2007 Mercedes-Benz C-Class

midsize luxury car / 4-door sedan

2007 Mercedes-Benz C-Class 4-door sedan

Crashworthiness

Rating overview
Moderate overlap front: original test
Side: original test
Head restraints & seats

Other available safety features

  • Standard daytime running lights

Key

  • G
    Good
  • A
    Acceptable
  • M
    Marginal
  • P
    Poor
  • Superior
  • Advanced
  • Basic

Some ratings use a scale of Poor to Good. Others range from Basic to Superior.

Moderate overlap front: original test

Rating applies to 2001-07 models

Tested vehicle: 2001 Mercedes-Benz C 320 4-door

The Mercedes C class was redesigned for the 2001 model year.

Overall evaluation
Structure and safety cage
Driver injury measures
Head/neck
Chest
Leg/foot, left
Leg/foot, right
Driver restraints and dummy kinematics

Action shot taken during the frontal offset crash test.

The dummy's position in relation to the steering wheel and instrument panel after the crash test indicates that the driver's survival space was maintained very well.

Smeared greasepaint indicates where the dummy's head hit the B-pillar and head restraint during rebound. Head accelerations from these hits were low.

There was little change in the position of the dummy's feet following the crash test. Footwell intrusion was minimal, and injury risk was low.

Technical measurements for this test

Measures of occupant compartment intrusion on driver side

Test ID CF00033
Footwell intrusion
Footrest (cm) 2
Left (cm) 2
Center (cm) 3
Right (cm) 2
Brake pedal (cm) 2
Instrument panel rearward movement
Left (cm) -1
Right (cm) 0
Steering column movement
Upward (cm) 2
Rearward (cm) 0
A-pillar rearward movement (cm) 0

Driver injury measures

Test ID CF00033
Head
HIC-15 251
Peak gs at hard contact 44
Neck
Tension (kN) 2.0
Extension bending moment (Nm) 32
Maximum Nij 0.32
Chest maximum compression (mm) 33
Legs
Femur force - left (kN) 4.2
Femur force - right (kN) 4.3
Knee displacement - left (mm) 7
Knee displacement - right (mm) 1
Maximum tibia index - left 0.46
Maximum tibia index - right 0.42
Tibia axial force - left (kN) 2.1
Tibia axial force - right (kN) 3.4
Foot acceleration (g)
Left 54
Right 57

How the moderate overlap front test is conducted

Side: original test

Rating applies to 2006-07 models

Tested vehicle: 2005 Mercedes-Benz C 240 4-door with standard front and rear head curtain airbags and standard front and rear door-mounted torso airbags

The Mercedes C class was redesigned for the 2001 model year. Modifications were made to the front seats and side airbags beginning with 2005 models to improve occupant protection in side-impact crashes. Beginning with 2006 models, the side airbags designed to protect rear passengers' torsos became optional (standard in 2005 models).

Overall evaluation
Structure and safety cage
Driver injury measures
Head/neck
Torso
Pelvis/leg
Driver head protection
Rear passenger injury measures
Head/neck
Torso
Pelvis/leg
Rear passenger head protection

View of the vehicle and barrier just after the crash test.

View of the vehicle after the crash with doors removed, showing the side curtain airbag and damage to the occupant compartment.

Action shot taken during the side impact crash test showing the driver dummy's head was protected from being hit by hard structures by the side airbags.

Smeared greasepaint shows where the rear passenger dummy's head was protected by the side curtain airbag. Also shown is the door-mounted torso airbag, standard on the tested 2005 model, but optional beginning in 2006.

Technical measurements for this test

Measures of occupant compartment intrusion on driver side

Test ID CES0413
B-pillar to longitudinal centerline of driver's seat (cm) -8.0
Negative numbers indicate the amount by which the crush stopped short of the seat centerline.

Driver injury measures

Test ID CES0413
Head HIC-15 288
Neck
Tension (kN) 1.5
Compression (kN) 0.4
Shoulder
Lateral deflection (mm) 59
Lateral force (kN) 2.2
Torso
Maximum deflection (mm) 54
Average deflection (mm) 45
Maximum deflection rate (m/s) 5.93
Maximum viscous criterion (m/s) 1.28
Pelvis
Iliac force (kN) 0.7
Acetabulum force (kN) 1.6
Combined force (kN) 2.3
Left femur
L-M force (kN) 0.2
L-M moment (Nm) 78
A-P moment (Nm) 48

Passenger injury measures

Test ID CES0413
Head HIC-15 142
Neck
Tension (kN) 0.2
Compression (kN) 1.0
Shoulder
Lateral deflection (mm) 24
Lateral force (kN) 1.0
Torso
Maximum deflection (mm) 27
Average deflection (mm) 23
Maximum deflection rate (m/s) 2.62
Maximum viscous criterion (m/s) 0.30
Pelvis
Iliac force (kN) 3.3
Acetabulum force (kN) 1.7
Combined force (kN) 5.0
Left femur
L-M force (kN) 0.6
L-M moment (Nm) 59
A-P moment (Nm) -22

How the side crash test is conducted

Head restraints & seats

Seat type: Seats with auto-adjust head restraints AHR

Overall evaluation
Dynamic rating
Seat/head restraint geometry
Technical measurements for this test
Seat type Seats with auto-adjust head restraints AHR
Geometry
Backset (mm) 50
Distance below top of head (mm) 5
Seat design parameters
Pass/fail Pass
Max T1 acceleration (g) 14.9
Head contact time (ms) 63
Force rating 2
Neck forces
Max neck shear force (N) 181
Max neck tension (N) 650

How the head restraint & seat test is conducted
Currently, IIHS tests apply only to front seats.