How to tell different trim levels on MB?

[hebdenwill]

Hi all,

I've been browsing cars to replace my W204 which is getting toward 140k, and have been confused by some of the different combinations of trim, for example some cars have a chrome / shiny grille and a bonnet mounted star ornament whereas others have a more plastic looking grille and a flush fitted star badge.

Do these features relate to trim, suspension levels etc? I had read one person online say that cars fitted with the hood ornament denote different suspension setups, but is that true?

Are all trim items / extras specifiable from new or are there some things that mean 'this car is (X) trim level therefore it will have these other features'

I hope that this makes sense, any advice is welcome, or if anyone has a link to a brochure or something for 2011-2014 era cars to explain it fully I'd appreciate it!

 

[WilliamMaldivess211]

If you are talking about the w204 c class - the ones with the bonnet ornament were the pre-facelift cars: 2007-2011. The ones with the big badge on the grill and no ornament were post facelift cars that were launched in 2011, but only for the 2012 model year I think. The post facelifts not only looked different they also had different engine and gearbox options and different interior components, etc...
Pre facelift:

Post facelift:


Also it is very common for people to swap their old grills for newer style ones - untasteful in my opinion - but each to there own. And even worse when they have the bonnet ornament and star - no cars should have that from factory.

This is similar for the w212 e class, etc...

 

[FiveAlive]

The pictures in the previous post has the pre- and post-facelift cars swapped: the headlamps with a wavy curved top are post-facelift. Grill badge or bonnet ornament was dependent on trim regardless of facelift status. I had a pre-facelift car at the time and the sporty trim had a grill badge from the factory, with the base and luxury versions having the bonnet ornament.

Wikipedia seems to have some trim general information, or I suggest doing a Google search for a a brochure PDF - there are several web sites that archive old brochures.

And yes, both grill badge and bonnet ornament are the height of bad taste!

 

[WilliamMaldivess211]

The pictures in the previous post has the pre- and post-facelift cars swapped: the headlamps with a wavy curved top are post-facelift. Grill badge or bonnet ornament was dependent on trim regardless of facelift status. I had a pre-facelift car at the time and the sporty trim had a grill badge from the factory, with the base and luxury versions having the bonnet ornament.

Wikipedia seems to have some trim general information, or I suggest doing a Google search for a a brochure PDF - there are several web sites that archive old brochures.

And yes, both grill badge and bonnet ornament are the height of bad taste!

Yes you’re totally correct - my mistake, sorry. The ones with the bonnet ornament are the classic and elegance ones - these will be the softer suspension lower spec ones and the ones with the badge on the grill are avantgarde and AMG - probably slightly firmer and ‘better handling’.

https://ragtop.org/mbbrochures/2012/ireland/20110511C-Class_WS204_0611_021.pdf

Link to a brochure

 

[MikeInWimbledon]

Agreed: Classic and Elegance will generally be the more compliant suspension, while Avantgarde and, later, Sport will be firmer suspension....

But: all are softer than their BMW MSport equivalents

And: tyre choices can make a big difference: small wheels = more compliant ride, bigger rims: firmer ride. And, generally, folks tend to switch to bigger rims than came out of the factory.

And: some people chose different suspensions to go with the cosmetics. An Elegance with Sports suspension, or an Avantgarde with non-Sport suspension

 

[Rubyred]

You can never have too many stars!

 

[hebdenwill]

Thanks for the contributions all, I'll be keeping my eye out for a facelifted Elegance spec then!

 

[ALFAitalia]

You can never have too many stars!

To me that just looks wrong....one or the other....not both. Also the bonnet star looks out of place on most of the modern Mercedes....IMO!

 

[SpikyMikey]

Seeing the brochure link posted earlier reminded me that there is a good online resource for brochures for not just MB but many other brands here:
https://autocatalogarchive.com/

 

[GeeJayW]

Facelift C220d Coupe

 

[WilliamMaldivess211]

Facelift C220d Coupe
View attachment 173596

Very nice - but could be a bit of a gamble for the OP to go for red paint. I park next to a facelift w204 most days in red and for a 50,000 mile car the paint is peeling on most panels.

 

[GeeJayW]

Very nice - but could be a bit of a gamble for the OP to go for red paint. I park next to a facelift w204 most days in red and for a 50,000 mile car the paint is peeling on most panels.

Oh, I would definitely not recommend the Fire Opal Red. The one pictured was our 15-plate that we’d had from new. It developed micro-blistering in 2016/17. Traded it for our current S205 in 2017. Meant to say that when I posted the pic, but was a bit keen on the post reply button

PS - Much as we like the S205, we really enjoyed the coupe, great seats, comfortable, decent performance and handling, reasonably practical (though really not good getting child-seats in and out of the back).