ahmadnt

Hi, I'm looking for a good air intake system for my car (CLK320 2004) to increase the engine performance, anyone can advise?

Rudeney

There is really nothing that will outperform the stock setup. It uses two large filters and a cold air intake from directly behind the grille. I would definitely avoid the "K&N" style filters as the oil in them tend to cause MAF sensor failures.

ahmadnt

Thanks, you are correct.

Then I will work to change the air filter with original one, any idea ofwhere I can buy original stuff from the internet?

CLK550 $wagger

Best price you will probably find... I just paid $68 at a dealer today. I would have purchased from this place but I needed them asap.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mercedes-Ben...08ad1d&vxp=mtr

Rudeney

Autohasaz has them $24.99:

http://www.autohausaz.com/search/pro...07&cid=22@Fuel %26 Air System&gid=6192@Air Filter

mis3

To the OP, I have the same car as yours and I recently bought Mann air filters from Autohausaz for $25. They are OEM but I am not sure if they meet MB specs. They do look and feel the same as MB parts. I put them on a month ago and so far so good.

Rudeney

I don't think MB has a "spec" for the air filters. Mann is the OEM supplier for the oil filters, so I think as a brand, they are going to be very high quality,

lowpost

There was a thread on this 3-4 years ago. I thought this was debunked or at least there wasn't evidence either way. It sounded like people were getting into issues when re-oiling the filters themselves and over applying. Either way I've had no issues on my MAF for 150,000 miles. I never re-oiled becasue I'm lazy and just bought new filters every time.

mis3

I could be wrong but I would think MB would give specs to their OEMs for all their components. When I buy air filters from the dealership, they come with MB packaging and they are accountable to all the parts they sell.

As per my other thread, while the Mann air filters feel the same as MB, the Mann pollen filter not. Maybe the Mann pollen filter works as good as the MB filter, they certainly do not feel and look the same.

Rudeney

Over-applying the oil could certainly be a problem, but really, why use a filter with oil at all? The real draw for most K&N applications is the larger filter surface area (providing better breathing) and a cold-air intake. On some vehicles with small filters pulling hot air from the engine compartment, this could be a small performance improvement.

Since all modern MBZs already have cold air intake, and use two very large surface area filters, there really seems to be no advantage for K&N, unless they want to claim that their filters allow a higher flow rate. And a higher flow rate in the same sized filter can only mean one thing - larger particulate is allowed to pass through. So I believe their next claim is that the special oil is there to trap that particulate. But what about small particles that do pass through and grab onto some of that oil? I don't want that in my MAF sensor.

M-bENZ

I kinda agreed with Lowpost on this. I have no problem so far with my car. Its been 3 yrs already. I guess good or bad that depends on you .

ahmadnt

Thanks all,



Yesterday I bought a genuine air filter (47$) and I’m going toinstall it myself next week

ahmadnt

Two days ago I changed the air filters, it was very dirty and the whole intake system has not been adjusted properly.
Now everything works fine

mis3

Do you have any idea when was the last filter change?

I usually change mine once every 6 months (maybe 12K KM). Just changed mine on the 1st week of January, the old air filters were not dirty at all. I could probably go 9 months to a year..

ahmadnt

I just bought the car recently so I don't know for how long the air filter has not been changed (I presume at least 2-3 years )
Usually the air filter change is part of the major service which has to be done every (~50K KM).

Rudeney

Official maintenance schedules say to replace the air filters every 60K miles or 4 year. I usually change them every other oil change, so in my case, once every 2 years.

mis3

Once I neglected to change the air filters for a period of 2-3 years and they were very, very dirty. This car is my daily commute and I typically go 12-14K miles per year. So, every 6 months is probably excessive, I will change it less often then.

I mainly drive in Toronto, maybe the air quality here is not too clean.

AccelToronto

Depends on the environment you are driving in. We usually check the condition of the filter and advise if it should be replaced. Easiest way is to take the filter off and look through it - if you can see the light it is OK and if it is really dark, change it.

We are talking 50$ maintenance here (less than an oil change) and even if you change the filter every 15K, I would not think it is a big deal...

Igor.

mis3

Two years ago, the dealership sells these air filters for $71 CAN per set. This is $80 with the tax. Yes, $80 is still not a big deal but I hate to waste materials.

My friend (from US) bought me OEM Mann air filters from Autohasauz for $25. $25 is a lot better than $80 !

What I will do is to inspect these air filters once every 6 months. At least I can shake off the dusts of the filter and vaccum the housing in the process.