2017 E300 W213 M274 engine piston
Anyone having an issue with the W213 E300 engine piston?
Currently, I have a 2017 E300 RWD around 57K miles and have a piston #1 failure.
Engine oil goes directly into piston #1 due to piston issue. I did not take this car to the dealership and just went to a local shop because of the cost.
I heard that the M274 engine has an issue with its piston.
Does anyone know why this is causing it and any lawsuit regarding the M274 engine?
I don't think I can even afford to fix this one.
The local auto shop mentioned that there was a C300 around 27K that had the same issue and the dealership quote her 25K for an engine swap.
I will keep updating this post when I get quotes from a local shop. They are doing a detailed inspection of my car right now.
Thank you
https://mbworld.org/forums/e-class-w...***-300-a.html
https://mbworld.org/forums/c-class-w...64-2019-a.html
https://mbworld.org/forums/c-class-w...5-k-miles.html
Edit: Re-reading your original post, it seems that you are indeed aware of the M274 having issues with piston cracking, hopefully the advises posted in the 3 threads are helpful, all I can say is good luck having it fixed. Sorry to hear about the issue. To answer your question, I am unware of any lawsuit, unfortunately. To answer your other question, the suspected cause is manufacturer defect and possibly bad gas, the former is more likely though. Early models such as the 2015 had a wrist pin recall, I don't really think that was the cause of piston failure for any subsequent model years though.
Last edited by W205C43PFL; Nov 12, 2021 at 01:45 PM.





Anyone with an M274 engine NEEDS an extended warranty. There is a known defect with the pin wrist on piston 1, Search the forum, and you will find a few threads, some are in worse conditions than others.

I would like to see if there is correlated data between the ECO Start/Stop, the piston failures, the turbo, and the extremely compact engine package in these cars. Way too many threads with piston 1 damaged. Can it be the oil specs related, or service frequency? It could be for higher mileage, but before 70K, I just cannot take it as the owner's negligence.
Last edited by JCM_MB; Nov 12, 2021 at 02:55 PM.
Anyone having an issue with the W213 E300 engine piston?
Currently, I have a 2017 E300 RWD around 57K miles and have a piston #1 failure.
Engine oil goes directly into piston #1 due to piston issue. I did not take this car to the dealership and just went to a local shop because of the cost.
I heard that the M274 engine has an issue with its piston.
Does anyone know why this is causing it and any lawsuit regarding the M274 engine?
I don't think I can even afford to fix this one.
The local auto shop mentioned that there was a C300 around 27K that had the same issue and the dealership quote her 25K for an engine swap.
I will keep updating this post when I get quotes from a local shop. They are doing a detailed inspection of my car right now.
Thank you




Question, if this is common why hasn't there been a recall? Replacing engines at 50,000 miles is highly uncommon.
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Don't worry about your M276, it is reliable and does not suffer from such defect. As the V6 (in your case, the M276 has been out for a long time, most if not all imperfections are solved over these many years) it also doesn't have to work as hard as the i4 and the cylinder sleeve used is different. The M274 isn't young either though but the variant used in the C300 is "relatively" new.
To the op, I sincerely hope something works out in your favour.
Last edited by W205C43PFL; Nov 13, 2021 at 10:19 AM.
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There are TSBs dealing with piston issues on this engine: therefore, it is not isolated to the forums only
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sour...Rqrkxd8MdB7DVk
Also, MB have used 3 engine models, M274, M264, and M254 in less than 10 years for its 4 cylinder lineup. Fast introduction of improvements, or fast removal of major issues? It takes a fortune to retool engine assembly lines, and minor modifications of the car assembly. Reason each model last @4/5 years for a newer model. My take at this point is not buying, perhaps leasing, 4cyl turbo MB engines until the issue is clearly addressed
Last edited by JCM_MB; Nov 13, 2021 at 10:51 AM.
There are TSBs dealing with piston issues on this engine: therefore, it is not isolated to the forums only
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://f01.justanswer.com/73bbchevy/86007b34-e4d8-4381-bb9e-056627bd4e98_LI03.10-P-060916_Ver_16_piston_wrist_pins.pdf&ved=2ahUKEwjf5 Jyt1ZX0AhXyT98KHci1DVsQFnoECBYQAQ&usg=AOvVaw 3mDw7Jp-Rqrkxd8MdB7DVk
Also, MB have used 3 engine models, M274, M264, and M254 in less than 10 years for its 4 cylinder lineup. Fast introduction of improvements, or fast removal of major issues? It takes a fortune to retool engine assembly lines, and minor modifications of the car assembly. Reason each model last @4/5 years for a newer model. My take at this point is not buying, perhaps leasing, 4cyl turbo MB engines until the issue is clearly addressed
One of the links you posted has to do with the wrist pin recall which I did mention in my previous post but OP's car is not affected by the wrist pin recall, there is actually another defect within the engine that has not been identified by MB or they just haven't admit it yet. From the same link you posted, out of the 82 cases being part of the Engine and Engine Cooling problems, the majority are from W204 therefore uses a NA V6 and not the M274, the rest were from the MY15 which is affected by the wrist pin, a few were from post MY15 vehicles but it is not the same issue nor does the service bulletin applies.
I love to be wrong because that way OP will have a much higher rate of success in getting their dealership to fix the problem based on a recall and for free.
The M264 is descended from the M274. The newer M264 uses many foundational parts in common with the M274, such as crankshaft and connecting rods, and many others. Pistons, however, have been updated. Reason? Only MB knows. Maybe they had a problem.............
The M264 is currently used in W205 and V167. Also W213 and X253? So far on this site no reports (yet) of piston cracking on M264.




The issue with 4cyl turbo continues, even with MY 20.




I got a quote from a certified Mercedes shop.. It shows me 18K..
Should I take it to the MB dealership and negotiate?
attached image of estimate below.
any advice?
Thank you
Last edited by yc25744; Nov 18, 2021 at 12:33 PM.
Its a known defect from Mercedes-Benz and they wont do squat to help us out.
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