Mercedes-Benz’s compact executive saloon, sold since 1993 as the replacement for the 190 and the entry point into the three-pointed star.[1] Six generations have followed, each keeping the same formula: a smaller, cheaper E-Class, engineered to the same standard rather than a diluted one.
This entry covers two of them: the original W202 of 1993, the car that introduced the C-Class name and its first AMG performance model, and the third-generation W204 of 2007, the version that finally brought a proper naturally aspirated V8 AMG saloon within reach of an E46 M3’s price. The two generations in between (W203 and W205) and the current one are gaps in this catalogue, not omissions from the car’s history.