Tinkering with the idea of buying a 2016 GLC 300 4 Matic with 86K Miles, finally getting rid of the Mrs.' BMW and we will only have Benz cars. .

As I have never owned a 4 cylinder Benz before, I would like some opinions on this 4 cyl. turbo engine. Is it strong enough to pull this SUV, does it have enough torque?

Anything else I should know about the GLC300?

Thanks very much in advance.

 

Read about piston cracking on the M274 four cylinder engine in this vehicle. Caveat emptor.

 

I have to say that I am somewhat disappointed with the lack of response to my questions: "Is it strong enough to pull this SUV, does it have enough torque?" W203, W204, W211 and W164 sections of this forum are much more responsive.

All I get is ONE response regarding piston cracking, that's it? There are a number of GLC owners out there, but no-one wants to share their opinion? Isn't this what a forum is all about?

Well, in the meantime I drove the car and I think it has plenty of power to move along.

Thanks for all your valuable input.

 

Your singular comment was from a usual suspect, with the cut and paste piston comment inserted into most questions like yours. It kills threads.

Is it enough to propel a GLC?
Under 100ph, yes, but there's Turbo lag, which takes a few drives to get used to. The power curve seems to fit the car. It's pretty lively until aero hits it around 90.

We get low 30s highway mpg; low 20s in town.

NHTSA seems to have determined that piston cracking either isn't an issue, or if there is any, it may be limited to an identified group of cars, so no recall is indicated. Or it isn't an issue at all.

 

Thanks very much, much appreciated.

 

The GLC is generally a reliable model. Yes, there are pistons cracking, and cylinder heads (valves) going bad, but they are isolated occurrences and seem limited to the earlier model years. I had a coworker take one for a test drive and it threw a rod through the block without warning, but that was only one out of many thousands. That was quite a day, luckily it was still under factory warranty. I think it's MB's most popular model since 2016. I'd personally avoid the 4matic unless you really need it for snow or offroad use, it's just more to go wrong later. Front driveshaft u-joints are a common failure point after 80k miles if exposed to salted roads. The 4matic also lugs the engine more than a 2wd.

Long term reliability of the 9-speed trans is unknown at this point, but there hasn't been too many problems thus far. Any of MB's turbo 4 cyl engines are not long-lived like the N/A V6 engines are. Check engine lights for minor emissions faults are more common, but usually not a huge deal. Alternator pulleys (they have a one-way bearing) are starting to wear out around 80k miles. Over 150k miles you can expect problems to start cropping up. They won't go 250k miles like the N/A V6 will. Proper maintenance is important; proper spec MB oil, OEM filters, spark plugs at the proper mileage interval, and premium gas is strongly recommended.

They feel a little small inside to me. Overall, I'd rate the GLC as a "buy." I think the forum is not active for them because the GLC 300 seems to attract women in their late 50's to early 60's and they aren't the typical group of people to post on automotive forums. Most GLC owners aren't "car people" and see them as an appliance...not much passion there.

 

Thanks very much for this very helpful insight Greasemonkey, always very much appreciated.

 

Well, I've bought several MBs since the turn of this century, and three in 2022. I had a friend pooh-pooh my purchase of the 2022 GLC Coupe specifically because it's a 4-cylinder. "No one is ever happy with a Mercedes 4 cylinder" he said. Well, I was VERY HAPPY for seven years with the turbo 4 in my wife's W205 C300 and I thought that car was screaming fast, even as my daily driver at the time was a CLK550. My salesman at the dealership drives a GLC300 after many years of E-Class sedans and he loves it. I think a big reason for its popularity is the high driver position combined with a relatively compact, nimble size. My wife drives hers in Eco mode (it defaults to Comfort so she selects Eco after starting) to get better mileage, as she was used to 30+MPG in the C-Class, but mid to high 20's are about all she can get in the GLC. Cargo space was a not a big consideration for us and the coupe won't fit a 60 lb. dog without putting at least one rear seat down.

After getting the 2022 GLC I helped my daughter trade her 2010 ML350 for a 2017 GLC SUV. Its smaller size took some getting used to (the dog is hers) but she loves the handling and ease of parking. The ML350 felt more underpowered to me.

I recently did the same thing you're proposing, shedding the only non-MB in the driveway, in my case a Lexus RX330 that was the beach car in the summer and my winter car when I take the SL off the road. I'm sure you wil feel the same as I as you drive your various family vehicles: the ML is a big, comfortable SUV and will act like a truck if you need it to. The GLC is a crossover in the best sense of the term, like a beefy C-Class. FWIW, the SL is as close to a motorcycle as I'll ever get.

 

I agree that a 2.0L four moves a GLC better than the V6 in a W164 ML or W166 GLE.

Had all of them. The GLC is more fun.​​​​

 

I agree with why not many comments. My wife is the real user of our GLC300. I am the enthusiast. She never goes on Internet forums, has no passion for cars, and just views it has "comfortable transportation". With that said, I feel the car does quite well with performance for a 4-cylinder. I enjoy driving it, and that is from a guy who drives a car with roughly 200 more HP. And it is as quiet and smooth to drive as car in its price range. The problems with the 2016 are the break squeal problem (which they fixed with now a 3rd version of brake pads and greasing procedures) and the crankcase breather vent line. We had both problems. The crankcase vent line went bad at 35,000 for us the first time. The 2nd time it went out at about 55,000 because we JUST missed the part modification after the first failure. Unfortunately, the car was out of warranty and we had to pay for the 2nd replacement ourselves. I didn't think it was fair that we pay the full $1450 price (nearby dealer wanted $2000...so we drove 30 minutes to a cheaper dealer), so I contacted Corporate and they subsidized the price to where we paid about $900. We now have the modified crankcase vent valve breather line part. We likely had such problems because my wife only drives 4 miles to work and the car never got to operating temperature by the time she stopped the engine. The modified part should help with this.

As far as the cracked piston thing I would recommend 2 things. These engines are not cheap to replace. So, replace the engine oil every 5,000 miles versus the recommended 10,000 or 1 year. I do the 5's myself and just suck it out the dipstick (and replace the oil filter assembly). And I have the dealer do it on the 10's. The other thing we did is we had an aftermarket company in downtown Chicago make our run-stop button keep the setting permanently. I just don't believe the run-stop feature is good for an engine over many years. It doesn't really save much in the way of fuel/environment anyway. But how can that be good for an engine?

Other than that, the car has been quite reliable. If I was buying a used one at around 80,000 miles, I would make sure the transmission fluid and filter were changed out at 60,000. I would also get someone who knows the proper procedure to clean and lube the tracks of the pano roof (it's REAL expensive to fix or replace). Uses special grease.

 

@Jetfuture thanks for a good analysis.

 

Thanks vor everyone's input, very much appreciated.

While shopping for a GLC, I came across this 2016 C300, AMG Sport package with AMG 19" wheels, brand new Continental Tires and all the goodies. Beautiful, female owned car with all services done at MB Dealership.

Now we have a W203, W204 and W205.

 

Looks great!

 

Thanks very much.

 

I'm not much of a sedan guy but that's a beauty! My wife has had a W202, W203 and a W205, which impressed me so much when it first came out I had to buy it new, skipping over the W204 which I never liked (nor the rest of its "family": W212, W221, W/C216, C/A207 and the worst of the the bunch, the GLK X204). I'm curious for your thoughts on the W204 and its place in the lineage; it always seemed to me that its styling (and that of the entire aforementioned "family" with their bulging wheel arches) was a wrong turn, seemingly acknowledged with the new versions of each model abandoning those arches and returning headlight and taillight designs to shapes reminiscent of the previous versions. I had a friend that was leasing a new E-Class every three years, and he actually switched to Audi during the W212 era, claiming the seats were so different and far less comfortable than his 211 (he returned to MB for the W213).

 

First and foremost, thank you very much, .................... She is indeed a Beauty, which is why I could not resist. Frankly, in all the years I have purchased used vehicles (I am not a firm believer in purchasing new, nor does my wallet want to allow it ) I have NEVER seen a car THIS CLEAN! There is seriously not a single scratch/curb rash on ANY of the wheels.

In regards to the line up:

- W203: This car is solid! My son did not want an automatic car, so I searched for a manual when I found the C320 in Southern CA. I am in Northern CA. The car was purchased by me 2 years ago with super low miles and now just barely has 63K original miles. Drives awesome and is a lot of fun with the 6 speed tranny. I would not want it as a daily driver, but I like driving it for fun every so often. So far, this car needed nothing but a brake fluid change and regular oil changes.



- W204: My wife had the white 2011 prior to buying her X5. My daughter has the grey 2008. The 2011 was a great car while we owned it, so far the 2008 has been awesome as well. I ALWAYS purchase cars with a solid maintenance history, I will not touch anything that has not been maintained. I rather buy a maintained High-Miler compared to a low mileage car with no history.
I for myself do like the W204, I do not think that the wheel arches look awkward, but to each their own, .......................... Beauty is in the eye of the beholder as they say. For me, the 13 year old design of the W204 is still awesome to look at and beats any of the Japanese cars out there by looks any day.





- W205: Have no experience with it, nor with the 4 cyl. engine. Car seems to have plenty of power and will for sure get better gas mileage than that X5. (I hate BMW with a passion, very unreliable and is in the shop way more often then the Mercedes).

Now I finally convinced my wife to get rid of the X5 when I saw this W205 C300. At first, she was a bit concerned about the lack of room compared to an SUV, but as she mostly drives by herself now as both kids have their own vehicles, and we still have the AWD GMC Yukon which she can use if more room may be needed. She agreed and loved the car after driving it and checking it out in person. The white stitching on the interior is absolutely gorgeous. The one thing I most likely will do is disable that stupid "run-stop" feature, as I cannot see how this is healthy for any engine, the starter needs to work more than overtime and I think it is down right annoying.

 

Well, hard to believe, but after just a few short weeks of ownership of the W205 C300, my wife has realized that it is a very beautiful car, but not very convenient for every day life based on its size.

Back to the GLC!!!!!!!

Picked up a 2018 GLC300 4Matic today.
1 Owner, 27.5K miles, white with black interior. Has the Burmester Sound System as well as the black wood paneling on the center console and door panels, plus many more goodies (illumination, park assist, …..)

This will be much more practical for everyday commuting, shopping and whatever else needs to be hauled.

Now I will need to list the C300 again for sale. Hope not to loose too much money on it, and hope to be able to sell it quickly, as it is a very sharp looking, beautiful car.

 

We bought a 2018 GLC300 certified. its been 2 years and not one issue. Its fast, and very comfortable, we love it. I have an S550 and still love taking my wifes GLC. Cool little truck. Because it was certified the extended MB warranty was cheap insurance. Our is diamond white with expresso interior nicely optioned. Great truck.

 

you shouldn't lose any money on it, unless you overpaid.

 

Agreed, thank you!

 

Purchased a CPO 2017 GLC 300 more than 3 years ago. If you want my honest opinion, I went from a ML350 v6 to a GLC300, your losing alot of power and torque, but it is a nice smooth ride for the most part.
If you keep up with the maintenance will do the job for you.