#w 202 #w202 #c180
Mercedes-Benz W202 is the internal designation for a compact sedan/saloon manufactured and marketed by Mercedes-Benz between 1992–2001, as the first generation of the C-Class, now in its fifth generation. Replacing the 190 series/W201 in June 1993, the C-Class sedan was Mercedes' entry-level model until 1997, when the company launched the A-Class. Production reached 1,847,382 over model years 1994–2000.
Models Covered: C180 saloon & estate, C200 saloon & estate, C220 saloon & estate, C230 Kompressor saloon & estate, C240 saloon & estate, C280 saloon & estate, AMG C36 saloon, AMG C43 saloon, C220/220CDi diesel saloon & estate, C250 diesel/turbo diesel saloon & estate.
Four-cylinder diesel models were equipped with the same OM601 engine of the 190, in the 2.0 L. Many of these diesel variants were sold as taxis, due to their low fuel consumption and strong reliability. There were also more powerful OM605 five-cylinder engines which were available in naturally aspirated and turbocharged forms. The turbodiesel was introduced in 1995 and is one of the novelties in the engine range available from this year. The most important was a supercharged version of the M111 straight four, the C 230 Kompressor, using a Roots-type supercharger to generate 193 PS at 5300 rpm: Mercedes-Benz reused supercharger technology after 50 years. Due to the tax law in Italy and Portugal, models in those countries featured a supercharged version of the smaller 2.0 L , which had a similar output of the C 230 Kompressor.
The 1997 diesel models featured the OM611, equipped with a common rail direct injection system.The new model was named C 220 CDI, and had an improved output of 30 PS compared with the C 220 Diesel, better fuel average and lower emissions. Also, the inline six engines were replaced by a family of V6, the M112. The new engines featured SOHC heads instead of the previous DOHC, three valves per cylinder instead of four, and twin sparkplugs. The four-cylinder C 230 was replaced by the C 240 and the I6 C 280 by the V6 C 280. These changes reduced emissions and improved fuel consumption, without sacrificing power .
In the last four years of production, the W202 received a few changes in the choices of engine. In 1998, a less powerful version of the 2.2 L turbodiesel was added, called C 200 CDI, which replaced the C 220 Diesel. In 2000, the C 200 Kompressor's output was cut to 163 PS , the C 240 displacement was enlarged from 2.4 L to 2.6 L, but output remained at 170 PS and the C 180 got a 2.0 L engine.
The original W202 came standard in Germany with a five-speed manual and four-speed automatic transmissions optional. In the United States, automatic transmission was standard, with manual available as a delete option . The four-speed automatic was the 722.4 version of the 4G-TRONIC. In 1996, this old transmission-released in 1981-was replaced by a five-speed automatic, the 722.6 or 5G-TRONIC, which received a manual shift mode in 1999. In 2000, with the T-Model only remaining on sale, the RWD C 240 was available with the optional six-speed G56 manual from the W203.
In 1995, the C-Class received its first genuine performance model, the C 36 AMG, to counter the new six-cylinder BMW M3. The C36 AMG accelerates to 60 mph from a stop in 5.8 seconds and top speed was electronically limited to 250 km/h . Unlimited Top Speed was recorded at 272 km/h . Only a total of 5200 C36 AMGs were produced.

In late 1997 AMG released a new flagship for the C-Class, the C 43 AMG, powered by a 4.3 L V8. The C43 AMG can achieve a 0–100 km/h time in 5.7 seconds for the saloon version and 5.9 seconds for the estate. The C43 was the first C-Class to be equipped with a Mercedes-Benz V8 engine.