efzauner

Just in case some people are still promoting aftermarket as not being the same as MB OEM.
Air filters from R350.. and other MB gas engines.
same product number C3698

note the dates as well. The used on came from a 2011 R350 with 50Kkm on it. seems filter was never changed, or old stock was used. but it was not that dirty.

AsianR350

I have been used Mann Filter which is the same as MB OEM except the MB logo and half of the price.(Mann Mfr. made air filter for MB).

Pete S

There are quite a few things MB doesn't make rather they provide specs for some company to make. Mann makes a lot of their filters, Shell and Febi make a lot of the fluids and Bosch makes a ton of stuff also.

I consider aftermarket filters brands like Fram, Purolator, K&N.

AsianR350

K&N is good but I am not a fan of Fram or Purolator.

Pete S

Here is my take on K&N filters. If you are investing the money to have the ability to wash them and re-oil to make them last a lifetime I think it is worth the money, but if you are buying it thinking you are getting increased performance because it lets a greater volume of air through then I think you are buying it for the wrong reasons. No matter what the amount of air getting through the filter it is going to bottleneck at the throttle body, IMO the MB engineers already have figured out the max amount of air that is needed to get through to the throttle by designing the OE filters.

Now if you have done work to the car i.e. porting and polishing the throttle body and adding a more free flowing exhaust then yes you will be taking advantage of the increased air flow provided by the K&Ns.

Just my 2 cents I know opinions vary greatly on this and this is just mine.

josworth

To repeat...

The OEM filter is a Mann filter.... Mann just stamps the star on the Mercedes one... LOL

The oil filter is Mann as well along with the cabin filter...

Amazon always has very good pricing on them...

efzauner

I find it rather funny that people think it would be so childlishly easy to improve performance by simply using a different filter. What the engineers would give to get a few HP or fraction of mpg improvement. I am sure they have looked at every avenue.


I believe that there is a "feel good" factor with aftermarket performance gear that translates to a false perception of improvement. "oh yeah I get better throttle response now, it must be due to the improved breathing of that expensive filter" It is not a double blind test!

freewheel

i tend ( but i'm just bored and so just thinking out loud here ) to agree with efzauner here...

IF just changing the filter ( or polishing any part possible ) would be SO mutch of an improvement ( or ANY imporovement at all ) then i think at least Mercedes ( okok, honda civic are cheap, but mercedes...com on ) ingeniers woud have tried it ( consider the cost of sutch mods, it's really nothing againt a mercedes pricing with even eletric Trunk windows...... ).... dont you think ?? i'm thinking the same for the super tuning chips.......IF it's SO easy, SO cheap, SO not harmfull for the engin, then WHY does mercedes did not think about giving my 210 HP engin some 30 HP more for what, 0.5 percent of the cars price ?????

just thinking out loud here

i'm not stupid, i know you can get as mutch as 165 HP from a 750cc engin ( know a guy that did it on his snowmobile ) BUT engine is burn out after 20 000 km..........

efzauner

No doubt retuning the chip would increase HP at a fuel economy cost. There are many things that can be done... if you do lots of them. you get.. drum roll.. and AMG engine.


Can they do incremental changes to boost HP at a small increase in cost? Sure, but they can do many things to the entire car package too. The hard part is deciding where to add the extra $100 that will be perceived by potential customers to be enough value to buy the car vs it's competitors. I would love to have a gas V8 in this car. (had a diesel R320 nice power but the noise made me clench my teeth every time) but you have CAFE and... cost of gas. I am one of the few that gets gas paid by my employer so I don't care.

freewheel

i would like my employer to do so !!!!! lucky you !

efzauner

haha get a job in sales with a car allowance!
The sad thing is that I get to drive 30K miles a year... my nice cars don't last long.

josworth

I will counter that statement with some experience.. It actually used to work on many cars. Why?? Because engineers had to balance NVH with performance. So, while a unrestricted short ram intake would make the car respond better... it would also increase the noise the engine produced, and Granny would not by a Civic or Camry that growled every time she accelerated from a stop light. So, bolt in some goodies and bingo.. better performance...

But that all started to change with technology. Everyone now uses adaptive technology. It started in transmission software and has moved to the engine management software as well. It used to be only found in the premium market but now is everywhere. Basically, the engine is programmed to maintain a certain level of emissions and economy. When a variance in parameters is detected, it adapts to them and retunes to compensate (basically how VW cheated as well) and maintain that base line performance.

So now.. people do all kinds of things.. change throttle bodies, add intake and exhaust kits... all that will get you is noise.... and in many cases worse performance.. again, the computer compensates...

The only way now to really impact performance is through the computer itself. Depending on the engine, there is a lot of potential in tuning. Again, take away the engineers restriction of NVH, and there is untapped potential. One of my favorite daily drivers was my now departed 07 Chrysler 300C. Despite it's cheap looking interior it was a really nice balanced full size sedan. The 5.7 V8 made a nice 345HP and was attached to the robust Mercedes 5 speed auto. With a modified intake and "canned" tune I was able to boost it up to 378HP. Granted I had to run premium and mileage suffered but man was that car a blast!! All in, the modifications ran me all of $300 (be willing to buy second hand).

I know.. a little wordy.. but bottom line is today if you bolt anything on all you are doing is changing the looks and noise... unless you program it to take advantage of the changes...

efzauner

short ram intake: kinda fake name... RAM intake refers to an actual aerodynamically designed air intake designed to use forward car motion to increase the pressure to the engine. Short Ram intake.. well is just a regular air intake. Sure maybe less restriction, colder air etc. I used to be in the car audio/auto performance business so I know what they are. Looked pretty sure.. may have increased HP by a percent or so. Remember that intake length, as well as exhaust tuning does make a difference...but may also make your HP peaky. Today many cars have variable length intakes or even resonant cavities designed in. Remember that so much of this industry is incestuous: Magazines need to report positive tests and reviews because they rely on advertisement revenues from all these aftermarket product companies.. Did you ever read a review in a major performance magazine *this stuff looks pretty but doesn't work much* no product really ever gets a bad review.

josworth

@efzauner, I think we are pretty much on the same page on this stuff...

My major point is that bolt on stuff worked a little before adaptive computers.. now they don't do anything.

Before adaptive computers, you are correct in the gains were small for bolt on stuff. There was only a little potential without modifying the engine. But it did do something.

I guess my main disagreement is that everything is set up by the factory to perform optimally. It is more set up to reach the best compromise while being smooth, quiet, and efficient. If you are willing to give up a little in one or more of those areas most engines can be tuned to greater performance...

...... and the HP number after the tune I did was verified on a dyno and not a magazine. I don't know what the gain was. The base line was Chrysler's advertised HP for the 5.7. For all I know my particular engine may have been putting out closer to 350HP instead of the safe advertised 345.

So wow have we ever drifted

marc hanna

In my experience, if starting off with a moderately well tuned car, such as an AMG, it costs about $100CAD per 1Hp gain.

Personally, I like K&N type filters, but not for any Hp gain, but rather for the service intervals and slight fuel economy improvement.

ppatti

+1 josworth!!

8AL8

did anyone had airflow test reports on comparison results?

efzauner

WOW Talk about Easter old thread resurection!

There is not much incentive to do such objective tests.. let us know if you find one.

Sveina

There isn't any point. The difference isn't someting you will percieve. The truly most interesting thing about an air filter is how good it filtrates. A good air filter is the engines best oil filter.