Benzo1999

I have heard some discussions regarding the pro's & con's of aftermarket filters on a Mercedes Benz. It's time to change the filters on my 2003 E500 Sport & I'm wondering what the general concensus is? Stock or K&N?

malgnapa

Stock

Benz-O-Rama

K&N's have been known to foul the MAF sensors in our cars due to the oil that has to be applied to them.

I've heard better things about GREEN filters but not sure if the minimal performance gains, if any, is worth the risk.

M-bENZ

I've been using K&N filter when I bought the car...and I have no problem at all, bought the car for like a year already.

lkchris

American aftermarket stuff is barely to the quality of American pickups.

No place on a Mercedes.

K&N offer ZERO performance advantage, ZERO filtration, and the opportunity to ruin your MAF sensor. Be sure to check whether it even properly fits your airbox as many don't.

TMAllison

Why doesn't AMG, Renntech and Brabus (or ANY auto manufacturer for that matter) use K&N as OEM????

ss3964spd

I'll agree that K&N offers no noticable performance gain over a set of clean, stock, filters but "ZERO filtration"? That's more than a bit of a stretch.

Perhaps you meant to say ZERO filtration advantage?

Dan

lkchris

Most of the rectangular versions don't fit the airbox--see photo.

dieselsrule

I would NEVER run a K&N. We bought a Ford Powerstroke pickup with one on it, and it had holes in the filter media. That would let dirt in the engine. We threw the K&N away and replaced it with a standard filter.Dry type air filters were developed 40-50 years ago as an improvement over oil bath filters. They are 99.9+% efficient, whereas oil baths were 97-98% efficient. (1-3% of the dirt went on through to the engine). A proper sized paper filter will have nearly no restriction (loss of engine power) through most of its life. The K&N has to be removed, cleaned, then coated with oil for proper servicing. Even though a K&N is not an oilbath, it does require oil to work as it was designed. In todays world, most people don't drive where their filter will pickup much dirt, and the filter stays pretty clean between services. Todays engines measure the mass (weight) of air entering the engine, and delivers fuel according to the amount of air. A restricted air filter will only limit the power of the engine, not the fuel consumption. Even then, power is only restricted at high RPM's, not at cruising speeds. Most major filter manufactures now recommend only to replace air filters when restricted (as measured with an air restriction indicator on the filter housing) or when they have exceeded a time limit(Wix and Donaldson). Although most cars don't have restriction indicators, most trucks do. I have never seen a new filter show any measurable restriction when used on trucks. Todays filters can hold a tremendous amount of dirt before they become restricted. They may physically look dirty and plugged, but still let adequate air through them.

Polar Bear

+1

They simply do not offer the same filtration the OEM filters do. I would not place one on my car for this reason.

LB Bnz

I think the question/issue should be focused on how the "user" of K&N filters is correctly buying (fitment), cleaning/servicing the filter...I've heard guys foul up their MAF sensors by over oiling the filter (thinking more oil is better).....

I can honestly say (and I've been deligent about keeping the cars I've had/have up to par) I have not had any issues with K&N....I've put them on a BMW 325i / Expedition Eddie Bauer / CLK & E / Lexus / Toyota / Cadillac

....the BMW ran over 200K miles / Expedition over 90K / CLK 70K & E 25K/ Lexus 112K / Toyota 180K / Cadillac 50K

knock on wood --- as far as performance...? I've not dyno'd the cars for true numbers

my 2cents.....

Polar Bear

I don't think it will grenade the motor or anything - I actually have two cars with them installed (one came with the car and I have not removed it - the other I received as a gift) and have driven 100k in one of the cars with one - but I do feel they let more dust through. The one I have driven 100k is a Ford Explorer and has 213k miles on it now and has been great.

I had just rather play on the safe side with the Mercedes because I don't feel the performance difference is noticable enough (or at all) to take the risk on a Mercedes.