I hope others find this helpful - this swap was on my 2013, other years may look slightly different..

What you need
A - New air filter- without one what's the point..
B - Large flat blade screwdriver.
C - Torx 25, I used a small and large ratcheting setup





D - Couple of wipes for cleaning the airbox, I used the alcohol type bathroom wipes for easy cleaning and fast drying.

(1) Pop the hood - if you can't STOP , take your car to a mechanic... everyone else read on.

(2) Remove the engine cover, the front center has a plastic 1/4 turn screw, using a large flat screwdriver



Lift the cover at the front and pull toward you (front of vehicle) to release the two rubber grommets at the rear, put cover aside where you won't step on it (it happens! )

Now you can see the air box, below is a picture with the outlined air box and the 7 screw locations - 6 outer and 1 central that goes into the air filter itself.



(4) Remove the center screw completely. Next loosen the 6 outer screws, they can be loose from the bottom without being unscrewed from the top plastic of the air box. I did them one by one, gently pulling to see when they were free from the bottom then moved to the next one. Below shows a couple loose before I pulled the center out completely




The right side middle is tricky as is the back left. For the right side middle I gently pulled the harness easily out a bit and got the torx in.



For the back left side, I used the smaller ratchet on a bit of an angle it popped in fine to loosen and re-tighten later easily enough.



(5) Lift the cover, push the filter toward the passenger cabin/firewall to pop it off the front mount and pull it out toward you - my air box was dirty as will yours be, clean it with the wipes, I also had a passenger I had to remove - I'll get better fuel mileage now without that extra weight



Here's the new filter



(6) when inserting the new one remember THIS SIDE UP for the screw





(7) Insert the new filter BUT.. don't forget to pull the end cap seal out first


slide it in and pull toward you to seat it on the intake, it should look like this when fully seated (it's tight with a rubber gasket)



(8) put the cover on and align, make sure it seats flat like this (red rectangle on left) when all the screws are tight, I found it seats well by hand so you know it's right before tightening the screws.. this also gives you a good shot of the screw mounts - DO NOT OVERTIGHTEN - they are plastic mounts, snug is good.


(10) Check the cover rear to see how the grommets look and where they go then replace the cover, locking the front 1/4 turn screw.

(11) Have a beer - good job!

 

Thank-you for the "How To". I brought my GLK in for a B service and the dealer didn't have the air or fuel in stock. I purchased the air filter and your pictures saved me quite a lot of time.

Joe

 

Thats great, glad they helped,

 

Thanks! Great for 'un-mechanical newbies'.

 

Thanks for the the instructions and photos.. looks like in the nineth photo, a fly is trying to sneek inside your diesel.

 

LOL good catch...

 

Thanks for the pics. I just ordered a K&N replacement filter and was wondering what the
offset hole in the middle was for. I'm curious as to what the OEM replacement cost. I got
20% off my K&N for a total of $78 with free shipping from Auto Anything. (What happened
to the days when an air filter was about $15 ?)

 

Theres alot of debate on the k&n but i wont get into that, in Canada the filters were ~$50 cdn loonies plus the govt tax of course, you can still buy a 15 buck filter, you just need to "downgrade" to that kind of car

The hole in the middle secures the filter from slipping backward off the intake..