453 2014–2021 2nd-gen Forfour (Renault Twingo platform)

2014–2021 Smart Forfour (453, 2nd gen)

Gas (1.0L M281 3-cyl or 0.9L turbo) or 17.6 kWh EV (453 EQ Forfour), rear-engine RWD, 5-speed manual or 6-speed twinamic DCT

Is this you? If your Smart has four doors, was sold from 2014 onward, and the engine sits behind the rear seats — congratulations, you bought the smartest Forfour ever made.

Jump to manuals & downloads ↓ First 30 days checklist

About this generation

The 453 Forfour is the second-generation four-door Smart, sold in Europe, the UK, and several other markets from 2014 through 2021. Like the 454 before it, it was never imported into North America. The Forfour name went dormant for eight years between the 454's exit in 2006 and the 453's arrival in 2014, and when it came back the formula had changed completely.

The 453 Forfour is the Renault Twingo III with a Smart badge. Mercedes and Renault co-developed the platform from the start, the cars were built side-by-side at Renault's Novo Mesto plant in Slovenia, and the engineering philosophy — rear-mounted three-cylinder engine, rear-wheel drive, no front intrusion of mechanicals — is shared between the two badges. This is the opposite of the 454/Colt situation: the 454 was a Mitsubishi pretending to be a Smart, and the 453 Forfour is a Renault that happens to share its bones with a Smart Fortwo. Mechanically, the 453 Forfour and the 453 Fortwo are siblings — same M281 1.0L and 0.9L turbo three-cylinders, same twinamic DCT, same suspension geometry stretched to four doors. Mechanically, the 453 Forfour and the Renault Twingo III are twins — most parts cross-reference one to one, and Twingo parts are widely available and cheap across Europe.

Why does that matter for ownership? Because the 453 Forfour is the easiest Smart to keep alive of any chassis ever sold. Every M281-related fix you'd do on a 453 Fortwo applies here — P0303 valve-cover oil seepage, twinamic DCT teething issues on early builds, B00A068 passenger-occupant sensor faults — and the four-door body adds its own short list of items: rear door window regulators, rear seatbelt buckle wiring chafe, hatch strut failures. None of it is unusual for a small EU hatch. All of it is well-documented. Parts come from three channels: Mercedes-Benz UK/EU for Smart-badged items, Renault dealers for Twingo cross-references (often cheaper), and AutoDoc/Mister-Auto for aftermarket. Pick the cheapest of the three and the same physical part shows up.

The 453 EQ Forfour is the electric variant, sold from 2017 onward — same 17.6 kWh battery and 80-hp motor as the 453 EQ Fortwo, just stretched to four seats. Range is short by modern standards (around 96 mi WLTP, less in winter). The honest case for a used 453 EQ Forfour is the same as for any 453 EQ: short daily commutes, home charging, and a clear-eyed view that the battery isn't getting younger. Buy a 453 Forfour because you want a small, four-door, rear-engine, well-engineered EU hatch with cheap Renault-side parts and an interesting drivetrain layout. It's the most overlooked Smart, and arguably the best one.

Quick specs

Engine options
  • 1.0L M281 3-cylinder (naturally aspirated, 71 hp / 68 lb-ft) — base petrol, EU standard
  • 0.9L M281 turbo 3-cylinder (89 hp / 100 lb-ft, also Brabus 109 hp tune)
  • 0.9L Renault TCe turbo 3-cylinder (alternative to the M281 turbo in some markets, ~89 hp)
  • Electric drive (453 EQ Forfour): 17.6 kWh battery, 80 hp, ~96 mi WLTP range
Gearbox
5-speed manual or 6-speed twinamic DCT (Getrag 6DCT150, dual-clutch). Same gearbox family as the 453 Fortwo. EQ models have a single-speed reduction gear.
MPG / Range
44–55 MPG combined (gas, varies by engine) · ~96 mi WLTP range (453 EQ Forfour)
Length
11 ft 3 in (3,495 mm) — between the Fortwo's 8 ft 10 in and the 454 Forfour's 12 ft 5 in
Weight
2,090–2,360 lb (950–1,070 kg) depending on engine and trim. EQ Forfour adds ~330 lb of battery.
Fuel
Premium unleaded (95 RON in EU) for both petrol M281 variants. Brabus tune prefers 98 RON. EQ takes any standard EV charging connector (Type 2 AC, optional CCS DC fast charging on later builds).
Built in
Novo Mesto, Slovenia (Renault plant — shared production line with the Renault Twingo III)
Seats
4 (4-door hatchback only — no Cabrio, no Coupe variant)
Cargo
6.4 ft³ behind the rear seats, 35 ft³ with the rear bench folded. Small for a four-seater because the engine sits under the rear cargo floor.
Safety
Tridion safety cell, dual front airbags, knee airbag, side curtains, crosswind assist, ABS and ESP standard

Downloads & resources

The manuals, diagrams, and quick references that ship with this chassis. PDFs open in a new tab; on-site pages are owner-to-owner walkthroughs.

Manuals Introduction into Service Manual (453 Fortwo + Forfour) · PDF · 122 pp Workshop Manual (453) · PDF · 4,180 pp
Diagrams Fuse Allocation Diagram (453) · PDF · 4 pp Fuse Box Layout — owner-to-owner walkthrough
Reference Smart Media (Touchscreen) Guide · PDF · 77 pp Standard Radio Guide · PDF · 42 pp Fluids & Capacities reference Maintenance Schedule Pre-Purchase Inspection Checklist

Missing a manual you'd expect to see? Email us — if it exists, we'll add it.

Trims & variants — what each one meant

Smart's trim names look interchangeable across generations, but they mean slightly different things on each chassis. Here's what the labels actually got you on the Forfour (453, 2nd gen).

  • Pure

    Base trim. Steel wheels, manual A/C, cloth seats, base radio. The 'I just want a small four-door rear-engine Smart' option. EU/UK volume seller.

  • Passion

    Mid-trim and the most common 453 Forfour spec. Alloys, automatic climate, leather wheel, cruise. The default 'comfortable Forfour' spec.

  • Prime

    Top trim short of Brabus. Heated leather, panoramic glass roof, ambient lighting, premium audio. The 'I want the nice Forfour' spec.

  • Brabus

    The factory hot-rod version. Same 0.9L turbo with the 109 hp Brabus tune, sport suspension, Brabus wheels, body kit, sport interior. Driving feel is meaningfully sharper than a Passion or Prime. Production was modest — these are not common cars.

  • Brabus Xclusive

    Top of the Brabus tree. Leather everywhere, the highest specification, badged accordingly. The collector spec. EU-mostly, very few in the UK secondary market.

  • EQ Forfour (electric variant)

    Not a trim per se — a separate powertrain variant sold from 2017 onward. 17.6 kWh battery, 80 hp electric motor, single-speed reduction gear. Available in Pure, Passion, and Prime equipment levels. Worth its own paragraph in the FAQ.

The first 30 days

If you just bought a Forfour (453, 2nd gen), this is the order to do things in. Stay ahead of these and you'll save yourself a lot of money.

  1. Cross-reference everything to the Renault Twingo III

    The 453 Forfour shares its platform, engines, gearboxes, suspension, and most body-in-white with the Renault Twingo III. When you need a part, search both the Smart catalog and the Twingo catalog. The Twingo-side price is often lower for the same physical part. AutoDoc and Mister-Auto handle this cross-reference in their search; Renault dealers can also order Twingo parts that fit your Forfour without question. This is the single biggest cost-saver for a 453 Forfour owner.

  2. Drive the twinamic the way it wants to be driven

    If you have the 6-speed twinamic DCT, treat it like a real dual-clutch: ease off the throttle just before upshifts at part throttle so the trans can pre-engage the next gear smoothly. Stop-and-go from 5–15 mph is where DCTs are weakest — some shudder is normal, but a hard hesitation isn't. Early-build (2015–2017) cars had software-related harsh-shift complaints that a dealer flash and DCT relearn fixed. If yours still shifts harshly, ask whether the latest software update has been applied.

  3. Confirm fluid levels and quality

    Engine oil to Mercedes 229.51 spec (0W-30 or 5W-30 for the M281 family), coolant to Mercedes 326.0 spec, brake fluid (DOT 4), and twinamic gearbox oil to MB 236.21 if it's the DCT. The twinamic claims a lifetime fill, but owners 80,000+ km in report smoother shifts after a service. EQ owners: check the 12V auxiliary battery date code separately from the traction battery — the aux battery is what runs the SAM, and it ages like any 12V AGM.

  4. Find the service history

    Ask the seller for the maintenance booklet or look for the Mercedes-Benz online service record. Watch for missed oil intervals, missing brake fluid flushes, no DCT service. If the prior owner skipped maintenance, you'll inherit the bills. Mercedes-Benz UK and EU dealers can pull records by VIN even years later — a service writer at any MB dealer can do this, even ones who don't service Smarts anymore.

  5. Register for recall alerts

    Plug your VIN into the [DVSA recall lookup](https://www.gov.uk/check-vehicle-recall) for UK-registered cars or your national EU agency. The 453 family has had recalls for fuel pumps, airbag inflators, and a few body items — most of which apply to both the Fortwo and Forfour because the cars share components. Recall repairs are free at any Mercedes-Benz dealer regardless of how many owners back the campaign was issued.

  6. Find an indie before you need one

    Mercedes-Benz dealer service for Smart shrank globally after smart's restructuring. Some dealers still handle the cars enthusiastically; others quietly don't. The single most useful workshop type for a 453 Forfour is a Renault specialist who has heard of Smart — they'll know the platform and they'll have the diagnostic tools that read both Mercedes and Renault modules. Failing that, an independent Smart specialist (smart-club.co.uk has a UK shop list) is the next-best option.

  7. Read your specific Owner's Manual and the Workshop Manual

    The 453 Workshop Manual is 4,180 pages and most of the engine, gearbox, and electronics content applies directly to the Forfour even though the manual is Fortwo-titled — the cars share the platform. The Media Guide and Standard Radio Guide are separate and worth bookmarking. PDF links are in Downloads & Resources above.

  8. Take a baseline scan

    A Foxwell NT530 or iCarsoft MB v4.0 reads Smart-specific modules (engine, transmission, ABS, SAM, airbag/SRS) the way a generic OBD2 reader can't. The 453 Forfour shares its module architecture with the Fortwo, so any guide written for Fortwo scanning works on your Forfour. Pull all module faults once, save the report, and you have a starting point.

Join the communities

Smart left North America in 2019. The communities below are how owners keep these cars on the road today — tribal knowledge, shop recommendations, parts swaps. Join two or three and lurk for a week before posting.

Global

  • Evilution.co.uk Forum

    The deepest enthusiast-run Smart resource on the web. Coverage of the 453 Forfour is lighter than the Fortwo but the engine and gearbox content overlaps almost entirely. Worth subscribing.

  • smartcarforums.com Forum

    Long-running multi-region forum. The 453 Forfour archive is smaller than the Fortwo's but the search index is useful — much of what applies to the Fortwo applies here.

  • @SmartCarVideos (this site) YouTube

    670+ curated videos organized by generation and job type. M281 engine and twinamic DCT videos apply directly to the Forfour.

  • Evilution YouTube YouTube

    Companion channel to the website. Concise, hands-on, no filler. M281 content applies to both 453 bodies.

North America

  • No North American 453 Forfour community note

    The 453 Forfour was never sold in North America. Smart Car of America is the regional forum but you won't find Forfour owners in volume here. The few NA examples are private imports.

UK & Europe

  • Smart 453 Owners (Facebook) Facebook

    Login required, worth it. Mixed Fortwo and Forfour but the 453 Forfour owners post regularly. Most direct match for this page.

  • smart-club.co.uk Forum

    UK-focused, all chassis. The 453 sub-forum is active and the Forfour-specific threads are easy to find.

  • Smart Car Owners UK (Facebook) Facebook

    Login required, worth it. UK indie shop recommendations and Brabus enthusiast posts. 453 Forfour content is regular.

  • Renault Twingo III community (twingoforum.co.uk) Forum

    Underrated tip: the Twingo III community knows your platform better than most Smart specialists do. Search Twingo forums for engine, gearbox, and electrical issues — the answers translate one-to-one.

Australia

  • Smart Car Australia (Facebook) Facebook

    Login required, worth it. AU 453 Forfours are mostly private imports. Group is mixed-chassis and helpful for local parts sources.

Watch this stuff before you wrench

A handful of videos that'll save you an afternoon — @SmartCarVideos first, then the deep enthusiast channels.

Browse the full Video Library →

Top maintenance items

The owner-friendly jobs that keep this chassis running. Each card is a deeper guide on this site.

Engine oil & filter change

View guide →

Spark plug replacement

View guide →

Auxiliary 12V battery (453-specific)

View guide →

Twinamic DCT service

View guide →

Brake pad replacement

View guide →

Cabin air filter

View guide →

Browse all maintenance guides →

Common problems & what to watch

The things that actually fail on this chassis. Cards link to deep guides with cheap-first checks and parts pricing.

P0303 cylinder-3 misfire — valve-cover oil leak fouling the coil (M281, applies to Forfour)

DIY first

Diagnose code →

P0741 — torque-converter clutch / DCT clutch fault (twinamic, applies to Forfour)

Shop

Diagnose code →

P0128 with harsh shifts — thermostat + DCT relearn pattern (applies to Forfour)

DIY first

Diagnose code →

B00A068 — passenger occupant weight sensor fault (applies to Forfour)

Shop

Diagnose code →

B152014 — F2K5 starter relay short in the SAM (applies to Forfour)

Shop

Diagnose code →

Browse all fault codes →

Recalls

Recall repairs are free at any Smart-authorized Mercedes dealer regardless of how many owners back the campaign was issued. Look up your VIN below.

Outside the US?

The NHTSA database only covers US-market Smarts. For other regions:

Buying one? Look at these first.

Known weak points

  • M281 valve-cover oil seepage on the 1.0L (and 0.9 turbo). Same fault as the 453 Fortwo. Oil works its way down to the cylinder 3 ignition coil and triggers a P0303 misfire. Pull the engine cover and look for shiny oil around the cam-cover gasket. ~£25 part, ~1 hour DIY if caught early. The fix is identical between Fortwo and Forfour because it's the same engine.
  • Twinamic DCT teething (early build). 2015–2017 Forfours with the twinamic were prone to harsh shifts at low speed and occasional P0741 torque-converter clutch faults — same as the Fortwo. Most resolved with a software flash and DCT relearn at the dealer; some needed mechatronic work. Test-drive specifically: stop-and-go from 5–15 mph, smooth roll-off, both directions on a slope. Shudder or hesitation is the fault, not normal DCT behaviour.
  • Passenger occupant sensor (OCS) cluster faults. B00A068 / B00A07B / B00A096 surface together when the passenger-seat weight pad fails. Airbag light stays on and the passenger airbag goes inactive. Replacement is a Smart-experienced shop job — the part is matched to the SRS module. Same pattern as the Fortwo.
  • Auxiliary 12V battery aging. The 453's small AGM aux battery powers the SAM, central locking, and start function on petrol cars, and runs the entire 12V side of the EQ. It tends to die at 4–6 years. Symptoms: intermittent no-start, weird module errors on cold mornings, dash warnings that clear on a jump. Replace with the correct AGM, not a generic flooded battery.
  • Rear door window regulators. Forfour-specific. The plastic window regulator clips on the rear doors are the failure point — the window slows, then stops, then drops into the door panel. Replacement regulators are inexpensive (Twingo cross-reference works fine) and the swap is a 90-minute DIY per door. If you have a 453 Forfour with original rear window regulators past 80,000 km, plan for this.
  • Rear seatbelt buckle wiring chafe. Forfour-specific. The rear seatbelt buckle wiring runs through the seat frame and chafes against the structure over time. Symptom is an intermittent airbag warning lamp that comes and goes with seat movement. The fix is rewiring the affected harness section — moderate DIY job once you know what to look for. Twingo III owners report the same pattern.
  • Hatch strut failures. Forfour-specific. The two gas struts that hold the rear hatch open age and lose pressure. The hatch starts dropping unprompted, eventually it won't stay up at all. Replacement struts are a £15 pair, and the swap is a 10-minute DIY. A genuinely small thing but a daily quality-of-life item.

Pre-purchase test drive checklist

  1. Cold-start the car yourself. The first 60 seconds tell you about misfires, lifters, and exhaust leaks.
  2. Pop the engine cover (yes — it's behind the rear seats, under the boot floor) and look for oil sheen around the valve cover and on the coil packs. Oil there means a P0303 is coming.
  3. If twinamic: drive in stop-and-go from 5–15 mph and pay attention to the DCT. Smooth = good; shuddering or hesitation = potential mechatronic issue.
  4. Climb a 5%+ grade from a stop. The DCT should engage smoothly without a long slip.
  5. Cycle each rear door window up and down. Listen for the regulator clip slowing or catching — the early sign of the failure.
  6. Open the rear hatch and let it sit. If it drops within 30 seconds, the gas struts are gone (cheap fix, but a negotiating point).
  7. Press hard on each fender and the bonnet. Listen for creaks — Tridion mounts and body bushings can wear.
  8. Plug in a Foxwell NT530 or iCarsoft MB v4.0 and pull all modules. Stored history codes tell you what the seller cleared.
  9. Cycle through every electrical accessory: all four windows, mirrors, A/C, heated seats if equipped, the touchscreen, navigation, panoramic roof.
  10. On EQ Forfour: check the traction battery state-of-health if the seller has the data, and test charging at home or a public AC point. A car that won't take a Type 2 charge has a problem with either the onboard charger or the inlet.
  11. Check the auxiliary 12V battery date code. If it's 5+ years old, factor in a replacement.
  12. Verify the maintenance booklet or pull a Mercedes-Benz online service record. Skipped intervals are the single biggest predictor of future bills on these cars.

Full PPI walkthrough →

Accessories & aftermarket

Pre-filtered searches at the big vendors. We don't take a cut on these clicks today — if you'd rather we did, tell us.

Find accessories: Top Amazon Finds ↗ Top eBay Finds ↗ Top AliExpress Finds ↗

Where to buy parts

Region-by-region. OEM via Mercedes is always available; the alternates below are owner-vetted.

United States

United Kingdom

  • smartmania.co.uk UK Smart specialist. Carries 453 Forfour service items. Strong stock for the M281 engine and twinamic gearbox parts.
  • Mercedes-Benz UK Parts OEM Smart-badged parts via UK MB dealer network. Reliable but priced at the Mercedes premium.
  • Renault UK dealer parts Underused channel. Most engine, gearbox, suspension, and chassis parts on the 453 Forfour cross-reference to the Twingo III. Renault UK can often supply the same physical part for less. Bring the cross-referenced Twingo part number.

European Union

  • AutoDoc Pan-European. Wide aftermarket catalog with EN/DE/FR/IT/ES/NL/PL UI. Very strong on Twingo III parts that fit the Forfour.
  • Mister-Auto France-based, ships across EU. Excellent Twingo and Smart catalog overlap.

Australia

  • Mercedes-Benz Australia Parts OEM via AU MB dealer network. The 453 Forfour was not officially sold in AU, so stocking is limited.
  • Renault Australia parts For the engine, gearbox, and most chassis parts, the Twingo III cross-reference may be available through Renault AU. Confirm part numbers before ordering.

Find a Smart-experienced mechanic

Curated directory of 130+ shops across the US, Canada, UK, and Europe that actually work on Smarts — not just every Mercedes dealer that took the franchise. The map is owner-recommended, vetted before listing, and updated as shops open and close.

Open the Mechanic Directory →

Stuck? Ask SmartDiag-AI.

Tell SmartDiag what your Forfour (453, 2nd gen) is doing — or paste a code. It'll work the cheap-first checks with you, weight likely causes against community-known patterns, and cite the workshop manual for each suggestion. The link below pre-fills your chassis.

Try SmartDiag-AI →

Frequently asked questions

  • Is the 453 Forfour really a Renault?
    Mechanically, yes. Mercedes and Renault co-developed the Twingo III / 453 Forfour platform from the start, the cars are built side-by-side at Renault's Novo Mesto plant in Slovenia, and most under-the-skin parts cross-reference one-to-one. The Forfour gets Mercedes-specific styling, badging, electronics calibration, and the 453 Fortwo's suspension geometry stretched to four doors. But if you take it to a Renault Twingo specialist, they'll know exactly what they're working on. This is the opposite of the 454 / Mitsubishi Colt situation — there, the 454 was a Mitsubishi pretending to be a Smart. Here, the 453 Forfour is a real Smart that happens to share its bones with a Renault, by design.
  • Was the 453 Forfour ever sold in the US or Canada?
    No. No Smart Forfour of any generation was ever imported to North America. Smart NA had the Fortwo only. The 453 Forfour is EU/UK/AU/Asia-only. Under the US 25-year import rule, the earliest 453 Forfours become eligible for legal US import in 2039.
  • Is the 453 Forfour basically a 453 Fortwo with two extra doors?
    Mechanically, mostly yes. Same M281 engines, same twinamic DCT, same suspension geometry, same SAM and module architecture. The Forfour is longer, has a bigger boot, takes four people, and is slightly heavier — but the engine, gearbox, and electrical work you'd do on a 453 Fortwo applies almost identically to your Forfour. The main Forfour-specific items are the rear doors (window regulators, seatbelt wiring) and the longer body.
  • Does it really need premium gas?
    Yes. Mercedes specifies 95 RON (or 91 octane US-equivalent) for the 453's M281 engines, naturally-aspirated and turbo. The Brabus tune prefers 98 RON. Running lower octane isn't catastrophic but the engine will pull timing and you'll lose 2–4 mpg. Just budget for premium.
  • Can I work on a 453 Forfour myself?
    Most owner-level maintenance — oil, filters, spark plugs, brake pads, cabin filter, aux battery, hatch struts, window regulators — is straightforward. Where it gets harder: the engine sits behind the rear seats and under the rear cargo floor, so any deep engine work involves dropping the rear subframe. The twinamic DCT, the SRS / occupant-sensor system, and any traction-battery work on the EQ are shop jobs unless you have specific experience.
  • Is the 453 EQ Forfour worth buying used?
    Honestly, only in narrow circumstances. The 17.6 kWh battery and ~96 mi WLTP range were already short in 2017; on a 7-year-old example you're looking at 70–80 mi summer and 50–60 winter. Battery thermal management is limited. For a daily round-trip under 50 miles with home charging, it's a fun second car. As a primary vehicle in 2026, no — get a Renault Zoe or a newer EV instead.
  • Where do I buy parts when my Mercedes dealer can't help?
    Cross-reference everything to the Renault Twingo III parts catalog. Most engine, gearbox, suspension, and chassis parts on your 453 Forfour carry Twingo part numbers and are available through Renault dealers and EU aftermarket channels. AutoDoc handles the cross-reference automatically. The Smart-badged trim, the SAM module, and the dashboard are the only areas where you genuinely need the Mercedes parts channel.
  • Are 453 Forfours reliable?
    More than the Fortwo on the same platform, in my read of the EU forum traffic. The Forfour body is more conservative, the use case is more 'normal small hatch' than 'urban runabout,' and the cars seem to be driven less aggressively than Brabus Fortwos. The M281 quirks are real (P0303, twinamic teething), but they're known, well-documented, and inexpensive to fix. Stay current on maintenance, do the M281 valve-cover seal proactively, and a 453 Forfour will run past 200,000 km without drama. The Twingo III community is full of high-mileage examples and they tell the same story.
  • Why didn't Smart bring the 453 Forfour to North America?
    Smart NA's volume on the Fortwo was already marginal, and adding a four-door variant would have meant additional certification cost, dealer training, parts inventory, and marketing for a model that competes with much larger and cheaper compact hatches in the US — segments where the rear-engine layout and the small footprint don't translate to a real advantage. By 2017 Smart was already pulling out of NA gas-engine sales entirely, and the Forfour never even got considered. It remains EU-and-elsewhere only.