What does the C stand for in our model designations? Searching through different forums I saw a few people suggest it stands for compact, but the German word would be kompakt, in which case I would be driving a K230, which I obviously am not. I could not find any words starting with a C when I looked up kompakt in a German thesaurus.

There's no way the Germans would assign a letter that doesn't mean anything, any ideas?

Compact it is.

The krauts have a habit of using English words in place of the German equivalant.

Ever heard the German word for airbag? English is used for these types of technical terms these days, for obvious reasons.

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'90 300SE 298k
-300K and it gets put into retirement.
'80 300D 255k Purchased new by family in 1980.

Had a:
1973 220 (gas)
1980 300SD
1992 400E

It used to mean Coupe. Now it just means who knows.

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You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows - Robert A. Zimmerman

Back in the days when the numbers were the leading characters of the model designation (300E, 560SL, etc.) the letters all had a specific meaning that distinguished the model based on a feature. For example, the "E" stood for Einspritzung which means "Fuel Injection" and was used to distinguish a car from a model with the same engine displacement that had a carburetor. Back in those days there was little to get confused by since the sedans came in only two chassis - the big, luxurious "S" class (""="Sonderclasse", or "Special" class in that role) and the smaller cars with no chassis designator. Two door models of the sedan chassis were denoted by adding a "C" at the time, so you got a 300CE for a two door model of a non-"S" class sedan with a fuel injected 3 liter engine, or a 560SEC to note a two door model based on the "S" class sedan with a 5.6 liter engine. A "D" meant a Diesel engine, no "D" was understood to be a gas engine. "SL" with the "S" adjacent to the "L" meant "Sport Leicht" for "Sport and Light" meaning a lightened version of a sedan chassis tuned for sporty driving. "SEL" was a "S" class sedan with a fuel injected engine and a 4 inch lengthened wheel base. And so forth.

Then, emissions standards standardized fuel injection, and there was the birth of the 190E or W201 chassis. This car caused some confusion in its designations, and so did the fact that all gas engined sedans
were now sporting an "E" on the rear. A marketing genius solved all this by deciding the middle of the line chassis, which was sold over here as the 300E, 260E, 320E, 300CE, 320CE, 300TE, 320TE, and I think, 300E 2.8 should be the "E" Class. This spawned the "A" class designator for the smallest MB sold in Europe, the "C" class for the 190E replacement size car, the "M" class for the SUV, the "K" designator for shortened wheelbase versions (when used as the last letter - right after the numbers the first letter can modify the engine designation, such as a C230K, which is a an engine with a supercharger or "Kompressor").

So the present "C" designator in front of the numbers that have also been perverted by the marketing department and no longer represent the actual engine displacement, just some engine displacement you might be familiar with, means the "C" size chassis. Jim

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Own:
1986 Euro 190E 2.3-16 (291,000 miles),
1998 E300D TurboDiesel, 231,000 miles -purchased with 45,000,
1988 300E 5-speed 252,000 miles,
1983 240D 4-speed, purchased w/136,000, now with 222,000 miles.
2009 ML320CDI Bluetec, 89,000 miles

Owned:
1971 220D (250,000 miles plus, sold to father-in-law),
1975 240D (245,000 miles - died of body rot),
1991 350SD (176,560 miles, weakest Benz I have owned),
1999 C230 Sport (45,400 miles),
1982 240D (321,000 miles, put to sleep)

What about the supercharged C230 sedan? Is it taken for granted then that the sedan is, by definition, Kompressor?

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You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows - Robert A. Zimmerman

I believe the word "Kompressor" on the opposite side of the trunk is part of the model designation. A C230 without the "K" or the word Kompressor on the trunk as well would be a normally aspirated 2.3 4 cylinder, or, maybe a 1.8 liter engine called a 230 to make you comfortable. The newer model designators with random engine displacement figures are getting more confusing. Maybe to make up for that the marketing types figured spelling "Kompressor" out was a better choice than "Kurtz" for the shortened wheelbase designation on a SLK or CLK, as one had to be spelled out to avoid confusion with the letters, while the numbers can have no meaning anymore.

Jim

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Own:
1986 Euro 190E 2.3-16 (291,000 miles),
1998 E300D TurboDiesel, 231,000 miles -purchased with 45,000,
1988 300E 5-speed 252,000 miles,
1983 240D 4-speed, purchased w/136,000, now with 222,000 miles.
2009 ML320CDI Bluetec, 89,000 miles

Owned:
1971 220D (250,000 miles plus, sold to father-in-law),
1975 240D (245,000 miles - died of body rot),
1991 350SD (176,560 miles, weakest Benz I have owned),
1999 C230 Sport (45,400 miles),
1982 240D (321,000 miles, put to sleep)

in some cases, even the numbers do not mean anything anymore:
* the 400E has a 4.2li engine
* the later C230 Kompressors had 1.8li engines
* the C240 has a 2.6li engine
* the ML350 has a 3.7li engine

Yes, it's sad that they went to the "Class" system instead of keeping the old model designation. I got a chuckle when I read a story about an MB owner being convinced that the E500 must be a better car than the E55 because the number was so much larger. I still prefer to use the chassis codes instead of the model designations.

C = "Cheap". At least on the sports-coupe.

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1987 300SDL (324000)

1986 Porsche 951 (944 Turbo) (166000)

1978 Porsche 924 (99000)

1996 Nissan Pathfinder R50 (201000)

As far as some of the current model numbers being wrong (ML350 with a 3.7l, etc.) I have heard that shortly all models will have direct injection engines with slightly smaller displacement delivering more power more efficiently than the current engines. The are using the future engine size in the numbers now cause who would want to buy a 350 when last years model was a 370? Again - pure marketing.

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Jason Priest
1999 E430
1995 E420 - retired
1986 420SEL - retired

Yeah, save money on badge engineering!

I can't believe the M112/113 engines will have such a short run. Can't believe it. Not even ten years.

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You don't need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows - Robert A. Zimmerman