Did you know that Mercedes made a diesel-powered AMG?

Image credits: Mercedes-Benz

Long before BMW and Audi made performance versions of their big diesel executive cars, Mercedes did it first. Forget your S6 TDI’s, M340d’s and diesel Porsche Panamera’s, Mercedes did it first in the form of the C30 CDI AMG. 

The story of the diesel AMG begins in the 1980s, when AMG was still a separate company. It took a humble, Spanish-built second-generation MB 100 van and gave it the full AMG treatment, utilising both the 2.4-litre inline-four OM616 diesel and the 3.0-litre inline-five OM617 diesel. Aside from AMG fettled engines, the boxy van was given AMG styling, new headlights and sporty Alcantara seats. I feel this peculiar van needs its own article at some point…

Anyway, the C30 CDI AMG

When Mercedes introduced the W203 generation of C-Class, it was available as a saloon, estate and a coupe, which really was more of a glorified hatchback. Engine choices included petrol and diesel, in inline four and five, V6 and V8 guises.

The engine we’re looking at is the somewhat peculiar OM612 inline-five diesel, which found its way into everything from the Sprinter van to the W210 E-Class. In the C-Class, it was badged as the C270 CDI, which delivered 168 bhp and 295lb-ft of torque. 

Most of the base engine was thrown away at AMG’s workshop in Affalterbach and was heavily, heavily modified. The engine grew from 2.7-litres to 3.0-litres, which saw a dramatic rise in power, to 228bhp and 376lb-ft of torque. This doesn’t sound like much, but it was enough to propel the compact executive saloon from 0-62mph in 6.8 seconds, and a top speed of 155mph, while returning 37mpg. Considering this was 2003, those numbers are quite impressive. 

Elsewhere, the chassis was basically the same as the C32 AMG, as was the styling. The C30 CDI AMG was available in all three body styles, but not the similar CLK. There’s no official Nürburgring lap time for the C30 CDI AMG, but the excellent website fastestlaps.com reckons the car would lap the 12.9-mile circuit in about 8 minutes 47 seconds, which would put it on par with a contemporary Honda Civic Type R.

But did it sell?

In short, no. By the time the C30 CDI AMG went on sale in 2003, Mercedes priced it at just under €50,000 (about €80,000 in 2025 money), which went up against the E46 M3, and the year after, the V8-powered Audi S4 was launched. 

Seems like people weren’t prepared to buy a performance diesel saloon at the time, with production ending in 2004, the year after it was introduced.

The C30 CDI AMG was only sold in mainland Europe, with the UK never getting a right-hand drive model, and of course, North America never got it.

Despite BMW and Audi making fast diesels since, Mercedes never bothered making another fast diesel, instead focusing on petrol-powered AMGs, including the wacky R63 AMG. More recently, AMG have ventured into hybrid and electric powertrains, which, erm, have gone well. I’m looking at you, C63 S E-Performance…