Generally speaking, the history of AMG — the performance division of Mercedes-Benz — has been a history of going faster. The genesis of the AMG brand began when Mercedes pulled out of racing after the Le Mans disaster of 1955, leaving two of the company's engineers looking for a way to continue developing Mercedes-based racing efforts. The result was that Hans Werner Aufrecht (the "A") and Erhard Melcher (the "M") started their joint project in the German city of Großaspach (the "G") and, in 1967, founded their own company. (AMG moved to its current home, Affalterbach, in 1976.)
Although originally launched with a motorsports focus, AMG would eventually turn to pumping up production models, leading to the launch of a long list of myth-making vehicles that ranged from the 1986 Mercedes-Benz 300E AMG 5.6 — perhaps better known as the Hammer — to the gull-winged Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG coupe to the Mercedes-AMG ONE with an F1 powertrain and a top speed of 219 mph. (You'll probably never see one on the road in the U.S., but it is street-legal in Europe.) And at the heart of cars like these were handcrafted, finely tuned engines specifically developed to deliver race-ready thrills for their drivers. Which might make you wonder how the Mercedes-Benz C30 CDI AMG ended up with a diesel under its hood from 2002 to 2004.
Of course, it looks like shoppers at the turn of the millennium were similarly confused. Fewer than 800 examples were sold during its brief production run. Sure, a certain rarity is part of the AMG experience, but this probably wasn't what Mercedes had in mind with the C30 CDI.
What was AMG thinking?
The early 2000s were a heady time for diesel enthusiasts, thanks in part to the development of a new kind of diesel-injection system. The difference between the newer, common-rail setups and the traditional mechanical-injection diesels promised improved performance and fuel economy, and it sparked some notable interest from automakers and drivers alike. Remember, in the years before Dieselgate, not only Mercedes-Benz but also many other brands had light-duty diesel entries on the market. (To be clear, though, the C30 CDI did not come to America.)
Yet given the state of the industry at the time, the idea of a diesel-powered AMG makes some sense — especially since Mercedes could leverage the legendary engine-tuning expertise of its performance team. The starting point wasn't exactly promising, however. Mercedes chose an engine from its Sprinter commercial van as the foundation for the C30's powertrain. Originally displacing 2.7 liters, the motor was a turbocharged five-cylinder unit that was completely AMG-ified for use in the C30. Among the highlights were upgrades to the cylinder heads, pistons, glow-plug system, and oil pump. A new crankshaft with longer throws was introduced to extend the engine's stroke. In the end, the C30's mill had grown in displacement to 3.0 liters, and with an upsized turbo compared to the standard one, it could pump out 228 horsepower and a steep 398 pound-feet of torque — propelling the C30 to 60 mph in about 6.8 seconds with a top speed that was electronically limited to 155 mph.
Moreover, like typical AMG models, the C30 CDI was envisioned as the complete package. Backed by AMG-enhanced suspension and braking components, carving the corners came easy.
What went wrong?
The numbers just didn't add up for the Mercedes-Benz C30 CDI AMG. Right off the bat, that 0 to 60 sprint time simply wasn't up to expectations. The gasoline-powered version of the C30, the C32 AMG, featured a supercharged V6 that could get up to 60 in a mere 4.9 seconds — almost 2 seconds quicker than the turbodiesel AMG car. Plus, that lack of get-up-and-go was compounded by a high asking price.
The C30 CDI originally stickered from €49,590, which is the equivalent of €83,327 today. In freedom money, that's a starting price in 2002 of roughly the same number of dollars, but with a current value closer to $91,500. Either way, it was a lot of money for a car without standard leather seats or a CD changer — particularly when the C32 came standard with heated power leather front sport seats, Bose audio, a sunroof, and more for an original MSRP of $50,400. The C30 looks like a particularly tough sell when you compare it to a rival like the 2004 BMW M3.
That year, the iconic E46 M3 was under $48K with a 3.2-liter inline-six engine kicking out 333 horses and 262 pound-feet of torque. But despite giving up all those pound-feet of twisting strength, the lighter-weight M3 could reach 60 in 4.8 seconds with its manual transmission or in 5 seconds with the automatic. True, it's no E46 drag car with Chevy big-block power, but that means even the base M3 would still out-race the C30 CDI by a nearly 2-second margin.
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