M274

Mercedes-Benz launched its four-cylinder family in both orientations at once in late 2011, and the M274 is the longitudinal half: the rear-drive cars, which in practice meant the W205 C-Class, the W212 and W213 E-Class, the GLK and GLC, the R172 SLC, the X-Class pickup and the Vito-based vans. Displacements of 1.6 and 2.0 liters match the transverse M270, as do the third-generation piezo injection at 200 bar and the CAMTRONIC valve lift. What differs from the engine it replaced is a duplex timing chain, in place of the single-row chain that had caused the M271 so much grief.

Two things set it apart. Mercedes-Benz sold it to a competitor: Infiniti fitted the two-liter M274 to the Q50, Q60 and Q70, and it went into the Nissan Skyline in Japan — a Stuttgart four-cylinder wearing a Nissan badge in Nissan’s home market. And it carried the company’s first broad wave of plug-in hybrids, the C 350 e, E 350 e and GLC 350 e all pairing it with an electric motor. In C 300 form it took a place on WardsAuto’s 10 Best Engines list for 2017.