Cold air intake
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Newbie
Joined: Mar 2026
Posts: 11
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Clk320
Cold air intake
Has anyone put a cold air intake on a w209 / a209 clk320? Which parts did you use? I bought K&n oiled air filters that fit inside my stock housing and was curious what I would need if I went the other route.
Junior Member
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 28
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From: Bay Area, California
2015 S63 AMG Coupe, 2003 CLK500, 1986 TVR 280i
No cold air anywhere.
I tend to agree that the OEM air box is as good or better than anything that’s out there.
my 5-liter engine is shoehorned into an engine compartment that is probably appropriate for a V6, and it generates a lot of heat. Once it’s up the temperature, there is no cold air to be found !
the existing air box is reasonably thick and provides decent insulation. The air ducts pull air from the front of the car. Just keep the car moving and you’ll do as well as can be done.
my 5-liter engine is shoehorned into an engine compartment that is probably appropriate for a V6, and it generates a lot of heat. Once it’s up the temperature, there is no cold air to be found !
the existing air box is reasonably thick and provides decent insulation. The air ducts pull air from the front of the car. Just keep the car moving and you’ll do as well as can be done.
Last edited by pomchal; Apr 20, 2026 at 04:29 AM.
Member
Joined: Jun 2018
Posts: 249
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From: San Antonio, TX
2005 C55 AMG
The factory intake is already a cold air/ram air setup, but it can be improved. I used DEI Floor & Tunnel shield on the underside of my factory air box since it sits atop the engine and all that heat. That helped a little with heat soak and intake temps. I continued down this road further with 2 layers of header wrap around the intake hoses. FYI, this stuff is fiberglass and will leave splinters in your hands - I spray painted the wrap with high temp black paint made for the wraps to reduce this issue. Combined they help considerably. Idling in traffic takes a lot longer to heat up and once moving down the highway, the intake temperature drop to about 8-10 degrees above ambient.
Everyone pretty universally reports having problems with their MAF sensor after using K&N filters due to the oil. I'm currently running K&N knockoff filters from Amazon and SO FAR haven't had issues. They're at least cheap enough I can use them as disposables instead of resoaking them after cleaning. I may still be shooting myself in the foot with the MAF, only time will tell. Oh yeah, if you do mess up your MAF and cleaning it doesn't work, ONLY USE BOSCH to replace it.
Everyone pretty universally reports having problems with their MAF sensor after using K&N filters due to the oil. I'm currently running K&N knockoff filters from Amazon and SO FAR haven't had issues. They're at least cheap enough I can use them as disposables instead of resoaking them after cleaning. I may still be shooting myself in the foot with the MAF, only time will tell. Oh yeah, if you do mess up your MAF and cleaning it doesn't work, ONLY USE BOSCH to replace it.
Junior Member
Joined: Mar 2026
Posts: 28
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From: Michigan, U.S.A.
2018 C 300 Cabriolet
I’ve always read to avoid oil’s filters in cold air intakes because it causes problems eventually with sensors. Use a non-oil’s filter instead. There are better inclosed cold air intakes than OEM, but the return on the cost is not really that great. If the rest of your car is stock, the biggest thing might be a bit of a change in sounds. If you are doing this for longevity or performance, match it with a good intercooler.
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Joined: Jul 2012
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From: Orbiting the planet
This place is a joke.
Your car is equipped with a cold air intake form the factory. And those K+N filters will ruin your mass air sensor eventually, and let dust inside the engine which will scratch your cylinder walls over time.
