Reconditioned Mercedes Gearbox on an exchange basis

2.2 CDI in 5 or 6 speeds: two distinct gearboxes depending on the engine code, not just the year

On Mercedes models fitted with the 2.2 CDI, looking up a gearbox by year of first registration is not enough. A OM611 (Classe C or Vito from the early 2000s) and an OM651 (Sprinter or Vito post-2010) share the same engine capacity but do not take the same gearbox. The OM651 itself comes in OM651.912, OM651.916 and OM651.924 variants, with gearbox pairings that can differ depending on the vehicle. On the Sprinter in particular, the wide range of body configurations — panel van, minibus, chassis cab — multiplies the mechanical variants for any given model year.

The engine families that define the Mercedes range

The catalogue covers eleven models, from the MB100 (1988) to the GLA (up to 2021), exclusively in 5- and 6-speed manual gearboxes. On the diesel side, four generations of 2.2 CDI coexist (OM611, OM646, OM651 and its variants), while the 2.0 CDI is based on the OM640 family (OM640.940, OM640.941, OM640.942), found mainly on the Vito and Citan. The 3.0 CDI V6 OM642 (GLK, Classe E, heavy Sprinter) is a family in its own right, with five distinct sub-codes. At the other end of the range, the 1.5 CDI found in the Citan and Classe B uses the OM607, derived from the Renault K9K block, and consequently shares its gearbox with the Renault platform — a critical identification point that is frequently overlooked.

Petrol: the M270 covers three applications, the M266 covers two

On the petrol side, the M270 (Classe A W176, Classe B W246, CLA) appears under three designations depending on output: M270.910, M270.920, and the turbocharged version M270 DE16 AL. The M271 Kompressor (1.8, codes M271.940 and M271.944) is fitted to different generations of the Classe C and SLK and requires a gearbox specific to that architecture. The M266 (2.0, codes M266.960 and M266.980) applies to the Classe A and Classe B of the W169/W245 generation. Mixing up the M266 and M270 on a Classe A is a common mistake when carrying out a replacement: the two engines do not share the same gearbox interface. The reconditioned gearbox offered here is available on an exchange basis or as a rebuild of your own unit, depending on the references.