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Old 06-24-2003, 12:43 AM
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air filter upgrades

will swapping out my stock air filters with bmc ones give me a worthwhile performance benefit?
Old 06-25-2003, 03:18 AM
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Well, they are all bacically the same (for aftermarket filters), I've tried BMC and ITG. I ended up choosing BMC. BMC is not as oily as ITG and I can feel the car has a better mid-range response and power. Its better than stock, got more flow. Honestly, it will make a difference, but not drastic.
Old 06-25-2003, 05:04 AM
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S60R, ML320, W211/E350
I droped in K&N's and felt nothing.... As I predicted....
Old 07-08-2003, 06:59 PM
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I used the Ram Air filters and made a bit difference and didnt' spend an arm and leg like I would with the K&N's...
Old 07-08-2003, 07:02 PM
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S60R, ML320, W211/E350
SL500. you got the nicest SL I've ever seen!!!! Makes me wanna go out and get 1!!!!

Where did you get that panarama top? never seen it.
Old 07-08-2003, 07:05 PM
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Thanks XYZ, that's a factory option which used to be about 5k and are about 4k now... and yeah they are pretty rare... I appreciate it...
Old 07-08-2003, 10:18 PM
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....it probably will not give any performance results.....I used the Ramair/RamFx filters on my CLK and felt nothing.........perhaps a little decrease in performance......After 4,000 miles I opened up my airbox and saw that stupid goo/filter oil all over the box and air intake tubes......I believe it also is ruining my MAS since the car does not perform as well now and can no longer feel the car shift at all. Wondering whether it was my imagination, I threw the car on Dyno and did three runs with the Ramairs and three with OEM.....well guess what!!!!!!?????!!!!!! Average 7 HP less with the Ramairs!!!!

Last edited by Steph; 07-08-2003 at 10:20 PM.
Old 07-10-2003, 05:41 PM
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2002 CLK320
Originally posted by Steph
....it probably will not give any performance results.....I used the Ramair/RamFx filters on my CLK and felt nothing.........perhaps a little decrease in performance......After 4,000 miles I opened up my airbox and saw that stupid goo/filter oil all over the box and air intake tubes......I believe it also is ruining my MAS since the car does not perform as well now and can no longer feel the car shift at all. Wondering whether it was my imagination, I threw the car on Dyno and did three runs with the Ramairs and three with OEM.....well guess what!!!!!!?????!!!!!! Average 7 HP less with the Ramairs!!!!
Looks like your filter had ODed on the oil and it was preventing the air to flow more freely than the stock filter.

I'd say stick with the stock filter, which I believe Mach430 also recommends. But for those who have the air filter on top of the engine, try the thermo-tec tape method, which helps block the engine heat from reaching into the air box:

https://mbworld.org/forums/showthrea...t+thermal+tape
Old 07-10-2003, 05:55 PM
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well the filters don't make much of a difference but mine did just a bit... and also my buddy has a S500 which he changed his just before I did, and he saw a minimal gain... Oh well, it was worth a try...
Old 08-03-2003, 03:14 AM
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I am in the process of developing a ram air intake kit (maybe Carbon fiber, imitation) with K&N filter, it should not cost more than $50-100. its mainly for 6cyl benzes i'll post writeup and pics when i'm done. hope that helps
Old 08-03-2003, 06:00 PM
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Omey - Glad to see someone else on here willing to dive right in and make some performance parts for these cars! Isn't the location of the MAF the same on both of the cars? If so, you could have a good market if the design is right. Are you going to pipe it into or below the factory box, or just remove it all and have the intake exposed? The car is pretty much ram-air effect with the piping coming right out to the grill in the front of the car.

Ram Air filters - I just installed the RamFX filters on my '92 500, and they fit poorly. They turned out to be for the '93 airbox design which is 2mm narrower and 1mm shorter. Not too much of a problem though, I made it barely fit . I did however notice a mid range improvement, which is what I expected from these filters. The sound of the engine is a little louder, but that could be a leak from the airbox. I'm going to buy another set and run the proper fitting ones, and sell these to my friend with a '93 SL500. They are COATED in oil though, and very hard to get off your hands, as its not water-soluble, which makes it real nice to deal with, especially when trying to get it off of the intake. I firmly believe that stock paper filters block too much air and aftermarket oil-bathed ones trap particles better and flow more air. I'll never use an OEM one, just worth it to get an aftermarket one and clean it than buy an OEM one every now and then. My $.02
Old 08-03-2003, 07:29 PM
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Originally posted by Dual 5Ls
Omey - Glad to see someone else on here willing to dive right in and make some performance parts for these cars! Isn't the location of the MAF the same on both of the cars? If so, you could have a good market if the design is right. Are you going to pipe it into or below the factory box, or just remove it all and have the intake exposed? The car is pretty much ram-air effect with the piping coming right out to the grill in the front of the car.

Ram Air filters - I just installed the RamFX filters on my '92 500, and they fit poorly. They turned out to be for the '93 airbox design which is 2mm narrower and 1mm shorter. Not too much of a problem though, I made it barely fit . I did however notice a mid range improvement, which is what I expected from these filters. The sound of the engine is a little louder, but that could be a leak from the airbox. I'm going to buy another set and run the proper fitting ones, and sell these to my friend with a '93 SL500. They are COATED in oil though, and very hard to get off your hands, as its not water-soluble, which makes it real nice to deal with, especially when trying to get it off of the intake. I firmly believe that stock paper filters block too much air and aftermarket oil-bathed ones trap particles better and flow more air. I'll never use an OEM one, just worth it to get an aftermarket one and clean it than buy an OEM one every now and then. My $.02
The well i have a 300SE, and if you seen the 300SE intake its a pipe going directly to the front grill, but the filter is carburator shaped and is very very inefficient. The front radiator shroud has wings on the end that even further restrict air. For the 300SE specifically I will simply remove the stock paper air fitler and run a heat sheilded K&N filter externally (mount it on the intake inlet) and then precisely cut off the wings on the radiator shroud to allow ALOT more of a ram air affect, I will run felxible tubing from the filter to the inlet so that only external cold air can come in and it will be sealed to ensure no hot air can get in and no precious cold air can leak out. I will look to see what can be done on the S500's (my mom has 500SEL W140 so i'll look at hers too).

the 6 cyl is alot easier to make a properly designed intake kit b/c there is so much room. the S320 has different intake so i will see what i can do with that. if there is enough demand I can make kids for it and etc. anyways hope that helps.
Old 08-04-2003, 03:50 AM
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Excellent Omey, keep me and the rest of us posted

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