C218 identifies the four-door body of the second-generation CLS, not a particular engine or equipment level. Mercedes-Benz explicitly labels it “CLS-Class, 4-door Coupé – C 218” in its archive. “Four-door coupé” is the manufacturer’s description of the concept, not a claim that it has two doors. This page uses that documented C218 designation, rather than treating W218 as an interchangeable code. The related five-door CLS Shooting Brake is X218: both belong to the 218 series, but they are different bodies.[1][2]
Four doors, four seats—and a separate five-door sibling
The second-generation CLS made its world première at the Paris motor show in autumn 2010, with the initial market launch following at the beginning of 2011. Its long bonnet, frameless side windows and falling roofline continued the original CLS idea: coupé styling with four-door access. The rear compartment had two individual seats, rather than a three-person bench.[1]
The X218 Shooting Brake arrived later: a June 2012 unveiling at Brooklands, followed by European showroom availability that October. Its five doors and five seats distinguish it from the C218. Even memorable CLS details need the right body attached: the optional designo wooden luggage-compartment floor belongs to the Shooting Brake story, not the four-door coupé.[2]
Lightweight doors, not an all-aluminium car
One of the C218’s less obvious innovations was its doors. Mercedes-Benz describes their frameless, all-aluminium construction as a first for its passenger cars, saving 24 kg across the doors. Aluminium was also used for the bonnet, front wings and boot lid.[1]
That does not make the whole body aluminium. The same archive account says more than 70 per cent of the bodyshell’s sheet metal consisted of high-strength or ultra-high-strength steel alloys. This was a mixed-material design: lighter outer parts and doors alongside a steel-intensive safety structure. The engineering is more interesting than an indiscriminate “aluminium body” label.[1]
Pre-facelift: the badges already changed
At the beginning of 2011, the archive records the CLS 350 BlueEFFICIENCY petrol V6 and CLS 350 CDI BlueEFFICIENCY diesel V6. The four-cylinder CLS 250 CDI BlueEFFICIENCY and V8 CLS 500 BlueEFFICIENCY followed that spring; these regular models used 7G-TRONIC PLUS. This is the manufacturer’s historical range account, not a promise that every country offered every version.[1]
There were changes before the facelift. BlueEFFICIENCY suffixes disappeared from the corresponding model names in 2013, while BlueTEC diesel versions and the CLS 63 AMG S-Model also appeared during the pre-facelift period. A shorter badge, “BlueTEC” or an AMG “S” therefore cannot, by itself, date a car to the facelift.[1]
Nor did “63” specify a 6.3-litre engine: the C218 CLS 63 AMG introduced in 2011 had a 5.5-litre biturbo V8, unlike its predecessor of the same sales name. Its AMG SPEEDSHIFT MCT seven-speed transmission used a wet clutch—another reason not to describe every C218 simply as having the same seven-speed automatic.[1]
The 2014 facelift is not a new CLS generation
The mid-2014 update retained the 218 family. Look for the revised front styling and the freestanding central display rather than assuming a different chassis generation. The regular facelift cars gained a diamond-pattern grille; AMG versions instead received their own twin-blade grille and “A-Wing” front apron.[3][4]
Calendar year and model year are different labels. Mercedes-Benz’s American material describes the extensive revision as an upgrade for 2015. Its 2015 US brochure lists CLS 400, CLS 550 and CLS 63 AMG S 4MATIC, illustrating why a European CLS 500 badge is not a universal sales name.[3][4]
The gearbox also needs a model attached. In the US 2015 brochure, the rear-wheel-drive CLS 550 had the new nine-speed automatic, while the CLS 400 and CLS 550 4MATIC retained seven speeds. The US 2016 announcement then records the nine-speed’s arrival in the CLS 550 4MATIC. “Facelift equals nine-speed” is therefore too broad.[3][4]
LED does not automatically mean MULTIBEAM
The pre-facelift CLS already offered LED High Performance headlamps with Intelligent Light System functions; the archive lists them as optional on regular models and standard on the CLS 63 AMG.[1] The facelift brought MULTIBEAM LED, with a matrix of 24 individually controlled LEDs in each high-beam module. This is a later system, not a retrospective name for the original LED lamps.[5]
Our MULTIBEAM LED explanation covers how it shapes the beam and why later versions differ. For a particular C218, check the market, model year and equipment record: the 2015 US brochure, for example, places ACTIVE MULTIBEAM LED in option packages for the regular cars but lists it as standard on the AMG. The chassis code alone establishes none of those choices.[4]
Sources
- Mercedes-Benz Public Archive, 218 series CLS Coupés, 2010–2014: launch, body construction, seats, model names, transmissions and pre-facelift lighting.
- Mercedes-Benz Public Archive, 218 series CLS Shooting Brake, 2012–2014: X218 identification, unveiling, European launch and body-specific equipment.
- Mercedes-Benz USA, Trend-Leading Mercedes-Benz CLS Gains Enhanced Performance and Efficiency for 2016, Plus Upgraded Connectivity, Fall 2015, pp. 1–3: US model-year changes and revised cabin.
- Mercedes-Benz USA, 2015 CLS-Class brochure, PDF pp. 5, 11, 14, 22, 28. Manufacturer-authored US brochure preserved by an independent brochure archive.
- Mercedes-Benz Poland, MULTIBEAM LED – nowa jakość oświetlenia, 24 June 2014: CLS introduction and 24-LED high-beam modules.