dariusf

Hi

I had an interesting situation. Purchased by 2003 CLK320 a few months ago with 30,600 miles. Car fax shows scheduled maintenance done at ~15k and 29k at Chicago Mercedes dealer. I called the dealer trying to get details on what was done in the service but was told its 'personal' information and they could not tell me. I call it total BS as its car service info nat personal owner info.

Anyway, I decided to check the intake air filters and change the oil just so I know its done. I got replacement Mann filters from amazon and removed the old filters this weekend. I could not believe how dirty the air filters were. I have changed air filters many times on several cars over the years and never had anything even close to this level of dirty. They were almost black with lots of dirt, sand, leaves etc. There is no way they were replaced ever! Another interesting thing was that the AC/cabin filter was like new. Very clean and looked just like the new one I purchased.

Is it possible that the dealer neglected to replace the filters while charging for them? Two scheduled services and the filters not replaced? The last service was done only about 2000 miles ago. If they looked at the filters there was no way they would not want to replace them.

I guess you can't trust a dealer. Maybe thats why they did not want to tell me what was done.

The car runs a lot cleaner now. Much smoother and better idle. Very big deference. The change was very easy.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00..._ya_oh_product

http://www.benzworld.org/forums/w209...filter-v6.html

Darius

M-bENZ

why not replaced with K&N filters ?

Andy

dariusf

According to my certified Mercedes mechanic, the Mann filters are made in the same factory as the OEM Mercedes ones. Not sure if thats true but they look the same. He showed me the Mann and OEM Mercedes oil filters and they were identical aside from the printed text.

M-bENZ

The K&N filters are different from those.

Andy

thegecko1

I realized mine needed to be cleaned after my car all of sudden started idling very low, to the point where the car would shake when I stopped. It turns out my air filter box was clogged with leaves.

icecream

so which one is better? k&n or mann?

supacrazykev

i vote mann

dariusf

I vote for clean

Bad_debt

The reason they were not changed is; it doesn't call for them to be changed until you have 60,000 miles according to the service book. I just changed mine to K&N. I plan on cleaning them every 20,000 miles.

Trekman

K&N or Green Filters are better than the OEM filter because the K&N has more free flow and Can be cleaned and reused.

FastDonzi

our cars actually have a very good ram air setup.thats why the filters look really dirty after not too long. i have K&N filters and i clean them about every 20,000 miles. lots of sand gets caught up in there.now that i think about it i should do it sooner.

M-bENZ

I take it out and clean every oil change just to be safe .

Andy

buffyclk500

clean them is a good thing 2 do just dont over oil the oil from k and n will kill your maf
i found that out after 50000 mile but it they r still better then stock
but if u want the best get a cold air intake i have abracing and i love it

BLKCLK550

i have K&N filters in my car and i clean them out every 2 weeks, it takes about 20 mins to do.... nothing hard.

dariusf

That's a good idea. I could do it with my monthly tire pressure check (if I had K&N filters)

trikoid

My mechanic replaced the one on my 04 w/ 76K miles and said it looked like it was choked with SAND. He was was simply floored.

They get dirty! Clean them!

BLKCLK550

Filters get dirty, i used to check them every week, but noticed after about 2 weeks they get fairly dirty. Especially now with all the leaves falling etc.