w212 body because I kept seeing it was the most reliable as for which year I do not know.
I know there was a face-lift in 13 im not sure exactly what features are different.
I only use Bluetooth audio from my phone it would be nice to have a nice updated screen but I supposed I can swap the radio..
The only other mercedes I saw on the inside was my friends 14 c300 with a 3.5 motor which is basically the same as my 3.0 which I'm familiar with.
I do want more power from that 3.5 motor I'm not sure what years they may have added an eco mode that impacted overall performance or maybe a better stability control system.
I dont care for the air rides if I can help it but I bet they run really nice. I can change the parts myself so im not too worried about it
I understand these engines are not as capable as the amg but it's all that would be in my price range so out of habit I would want to do some kind of upgrades for more power and im sure certain years may be more difficult or expensive to do since I've been told I'm going to need special computers or devices to say program the headlight..
One of my shop neighbors also works for another shop that only does European cars and I've been telling him I want an e350 for about a year now
Mainly I'm just wondering what was changed over the years with the interior and performance.
Also anybody know if it's possible to either super charge or preferably turbocharge
Any advice would be appreciated

 

Get the face-lifted E550 4M. I disagree that you can’t come close to the performance of an AMG without buying an AMG. You can tune the engine to 550 HP if you want.

 

W212 2012 & after come bi-turbo stock. No need to add it yourself if thats what you are looking for.

2011 W212 is last year for Naturally aspirated.

The above is for E550's.

 

The facelift was in 2014 and all of them went to LED headlights although you still had the lighting package that added active curve illumination plus auto high beams, the regular LED headlights didn't do that. In 2012+ you had the M276 engine with 302hp over the M272 in the 2010-2011 E350 models which were just 268hp. Your 2014 C300 was a detuned M276 engine that wasn't 302hp, think that was just 248hp. Eco mode showed up in 2014. You always had bluetooth audio although early 2010 models might need to have it enabled. 2016 is probably the best year because you could enable apple carplay/android auto for that year, otherwise you'd have to replace the radio. As mentioned, you can do the 2012+ E550 and those came with turbos and you can easily boost the power on those engines with a tune. The 2014 was the last year for the E550 though although there was an E400 after that but they don't make as much HP. The 2012-2016 E350 just had the M276 with 302hp and you won't have much luck getting much more power out of it, if you really want to add a turbo, just buy an E550, won't be worth it to add it afterwards on an E350 and tunes on an E350 only nets a few hp as opposed to the E550 which can add a lot more.

 

the E400s are 3.0L V6's with mild turbo pretty sure the early e550 was the only normally aspirated v8 offered in the 212 series, the later 550s were 4.7L turbo v8's

 

I agree , a facelifted E550 is my favorite W212 and favorite E Class as well

 

E400 FTW.

 

if money was no object, 2016 E63S wagon :-p