greasykid

Has anybody installed a K&N in their C250;and if so what were the results. Notice any improvements?

Glyn M Ruck

I do not like K&N air filters. They do a crap job of filtering. Stay with OE.

http://home.roadrunner.com/~jbplock/ISO5011/SPICER.htm

New link ~ other down

http://www.nicoclub.com/archives/kn-vs-oem-filter.html

xaran

That's pretty compelling info against changing to the K&N IMO. Seems the only plus for the K&N type filter is that it is reusable. Using a high quality OEM paper filter is much better filtration and engine protection as well as flow seems pretty close as long as the filter is clean.

Glyn M Ruck

I have more proprietary data by Donaldson proving the same thing that I can't publish.

If you ever get the opportunity to watch the Cummins training film "Operation Hourglass" you should take a look at just how little dirt it takes to ruin an engine. Don't mess with filtration.

WhiteonBlack

I have the bms intake with the k&n filters and honestly i love it! after getting it the throttle response has been a lot better but the sound is amazing too

adanmtxt1

I've heard enough negative, both on-line and from friends, that I would personally never use K&N. I don't know if it's a dry filter thing or just K&N, but I'd avoid them.

snowmuch

I have them on for about a year now, car feels faster because of the sound. Other than that no complains.

W204Man

I have had K&N filters for a few mouths. I get +1 or 2 MPG. Can't tell any power diffence.

Glyn M Ruck

When the engine needs an early rebuild don't cry.

xaran

Ill look for it Glyn. Thanks.

Ive ridden off road bikes and ATV for 40 years and Ive seen many a engine eat itself up in 1 outing due to dirt (sand) getting into it.

Glyn M Ruck

Somewhere between a heaped teaspoon & a tablespoon of dirt is all it takes for an engine to ingest & be ruined.

ChitownBabyBenz

I used to have modified VW jetta gli with big turbo and all the works. All in all monster that was way faster than my c350.

When it came to do the intake I had to choose what route I wanna go out of 3 options. All 3 set ups (K&N cold air intake, K&N short ram intake and modified stock) were tested on the dyno with data logging. Long story short the best results (most HP and best throttle response) were provided by modified stock set up.

Modified stock consisted of stock paper filter in stock air box in the stock location. Modification included drilling 6" hole on the bottom of the air box and routing PVC plumbing piping from Home Depot (plasti dipped black) from there to behind the lower grill in the front bumper to get as much cool air as possible. Sounds like ghetto rigging but the installation came out very clean and it provided best performance results. I don't even mention how high flow filters let in a lot of crap to the engine. That's another story. No K&N or such (basically all high flow filters) for me in a road going cars or motorcycles.

thenew3

The longest I've used a K&N filter in one car was 175k miles. I did not notice any real power or mileage gain during that time. Also didn't have any noticeable engine damage either. After 175k miles the engine still ran smooth as first day I got it with 6 miles on it. That's with 15k mile oil changes. Oil was tested by blackstone labs every other change. This was on a 1999 BMW 328i.
the K&N filter was washed and re-oiled every 25k miles.

Glyn M Ruck

You are probably not in a very dusty environment. K&N filters simply don't filter well for most of their operation.

Thus I will under no circumstances recommend them.

thenew3

Maybe. I don't know what would be considered dusty vs not dusty.

Most of that 175k miles were driven from Massachusetts to Texas and everything in between.

Between the cost of the filter, cost of the cleaner, oil etc, I didn't see much benefit over OEM paper filters, so I've since stopped using K&N in all my other cars.

Glyn M Ruck

No surprise there. IAT makes more difference than any filter could.

I have proven many butt dynos wrong on a proper Schenk Chassis Dyno in a properly controlled enviroment. (temperature, humidity/air density, altitude)

Glyn M Ruck

Yeah ~ one or two cases of getting away with less than optimum filtration does not make it the right thing to do.