Just bought a C350 estate with the M276 V6 petrol

[john493]

Looks quite rare in the UK, I've just bought a 2011 C350 estate with the M276 engine, 128,000 miles on the clock.
Got the feeling I'm going to have questions very soon.
First job is a respray of the stone chipped bonnet

 

[SpikyMikey]

Looks quite rare in the UK, I've just bought a 2011 C350 estate with the M276 engine, 128,000 miles on the clock.
Got the feeling I'm going to have questions very soon.
First job is a respray of the stone chipped bonnet

There aren't many around - pictures would be nice when you have the chance.

 

[A Serlin]

Looks quite rare in the UK, I've just bought a 2011 C350 estate with the M276 engine, 128,000 miles on the clock.
Got the feeling I'm going to have questions very soon.
First job is a respray of the stone chipped bonnet

I'm looking at a C350 Coupe with 115k miles, so I'd be eager to know what your ownership experience has been like since you purchased your estate with the same engine.

 

[philnewmerc]

Sounds nice Would like to know what mpg you get and if you considered or had a test drive in the c350 diesel? I'm thinking of either one in about a year's time. According to the stats they seem to be identical in performance, not too dissimilar in mpg, but the diesel perhaps faster in the real world due to torque? But on the ither hand diesels have more to go wrong.... ?

 

[john493]

In mixed driving, the facelift C350 with M276 engine works out at 28-30 mpg. Thus far I've had some paintwork done to the bonnet and rear bumper, so it's looking a lot smarter now. A decent drivers car with lots of toys and performance, while still being a useful dog-wagon. It came with the Command audio system which is high quality but dated; I fitted a Carplay conversion bought from AliExpress for about £140. Fortunately pretty easy to fit and set up, because the instructions were poor. By far the most tricky part of the install was refitting the existing head unit into the dash - this is because the Carplay kit comes with a harness that connects to the existing head unit with a very big plug - there is quite limited space to refit the head-unit without fouling the plug - I did it eventually and it works ok - next job is to fit a reversing camera.
Interestingly, there don't appear to be any C class W204 estates with the M276 engine on Autotrader. There are 2 E class with this engine & 1 C class coupe, that's it. Looks like there are plenty in the USA though.

 

[philnewmerc]

Cheers. Sounds like a great choice.

I ended up with the c350cdi and am pretty happy with it. Mpg so far has been 34-35 but that has been with a dodgy engine thermostat which has just been fixed so that might improve a little (I hope ). I will update when I know.

 

[ALFAitalia]

Nice car.....but £710 road tax?.....ouch.

 

[TC350]

Nice car.....but £710 road tax?.....ouch.

Eh! My 2012 C350 saloon with the M276 engine was £240 when I taxed it last March.

 

[DSM10000]

Nice car.....but £710 road tax?.....ouch.

If that is the cost of the RFL it's less than £2 a day.

 

[TC350]

In mixed driving, the facelift C350 with M276 engine works out at 28-30 mpg. Thus far I've had some paintwork done to the bonnet and rear bumper, so it's looking a lot smarter now. A decent drivers car with lots of toys and performance, while still being a useful dog-wagon. It came with the Command audio system which is high quality but dated; I fitted a Carplay conversion bought from AliExpress for about £140. Fortunately pretty easy to fit and set up, because the instructions were poor. By far the most tricky part of the install was refitting the existing head unit into the dash - this is because the Carplay kit comes with a harness that connects to the existing head unit with a very big plug - there is quite limited space to refit the head-unit without fouling the plug - I did it eventually and it works ok - next job is to fit a reversing camera.
Interestingly, there don't appear to be any C class W204 estates with the M276 engine on Autotrader. There are 2 E class with this engine & 1 C class coupe, that's it. Looks like there are plenty in the USA though.

My saloon version gives about the same result overall, but the vast majority of driving is short local trips where the engine doesn’t have time to heat fully. On a long run it regularly returns over 40mpg, and I don’t hang around!

The saloon version is nearly as rare as the estate. MBUK only had it available for a very short time here in the UK, with the coupe being the most popular because of its more sporty image. But even those are few and far between. Most owners feel the same as me and like them so much that we don’t want to let them go. I’ve had mine from new.

I specced mine well when I ordered it (including the Dynamic Handling Package) but later regretted not going for a reverse camera as well. I had one fitted a couple of years ago for a reasonable price.

My latest addition was a dash cam that cost me the princely sum of £49 a couple of months ago. It fits in place of the plastic cover behind the rear view mirror, getting its power by tapping into the wiper sensor feed. The only difficulty was getting the new cables to fit into the restricted space.

Enjoy your great car.

 

[TC350]

Sounds nice Would like to know what mpg you get and if you considered or had a test drive in the c350 diesel? I'm thinking of either one in about a year's time. According to the stats they seem to be identical in performance, not too dissimilar in mpg, but the diesel perhaps faster in the real world due to torque? But on the ither hand diesels have more to go wrong.... ?

When I was looking into buying one new, I had the use of a diesel version for 24 hours. I was more impressed with it than I’d expected. Then I swapped it for the petrol version for 24 hours. Even better.

The power band on the petrol is noticeably wider, but I’ve only ever owned petrol cars so that may have been a factor of what I was used to. What was even more impressive with the petrol was how much smoother it was than the excellent diesel. And the sound was vastly superior. I can’t say I noticed any lower torque issues, but then I didn’t tow anything.

I like the M276 engined car so much that (after a bit of haggling) I signed on the dotted line. That was 13 years ago and I still have the car and still love it. What’s more, I don’t annoy the neighbours when I start it!

 

[ALFAitalia]

Eh! My 2012 C350 saloon with the M276 engine was £240 when I taxed it last March.

That's odd..... some definitely are £710....look on AT....... there must be different emissions level versions

 

[TC350]

That's odd..... some definitely are £710....look on AT....... there must be different emissions level versions

Perhaps it’s the pre-facelift versions with completely different engines that push out higher CO2 levels that you looked at. The M276 engine in the facelift versions owned by the OP and me are direct injected 60 degree V6s introduced in the C- class in late 2011, as opposed to the 90 degree M272 predecessor. A number of other emission lowering changes were made to the facelift version. Our cars just squeeze into band G for RFL.

 

[fabes]

M272 can be higher RFL.

M276 is lower.

I had it for 3 years in my 2012 coupe and it was great (nox sensor aside)
So good, I essentially got the same again, albeit with twin turbos attached in the E400

Low to mid 20s around town, but high 30s to mid 40s on a run and reliable (nox sensors aside- grrrr....)
I had a res delete on it and that helped a little more with the V6 howl when pushing the pedal

Great engine in an estate.
Pictures.....?

 

[philnewmerc]

Cheers. Sounds like a great choice.

I ended up with the c350cdi and am pretty happy with it. Mpg so far has been 34-35 but that has been with a dodgy engine thermostat which has just been fixed so that might improve a little (I hope ). I will update when I know.

Now fixed, still giving 34 mpg !

 

[RAJ55]

Looks quite rare in the UK, I've just bought a 2011 C350 estate with the M276 engine, 128,000 miles on the clock.
Got the feeling I'm going to have questions very soon.
First job is a respray of the stone chipped bonnet

I recently bought the exact same car too. A 2011 C350 estate. Do you still have yours?

 

[philnewmerc]

I recently bought the exact same car too. A 2011 C350 estate. Do you still have yours?

Out of curiosity have you calculated your mpg brim to brim?

 

[RAJ55]

Out of curiosity have you calculated your mpg brim to brim?

Not yet, just filled it up the other day. Im used to driving a SL55 daily so this seems economical lol

 

[RAJ55]

@john493 how you finding yours?

 

[TC350]

I recently bought the exact same car too. A 2011 C350 estate. Do you still have yours?

I have the C350 saloon version with the M276 engine. I bought it new in early 2012 and I still love it.