E-Class (W211) 2003-2009

Charcoal Filter

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Old Jan 3, 2004 | 12:39 PM
  #1  
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From: San Antonio, Texas
04' E500 w/Appear. PKG, Panorama Roof
Charcoal Filter

My salesman said the filter has a limited " Life" and then must be renewed or replaced. He was vague as to what a "life" is. Any ideas ?
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Old Jan 3, 2004 | 12:46 PM
  #2  
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03 E320, sport package, moon roof, sound upgrade, brilliant silver, charcoal leather, heated seats..
If you live in a smog free area, the filter's life is probably unlimited. Anything less reduces the life of the filter. If you live in a desert the filter will probably fail within, say six months. If you never use the filter it will probably be fine.



Anyway, if you use the filter I suggest changing it when it is time to change the air filter associated with your engine...which is usually every 2 years, more or less.
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Old Jan 3, 2004 | 12:55 PM
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i remember reading a post way back saying that they replace the filters every service visit. so it shouldnt be a problem.

does anyone know a way to always keep the circulation button on at all times, the car sometimes turns it off when it thinks its not needed, but then it doesnt smell right w/o it on. thanks
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Old Jan 3, 2004 | 12:59 PM
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I do not believe you can set it to keep it on at all times. It's a safety feature. If the recirc, is on all the time, and and one of th grommets leaks exhaust fumes inside, in thery you could die of Carbon Monoxide poisoning without knowing it until too late.
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Old Jan 3, 2004 | 01:04 PM
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Originally posted by Randy B
I do not believe you can set it to keep it on at all times. It's a safety feature. If the recirc, is on all the time, and and one of th grommets leaks exhaust fumes inside, in thery you could die of Carbon Monoxide poisoning without knowing it until too late.
aww, i see, thanks for helping me out, what are grommets btw? thanks
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Old Jan 3, 2004 | 01:34 PM
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The rubber bushings in the firewall and floor boards, that surround cables and hoses going through them.
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Old Jan 4, 2004 | 11:59 AM
  #7  
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2003 E-500
I leave the filter on all of the time and do not have to reset it after key is turned off. I never use Recirculate and usually use AUTO and then vary temperatures as desired. My pre Nav E-500 also let me leave the filter on all of the time. Living in Southen CA you might as well use what you have to minimize the smog effect.
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Old Jan 5, 2004 | 07:56 PM
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Originally posted by Double Eagle
I leave the filter on all of the time and do not have to reset it after key is turned off. I never use Recirculate and usually use AUTO and then vary temperatures as desired. My pre Nav E-500 also let me leave the filter on all of the time. Living in Southen CA you might as well use what you have to minimize the smog effect.
Me too! DoubleEagle, I live right down the road from you. I leave the charcoal filter in the off position whenever I'm home or around the coastal areas of Camino Capo, etc. But when I get on a road with thicker traffic, or if I go ANYwhere near the 5 fwy, the charcoal filter goes straight to the on position!

EDJ
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Old Jan 5, 2004 | 07:57 PM
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Ditto!

Originally posted by Double Eagle
I leave the filter on all of the time and do not have to reset it after key is turned off. I never use Recirculate and usually use AUTO and then vary temperatures as desired. My pre Nav E-500 also let me leave the filter on all of the time. Living in Southen CA you might as well use what you have to minimize the smog effect.
Me too! DoubleEagle, I live right down the road from you. I leave the charcoal filter in the off position whenever I'm home or around the coastal areas of Camino Capo, etc. But when I get on a road with thicker traffic, or if I go ANYwhere near the 5 fwy, the charcoal filter goes straight to the on position!

EDJ
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Old Jan 5, 2004 | 08:36 PM
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Originally posted by Randy B
I do not believe you can set it to keep it on at all times. It's a safety feature. If the recirc, is on all the time, and and one of th grommets leaks exhaust fumes inside, in thery you could die of Carbon Monoxide poisoning without knowing it until too late.
Recirc and filter are different. Filter is just that. It filters all incoming air through charcoal to remove contaminants. Recirculate returns a major portion of the air back into the cabin. There is some amount of fresh air flow but not much.
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Old Jan 5, 2004 | 08:40 PM
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Originally posted by E55AMG99
Recirc and filter are different. Filter is just that. It filters all incoming air through charcoal to remove contaminants. Recirculate returns a major portion of the air back into the cabin. There is some amount of fresh air flow but not much.
yea, i was thinking the same thing, i think he misunderstood my post. i always keep my filter on also.
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Old Jan 5, 2004 | 11:10 PM
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I keep it on all the time too. When the dealer changed it, they turmed it off. Guess what happened when I turned it back on?

YUK! Enough polution came through to cause black lung disease!
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Old Jan 6, 2004 | 12:58 AM
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BTW, I think I may have found another little bug in the software in the A/C system..I have the 4-zone, try this. Turn on the AC and put both front sides on auto (auto appears in the digital display also). Now turn the fan down manually (auto disappears and the red lights go off). Turn off the AC (by pressing 0) and turn on again (by pressing 0). Display does not show auto, fan is at the last position (non-auto setting), but the red auto lights are on in both dial buttons....
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Old Jan 6, 2004 | 03:00 AM
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Originally posted by abhansali
BTW, I think I may have found another little bug in the software in the A/C system..I have the 4-zone, try this. Turn on the AC and put both front sides on auto (auto appears in the digital display also). Now turn the fan down manually (auto disappears and the red lights go off). Turn off the AC (by pressing 0) and turn on again (by pressing 0). Display does not show auto, fan is at the last position (non-auto setting), but the red auto lights are on in both dial buttons....
There are two autos, the first time you press it its for the direction of the air - the second is the auto fan.
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Old Jan 6, 2004 | 09:56 AM
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I've noticed that the filter stays on, unless I override some of the settings, then it turns itself off. Even putting on the front defrost will turn the filter off.
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Old Jan 6, 2004 | 10:55 AM
  #16  
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I've also noticed the filter cuts off if you use the defrost setting for the front window. I think this is done to ensure you get maximum air flow to quickly defrost the windshield. When the filter is ON, you get a slight reduction in air flow for a given fan setting due to the restictions in flow introduced by the filter. The German engineers are pretty creative!!

We' ve been very happy, overall, with the four zone HVAC on the E-500. Far superior to what was in our earlier model E-320. Although the filter also worked well in that model.
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Old Jan 6, 2004 | 06:05 PM
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03 E500 Sport, Pewter/Charcoal
Originally posted by abhansali
BTW, I think I may have found another little bug in the software in the A/C system..I have the 4-zone, try this. Turn on the AC and put both front sides on auto (auto appears in the digital display also). Now turn the fan down manually (auto disappears and the red lights go off). Turn off the AC (by pressing 0) and turn on again (by pressing 0). Display does not show auto, fan is at the last position (non-auto setting), but the red auto lights are on in both dial buttons....
abhansali,

Are you sure the red lights on the auto buttons as well as the auto display go off when you turn down the fan speed manually? On my pre-nav E500, only the auto display message goes off when I turn down the fan speed manually by pressing the lower fan speed button. As an earlier poster (muhri) noted, there are actually two auto functions. The auto display message indicates that auto fan speed is on, while the red lights on the auto buttons show that auto air distribution is on. Pressing (0) twice would turn off the climate control system and then turn it back on with the same settings it had before (i.e., with the fan speed turned down, no auto display message and the two red lights on the auto buttons lit).

Unless things have changed between the 03 and 04 E500's, I think the problem you're describing is that the red lights on the auto buttons go out when you lower the fan speed manually by pressing the fan speed button and not the fact that the red lights on the auto buttons are on when you turn the climate control system back on with the (0) button. That's why I asked if the two red lights went off when you lowered your fan speed. If they did not go off, your climate control system is operating normally.
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