Has anybody located a K & N filter for our C230's ?

 

i looked on the K&N website and it was not avalible for the c230 coupes right now so i e-mialed them and they wrote me back saying that its not avalible yet but it will be so i should keep checking back. But i did see that it was avalible for the c230 sedans up to the year 2001 which have the same engine so i wonder if they would work. i never asked K&N but maybe someone else on this board will know. Or mabe even the filters from the slk230 anyone know if its the same exact thing for the coupes i am not sure.???

 

actually i once spoke to renntech and they told me that they have K&N filters for the c230 coupes i remember they were pretty expensive but thats probolly because its from renntech but if they have them and they are not out for the coupe from K&N maybe they are using the ones from the older c230 sedan or the ones for the slk230 but this is all a guess i am not really sure.

 

The filters that Renntech are using are ITG filters.

 

I emailed K&N a while back and they sent me this:

Dear customer,
We make a high flow, reusable filter to fit the stock airbox. It is
part# 33-2703 with an msrp of $59.56. It will give you a 2 - 4 % horsepower
increase. For a dealer near you please call 888-425-0325 and we are at most
auto parts chains.
Thanks for asking, Rick


I don't know if his info is correct or if it is the filter for the older car, but specifically asked for a c230 kompressor coupe filter.

 

The part # is incorrect. #33-2703 is for W202 C230, 280, CLK320 and ML320.
I have #33-2703 installed to my W202 C230 and 02' ML320. The air filter is a hugh rectangular shape filter, it's totally different than the one on our C230K.

 

ITG filters are available for the 230k engine.

 

ITG appears to be a British company, do they sell the air filters in the U.S.?

 

They do not sell them directly in the US, however we have ordered many, and have some in stock.

 

these filters give you 2-4% increase in hp? for $60? how long do they last?

 

K&N Filters last "forever". You can clean them and re-oil them all the time.

However, they will not make 2-4% increase in HP. K&N always exagerates.

I'd say 1-2HP max would be realistic.

The part number for the K&N Filter for the SLK230 is "33-2767". I think it should fit fine since both cars use the same engine.

In fact, I just called Mercedes Parts and asked them if the SLK230 and the C230 Coupe used the same air filter and they said "Yes they do, the part numbers are the same".

So this implies that the K&N part number I listed above should work fine.

 

There is a big difference between giving you 2-4%, and K&N *saying* it will give 2-4%.

It always surprises me how many people think that MB engineers were not smart enough to fit a large enough air filter to not choke the engine and lose hp. Remember, if the stock air filter is capable of flowing more air than the engine can ever possibly use, changing the air filter will do NOTHING.

Don't know about the Hatchback, the the C240 and C320 air box and stock air filter can flow far, far more air than the engine can use. There was an article in Euro Car about the Carlssen modified C320. They bored it, stroked it, etc. to put out 150 or so extra hp. What airbox and air filter did they use? STOCK! Because in their extensive dyno testing, they found that the stock system can flow not only far more air than the stock engine can use, but also even more air than their highly modified engine could use. So changing out the filter was of no use.

It just amazes me that people just PRESUME (with no evidence whatsoever) that the stock air filter is a restriction in a modern, well-engineered car. I would presume just the opposite, that the stock air filter is NOT a bottleneck (because its so easy for the factory to just fit a larger filter, duh, and they fight for every HP and MPG), unless someone showed me RELIABLE evidence to the contrary.

Ahhh, marketing. Gotta love it.

 

Some cars I've gained power and some lost with K&N. It seems that american cars like the Mustang and GMC Suburban I was able to tell the difference and it was better. Even my wife, whom I didn't tell what I did to noticed the difference. In a Toyota MR2 I had there was no difference and actually someone on the MR2 forum did a dyno and found it lost HP. I don't remember the amount but it certainly wasn't a gain. I believe that in today's cars I would be surprised if an airfilter can improve HP. On some cars that have restricted airflows, an intake pipe might add a few ponies. The C230 intake inlet is about 4" by 2" mounted behind the grill on the right side. It seems like an optimal place and I wouldn't change it. Many of these air intake pipes actually draw warm engine compartment air and reduce HP. On the other hand I have yet to replace a K&N filter so it's economical in the long run. I believe the ITG filter is a foam filter. Looks like what I use on my dirt bikes and get for $5. I use foam not because it gives more power, because they are re-usable and you have to clean them after each ride.

 

Depends on the manufacturer. My Dakota R/T with a 5.9 V-8 had the exact same airbox and filter as the 4 cyl truck. Stock paper elements definately flow less air than a K&N, but you are right in assuming that not all vehicles need the extra flow. In the case of my Dakota, it really needed the extra flow. (You can calculate how much air an engine needs based on rpm and displacement). The K&N added 1 mpg and about 4hp on the dyno. This was verified by a bunch of guys on the R/T forum. But Manufacturers do not use reuseable air filters because it takes more time to clean them than to replace them, and at a shop rate of 70-90.00/hr you can not justify the expense to the customer. So a K&N might help, but you would need to see a flow rate comparison, and do some calculations and maybe even dyno it to tell.

 

Remeber too that were talking about CLEAN filters. Are there any comparisons that compare filters that had some miles on them? Those same marketers also say the K&N flows better dirty than a dirty paper filter. True or not true?

 

K&N under normal circumstances recommends cleaning every 50K miles. I haven't reached that yet on the Mustang with 39K miles but I'll wait. The problem is that you can't tell if it's degraded over 4-5 years. I'll clean it in a week or two maybe (I said that last year). It's a pain to clean, messy and you have to wait for it to dry before spraying it with filter oil and that takes a full day.

 

I do think that on some cars, the air filter may be a bottleneck (like on the Dodge described above) but I think that is the minority of cars, and a super-minority of any well-engineered cars. Which is why K&N never shows gains on Porsches, BMWs, and MBs that are tested by independent, competent parties.

Clean v. dirty I don't think is an issue for most cars. The C320 air filter can flow enough air to support at least 150 extra hp. That has been proven. That shows that the air filter system has a TON of extra capacity, and even if partially clogged would be enough to support the stock engine. Plus, unless you live in a really dusty area, the stock filter is not going to get excessively clogged.

Its just junk that is sold on the basis of advertising, marketing and junk science (for example, they tend to say "This will flow 90% more than the stock filter!" of course without saying that the stock filter can already provide the engine with 200% of the air that it needs or can use).

K&N also does not filter as well as a stock filter, and that is based on their own numbers and tests that they have given to me personally. They claim a stock filter will filter 98% of particulates and their filter does 97%. That means their fiilter lets in *50% more particulates than stock*. (Stock lets in 2 out of every 100 particulates, K&N lets in 3 out of every 100, that is 50% more).

So, let you engine ingest more particulates, for ZERO percent power gain. Sounds great.

K&N = Kooks & Nuts.

MB is a well-engineered car. 99% of the time that you replace a factory part with an aftermarket part, you are putting an inferior part on the car. But, if one wants to convince yourself that there is something wrong with the stock air filter, that it is going to clog up in normal use and with normal filter changes, etc. (although there is absolutely NO basis for doing so), hey, its your car.

 

i know i am not an expert. But i know aftermarket stuff(good brands) always do something. Tell me, why do there are aftermarkets? the aftermarket engineers are taking the stock stuff to improve it then they sell it to us. Also, it's not like MB engineers can't just fit a larger filter, it is a cost issue. If MB use all good parts like afteramarket, then the car won't be the same price like now....

 

MB could not fit larger air filters, and had to fit cheaper, smaller ones that choke the engine, because of "cost issues"? Really?? Where'd you get that info from? I'd like to see it. (that is a rhetorical question, I know you just made it up).

Why does the aftermarket exist? M-A-R-K-E-T-I-N-G.

Making millions in the aftermarket by selling things like K&N, Slick 50, Splitfire sparkplugs, etc. has nothing to do with product at all, but everything to do with junk science and marketing. You are a prime example of why billions can be made by marketing junk to the general public.

Are there some aftermarket products that are superior to factory? Of course. But the vast majority (esp. in the plugs/filters/oils fields) are not.

 

I think K&N's story is that they have been around a while and in the past some cars benefited from their filters. They exploit that fact and can make those claims based on specific cars. They claim 20 more HP, sure, maybe on a 1985 Mustang GT? Or spdfreak's truck but not on most cars. Mark Cummings tried a fancy intake pipe/air filter that costs several hundred dollars and put it through the dyno and got 2HP, far from the 8-10HP they were claiming and that 2HP is at the very top of the RPM range so it's not likely it will pass the seat of the pants test. Also because it sucked air from inside the engine compartment what would happen in real life when it's 90f outside and twice that in your engine compartment.

The best way to tell how much potential a filter can give you is to take the filter and intake off completely and dyno the car. It can't flow better than that, although K&N will tell your otherwise.

Although I don't always agree that MB choses the best parts/components for the car because they can't possibly know what's best for everyone under all circumstances and are limited by laws and budget (brakes, tires, headlight bulbs, wheels, pullies, etc.) and their components seem to fail more than other brands of cars. Thank goodness for loaners.

 

what's the benefit(s) of an ITG filter?

 

True, if someone put an intake that draws in hot engine compartment air, and gets 2 hp on the dyno, that device probably would really cause a *loss* of power in real life. Because when the car is moving down the road, it is getting a minor ram air effect of cold air through its stock intake location. So, the stock car would actually probably put out more hp on the road at 50 mph than it does on a stationary dyno, so the dyno figure for the stock set up is almost certainly artifically low, at least by a little bit.

Your test with running without the air filter makes perfect sense. That is exactly what Bruce Anderson has done with most late model Porsches, and what Jim Conforti has done with a lot of late model BMWs. With the same predictable results: Even with NO air filter, there is no power increase. Because the air filter is simply not the bottleneck. Period. Therefore, as you point out, you can modify the intake, air filter, etc. etc. until the cows come home, but you are just wasting your time.

And I agree that MB does not ALWAYS chose the best components. But, more often than not, the factory component is better than the aftermarket. But, because of powerful marketing and weak minds, many have the presumption backwards, they start from the presumption that the aftermarket product is better than factory, unless proven otherwise. I simply suggest the presumption should be the other way around, at least when you are dealing with MB, Porsche, BMW, etc.

 

I put a K&N air filter in my integra's stock airbox plus I removed all the intake piping upstream of the airbox. The major result is that the car has a much louder motor noise...which is NIIIICCE.

I can't say the filter made a difference by itself; but with a header and catback and advanced timing there is a very large difference. The motor is much more responsive; pulls stronger to redline; better mpg.

The sole advantage of the filter is that you won't have to ever replace the filter again. If you keep the car for a while and like to be efficient with your money, it's well worth it.

There's also the psychological effect that you're proud to have a "nice" improvement to your car that's not going to void the warranty.