Basis of Presentation and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (Details 3) (USD $)	3 Months Ended
Mar. 31, 2015	Mar. 31, 2014
Changes in accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) by component
Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss), balance at beginning of period	$ 15,865,000	$ 30,078,000
Gain (loss) recognized in other comprehensive income (loss), net of tax	(11,864,000)	880,000
Loss reclassified from accumulated other comprehensive income (loss), net of tax	460,000	438,000
Other comprehensive income (loss) attributable to Exterran stockholders	(11,404,000)	1,318,000
Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss), balance at end of period	4,461,000	31,396,000
Interest expense	27,298,000us-gaap_InterestExpense	28,308,000us-gaap_InterestExpense
Provision for (benefit from) income taxes	16,491,000us-gaap_IncomeTaxExpenseBenefit	9,409,000us-gaap_IncomeTaxExpenseBenefit
Derivatives Cash Flow Hedges
Changes in accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) by component
Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss), balance at beginning of period	(911,000)	(1,346,000)
Gain (loss) recognized in other comprehensive income (loss), net of tax	(1,502,000)	(254,000)
Loss reclassified from accumulated other comprehensive income (loss), net of tax	460,000	438,000
Other comprehensive income (loss) attributable to Exterran stockholders	(1,042,000)	184,000
Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss), balance at end of period	(1,953,000)	(1,162,000)
Loss recognized in other comprehensive income (loss) related to change in fair value of derivative financial instruments before tax	2,300,000	400,000
Tax benefit of loss recognized in other comprehensive income (loss) related to change in fair value of derivative financial instruments	800,000	100,000
Derivatives Cash Flow Hedges \| Reclassification adjustments \| Interest rate hedges
Changes in accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) by component
Interest expense	700,000	600,000
Provision for (benefit from) income taxes	(200,000)	(200,000)
Foreign Currency Translation Adjustment
Changes in accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) by component
Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss), balance at beginning of period	16,776,000	31,424,000
Gain (loss) recognized in other comprehensive income (loss), net of tax	(10,362,000)	1,134,000
Other comprehensive income (loss) attributable to Exterran stockholders	(10,362,000)	1,134,000
Accumulated other comprehensive income (loss), balance at end of period	$ 6,414,000	$ 32,558,000

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Accumulated change in equity from transactions and other events and circumstances from non-owner sources, net of tax effect, at period end. Excludes Net Income (Loss), and accumulated changes in equity from transactions resulting from investments by owners and distributions to owners. Includes foreign currency translation items, certain pension adjustments, unrealized gains and losses on certain investments in debt and equity securities, other than temporary impairment (OTTI) losses related to factors other than credit losses on available-for-sale and held-to-maturity debt securities that an entity does not intend to sell and it is not more likely than not that the entity will be required to sell before recovery of the amortized cost basis, as well as changes in the fair value of derivatives related to the effective portion of a designated cash flow hedge.

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Amount of current income tax expense (benefit) and deferred income tax expense (benefit) pertaining to continuing operations.

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Amount of the cost of borrowed funds accounted for as interest expense.

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Amount after tax, before reclassification adjustments of other comprehensive income (loss).

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Amount before tax of increase (decrease) in accumulated gain (loss) from derivative instruments designated and qualifying as the effective portion of cash flow hedges and an entity's share of an equity investee's increase (decrease) in deferred hedging gain (loss).

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Amount of tax expense (benefit), before reclassification adjustments, related to increase (decrease) in accumulated gain (loss) from derivative instruments designated and qualifying as the effective portion of cash flow hedges and an entity's share of an equity investee's increase (decrease) in deferred hedging gain (loss).

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Amount after tax of reclassification adjustments of other comprehensive income (loss).

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