It's the OM642 V6 diesel. Perfectly decent engine, and Sprinters have been using it in the U.S. for a number of years. I have one in a 2008 E320 Bluetec.

I would suggest buying an E350 gasser and skipping the diesel, for a couple of reasons. Primarily because the operating cost simply isn't low enough to justify the extra expense. The w212 bluetec uses adblue Diesel Exhaust Fluid (DEF). There is a tank in the trunk which must be refilled each time the car is serviced (10K miles). The dealer will charge approx $200 for the refill, in addition to the service costs. This alone goes a long ways toward negating any fuel cost savings.

The adblue tank replaces the spare tire. So the car is equipped with runflat tires. Runflats are very expensive to replace and generally don't provide very good ride, noise, or handling.

The other downside is risk of expensive repairs. The bluetec engine has a number of features to improve economy and exhaust emissions that don't exist on a gasoline engine. One is the Diesel Particulate Filter (DPF). DPF collects and burns the soot - you'll never see smoke out the back of the bluetec. It works great, but sometimes they clog and must be cleaned or replaced. A DPF replacement is $3K, give or take. The bluetec also uses common rail high pressure injection. I have read of instances of expensive repairs caused by water contamination or bad fuel that were impressively expensive to repair. Do some googling, though of course take what you find with a large grain of salt. In summary, diesel engines have gotten much more complex than gasoline engines, and correspondingly the risk and cost of repairs is higher. In the U.S., I don't feel the fuel cost savings justify the diesel.

That said, I do own a 2008 (w211) E320 bluetec - the spouse likes diesel cars, what can I say? It has been a great car, and relatively trouble free. The older w211 does not use adblue, so there is some cost savings, and of course it has a spare tire.

My $.02, though probably not worth that much...

- JimY