Air Cabin filter location on W212

Subscribe
Feb 20, 2011 | 08:54 AM
  #1  
Any idea where the air cabin filter is located, under the glove compartment inside the viechle or under the battery black cover accessed from the hood?

Thanks ahead..
Reply 0
Feb 20, 2011 | 11:32 AM
  #2  
Bad location
Quote: Any idea where the air cabin filter is located, under the glove compartment inside the viechle or under the battery black cover accessed from the hood?

Thanks ahead..
I think Konigstar provided some information on this in the past. It requires removing part of the dash and is very complicated.
This is 4th car I have owned with cabin filter and I could replace the filter on the others in about 15 minutes or less. In fact, the owner's manual had instructions for how to do it.
Others were made in Asia or America.
Reply 0
Feb 20, 2011 | 02:13 PM
  #3  
Remove instrument panel cover below glove box, remove clamps at both ends of filter housing, unlock slide in direction of arrow – remove combination filter.
Reply 0
Feb 20, 2011 | 08:33 PM
  #4  
Quote: Remove instrument panel cover below glove box, remove clamps at both ends of filter housing, unlock slide in direction of arrow – remove combination filter.
You are the man!!! It's nice having someone so knowledgeable about the ins-and-outs of the car on the forum. Bravo.
Reply 0
Feb 21, 2011 | 05:11 AM
  #5  
Quote: Remove instrument panel cover below glove box, remove clamps at both ends of filter housing, unlock slide in direction of arrow – remove combination filter.
Your help is much appreciated, thanks..
A quick question though, I noticed that there is a black box over the battery, which is directly connected to the outside air inlet, taking the air through the black box to the A/C fan when the recirculation button is off. This black box is just a path, and has no filters whatsoever, is it normal that there is no dust filter or any kind of pre-filtration before all this dusty and polluted air reaches the Cabin filter. The reason why I'm asking is that I have not experienced such unfiltered air coming into the car in any other cars I drove during the past years, is it normal that Mercedes couldn’t solve this issue?
Reply 0
Feb 22, 2011 | 03:14 PM
  #6  
Quote: Your help is much appreciated, thanks..
A quick question though, I noticed that there is a black box over the battery, which is directly connected to the outside air inlet, taking the air through the black box to the A/C fan when the recirculation button is off. This black box is just a path, and has no filters whatsoever, is it normal that there is no dust filter or any kind of pre-filtration before all this dusty and polluted air reaches the Cabin filter. The reason why I'm asking is that I have not experienced such unfiltered air coming into the car in any other cars I drove during the past years, is it normal that Mercedes couldn’t solve this issue?
Do you mean there should be a filter protecting the cabin filter getting dirty? Then there should also be a filter that protects the filter that protects the cabin filter.

You could ask if there should be some kind of a filter to protect the blower fan from some big obstacles. Someone did add a filter for that purpose (or was it on a 204 that has the same design).
Reply 0
Feb 22, 2011 | 04:36 PM
  #7  
Quote: Do you mean there should be a filter protecting the cabin filter getting dirty? Then there should also be a filter that protects the filter that protects the cabin filter.

You could ask if there should be some kind of a filter to protect the blower fan from some big obstacles. Someone did add a filter for that purpose (or was it on a 204 that has the same design).
If this was how you understood my query, then I must've put it in a very stupid way...

In my W212, and when the recirculation is off, whatever you can smell in the street comes in inside the cabin, unlike any other car, I'm afraid something was there before the blower fan and got missing during maintenance or so, I wanted to check with somebody driving a W212 to confirm whether there is something between the black box over the battery and the A/C fan inlet..
Reply 0
Feb 23, 2011 | 08:06 AM
  #8  
Quote: If this was how you understood my query, then I must've put it in a very stupid way...

In my W212, and when the recirculation is off, whatever you can smell in the street comes in inside the cabin, unlike any other car, I'm afraid something was there before the blower fan and got missing during maintenance or so, I wanted to check with somebody driving a W212 to confirm whether there is something between the black box over the battery and the A/C fan inlet..
I don't know what your "all other cars" are but the W212 does have a dust filter and all air from outside of the car comes through this dust filter. The dust filter is actually a combo-filter, it has the properties of a charcoal filter that not only collects dust from the incoming air.

Some MBs have a separate charcoal filter for harmful gases and odour, the combination filter is probably a bit less powerful for this task but then again I would say most other cars do not have even the combination filter but an ordinary dust filter alone. These would collect dust from the incoming air but none of the odour that you seem mainly seem to complain.

As I tried to explain earlier, the W212 filter is located a bit differently from older MBs but for the air flow it would not matter where the filter is located as long as all air passes through that filter.
Reply 0

MB World Stories

The Best of Mercedes & AMG

Explore
story-0

6 Mercedes Models That Did NOT Age Well (But Are Somehow Still Cool)

 Verdad Gallardo
story-1

Manual Mercedes? 6 Times Sindelfingen Let Drivers Have All The Fun

 Verdad Gallardo
story-2

Mercedes SLR McLaren 722 S Is Extremely Rare Example Modified by McLaren

 Verdad Gallardo
story-3

8 Classic Boxy Mercedes Designs That Have Aged Like Fine Wine

 Verdad Gallardo
story-4

Flawlessly Restored Mercedes 190E Evo II Heads to Auction

 Verdad Gallardo
story-5

Electric Mercedes C-Class Unveiled: 11 Things You Need to Know

 Verdad Gallardo
story-6

Mercedes EQS Gets A Major Update: Everything You Need to Know

 Verdad Gallardo
story-7

5 Underrated Mercedes-Benz Models That Don't Get the Love They Deserve

 Verdad Gallardo
story-8

Mercedes 300D Has Pushed Well Past 1 Million Miles and It Ain't Stopping

 Verdad Gallardo
story-9

10 Most Reliable Mercedes-Benz Models You Can Buy Used

 Verdad Gallardo
Feb 23, 2011 | 11:52 AM
  #9  
It's a dust filter
Quote: If this was how you understood my query, then I must've put it in a very stupid way...

In my W212, and when the recirculation is off, whatever you can smell in the street comes in inside the cabin, unlike any other car, I'm afraid something was there before the blower fan and got missing during maintenance or so, I wanted to check with somebody driving a W212 to confirm whether there is something between the black box over the battery and the A/C fan inlet..
From my experiences, the W212 filter is a dust filter. Does not filter out any odors at all. My Hyundai Azera had an Air Quality switch that when activated and odors/smoke detected would automatically switch to recirculation and then turn off when odors disappeared.
Worked amazingly well. Very disappointed that W212 does not have a comparable device.
Reply 0
Feb 24, 2011 | 02:43 AM
  #10  
Quote: I don't know what your "all other cars" are but the W212 does have a dust filter and all air from outside of the car comes through this dust filter. The dust filter is actually a combo-filter, it has the properties of a charcoal filter that not only collects dust from the incoming air.

Some MBs have a separate charcoal filter for harmful gases and odour, the combination filter is probably a bit less powerful for this task but then again I would say most other cars do not have even the combination filter but an ordinary dust filter alone. These would collect dust from the incoming air but none of the odour that you seem mainly seem to complain.

As I tried to explain earlier, the W212 filter is located a bit differently from older MBs but for the air flow it would not matter where the filter is located as long as all air passes through that filter.
Got it, thanks for your explanation.
As long as it is confirmed that only a single filter is there (Combined), now I'm convinced that the W212 is not very sharp on preventing polluted smoke while the circulation is off, I don’t think you guys would suffer much as long as you live in a relatively normal environmental conditions, apparently driving in downtown Cairo would be very challenging to any car maker when it comes to pollution, despite tear gas during protests!!
Reply 0
Sep 26, 2011 | 04:42 PM
  #11  
Quote: Your help is much appreciated, thanks..
A quick question though, I noticed that there is a black box over the battery, which is directly connected to the outside air inlet, taking the air through the black box to the A/C fan when the recirculation button is off. This black box is just a path, and has no filters whatsoever, is it normal that there is no dust filter or any kind of pre-filtration before all this dusty and polluted air reaches the Cabin filter. The reason why I'm asking is that I have not experienced such unfiltered air coming into the car in any other cars I drove during the past years, is it normal that Mercedes couldn’t solve this issue?

You might need a carbon filter, which W212 filter in my understanding is not. Carbon filter would take smell out. I'm not sure if carbon filter is available for W212?
Reply 0
Sep 26, 2011 | 04:55 PM
  #12  
If the stock e filter doesn't have activated carbon, we should all buy and install one of these......


http://www.drivewire.com/search/?N=0...D(universal:0)

http://www.partsgeek.com/gbproducts/...ek+Google+Base
Reply 0
Sep 27, 2011 | 07:31 AM
  #13  
Quote: You might need a carbon filter, which W212 filter in my understanding is not. Carbon filter would take smell out. I'm not sure if carbon filter is available for W212?
The "plain" filter is not available for the W212. The standard filter is a combo filter.
Reply 0
May 11, 2014 | 07:44 AM
  #14  
After reading this post I decided to replace the cabin filter on my 2011 E350 4matic.
Never again. The rear clamp was a bear to get back on. This is a job for young, wiry, people.
Question:
Since the filter is asymmetrical, could it be installed wrong? As in air flow direction.
Furnace filters have an arrow for direction of air flow.
Reply 0
May 11, 2014 | 08:40 AM
  #15  
Very poorly engineered design
Quote: After reading this post I decided to replace the cabin filter on my 2011 E350 4matic.
Never again. The rear clamp was a bear to get back on. This is a job for young, wiry, people.
Question:
Since the filter is asymmetrical, could it be installed wrong? As in air flow direction.
Furnace filters have an arrow for direction of air flow.
As I said before, the Asians and Americans do this much, much better. So simple the owner's manuals have instructions on how to do it. 5-15 minutes start to finish in my experience with several vehicles.
Reply 0
May 11, 2014 | 08:44 AM
  #16  
mann filters - CUK 29 005
Reply 0
May 11, 2014 | 10:30 AM
  #17  
Quote: As I said before, the Asians and Americans do this much, much better. So simple the owner's manuals have instructions on how to do it. 5-15 minutes start to finish in my experience with several vehicles.
+1. Last Toyota I had was so easy - it didn't even need any tools to open filter housing for engine or cabin filters.
Reply 0
Subscribe
Currently Active Users (1)
 
story-0

6 Mercedes Models That Did NOT Age Well (But Are Somehow Still Cool)

Slideshow: Not every Mercedes design becomes timeless, some feel stuck in the era they came from.

By Verdad Gallardo | 2026-05-12 18:09:07


VIEW MORE
story-1

Manual Mercedes? 6 Times Sindelfingen Let Drivers Have All The Fun

Slideshow: Yes, Mercedes built manual cars, and some of them are far more interesting than you'd expect.

By Verdad Gallardo | 2026-05-02 12:36:58


VIEW MORE
story-2

Mercedes SLR McLaren 722 S Is Extremely Rare Example Modified by McLaren

Slideshow: A one-of-one U.S.-spec Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren Roadster became even rarer after a factory-backed transformation at McLaren's headquarters.

By Verdad Gallardo | 2026-04-29 11:19:28


VIEW MORE
story-3

8 Classic Boxy Mercedes Designs That Have Aged Like Fine Wine

Slideshow: Before curves took over, Mercedes mastered the art of the straight line, and some of those shapes still look right today.

By Verdad Gallardo | 2026-04-25 12:05:49


VIEW MORE
story-4

Flawlessly Restored Mercedes 190E Evo II Heads to Auction

Slideshow: The 190E Evolution II shows how a homologation necessity became a six-figure collector icon.

By Verdad Gallardo | 2026-04-22 17:53:47


VIEW MORE
story-5

Electric Mercedes C-Class Unveiled: 11 Things You Need to Know

Slideshow: Mercedes is turning one of its core nameplates electric, and the details show just how serious this shift is.

By Verdad Gallardo | 2026-04-21 13:58:06


VIEW MORE
story-6

Mercedes EQS Gets A Major Update: Everything You Need to Know

Slideshow: Faster charging, longer range, and a controversial steer-by-wire system define the latest evolution of Mercedes-Benz EQS.

By Verdad Gallardo | 2026-04-15 10:35:34


VIEW MORE
story-7

5 Underrated Mercedes-Benz Models That Don't Get the Love They Deserve

Slideshow: These overlooked Mercedes-Benz models never got the spotlight, but they quietly delivered more than most remember.

By Verdad Gallardo | 2026-04-13 19:35:45


VIEW MORE
story-8

Mercedes 300D Has Pushed Well Past 1 Million Miles and It Ain't Stopping

Slideshow: A well-used 1991 Mercedes-Benz 300D with more than one million miles is now looking for a new owner, and it still appears ready for more.

By Verdad Gallardo | 2026-04-10 10:05:15


VIEW MORE
story-9

10 Most Reliable Mercedes-Benz Models You Can Buy Used

Slideshow: From bulletproof sedans to surprisingly tough SUVs, these Mercedes models proved that the three-pointed star can go the distance.

By Verdad Gallardo | 2026-04-08 09:55:49


VIEW MORE