Mine is behind the headlight so I am not too worried about water. I know that they do not filter as well, but it beats the filter I had.

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1979 240D- 316K miles - VGT Turbo, Intercooler, Stick Shift, Many Other Mods - Daily Driver

1982 300SD - 232K miles - Wife's Daily Driver

1986 560SL - Wife's red speed machine

You are right. I was talking about the "cold air" setups that have the filter infront of the wheel, down low, under the bumper, etc... Those are the places where water can be sucked in quickest.

Behind the headlight is no problem unless you are fording rivers. It just sucks in less than ideal air

If it's about looks, go for it. The factory setup is very good, both at sourcing cold air from in front of the radiator, and in filtering the air for a long engine life. It would be work to improve the factory setup, but obviously it can be done, just not at the price of an oil and gauze filter.

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'83 240D with 617.952 and 2.88
'01 VW Beetle TDI
'05 Jeep Liberty CRD
'89 Toyota 4x4, needs 2L-T
'78 280Z with L28ET - 12.86@110
Oil Burner Kartel #35

http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b1...oD/bioclip.jpg

Here is the one I put in; it also deals with the oil separator and flows plenty of air. That turbo whine is almost as loud as my 99 F250 Powerstroke's.

Attached Thumbnails

 

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85 300D, PlantDrive VO kit, Stage 2 performance intake
Tampa, FL

thats what i want.. so everyone knows ive got a turbodiesel... i was thinking of doingsomething like that and a oil seperator from a 240D since last i checked that had an external seperator

Are you the person that sells those on ebay?

Only the later 240s (81 and up I think) have those seperators

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1979 240D- 316K miles - VGT Turbo, Intercooler, Stick Shift, Many Other Mods - Daily Driver

1982 300SD - 232K miles - Wife's Daily Driver

1986 560SL - Wife's red speed machine

The 300D intake system is ugly and big, plus the 180 degree bend doesn't help airflow. The larger straighter tubing in his kit is much less restrictive. The replacement separator was part of the kit. Removing that ugly stock intake made room for my dual stage vegoil filter.

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85 300D, PlantDrive VO kit, Stage 2 performance intake
Tampa, FL

i'd stick with the oem/stock air filter. the reason these mb engines lasted for 20+ years is because of the highly efficient stock/oem filters that it has been using for 20+ years. if mb installed a high flow air filters like k&n 20 years ago, i don't think that these mb diesels will still run today. those are racing filters were you drive your car on a race track where almost no dust and road particles and debris, and those race cars engines are beaing overhauled and rebuilt after each race and some of them can't even reach the finish line.

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'85 300D Turbo - CA Version

I agree, but we were all young and foolish once. I hacked up my share of cars too. They'll get bored and move on to something else.

I have used K&N style performance air filters on all of my vehicles for over a decade now. I have not once had any problems. They flow better but they filter better too; they're just a better design. I know guys with over 300k miles on their Powerstrokes running [similar] performance systems and they see PLENTY of off road conditions - WAY, WAY more than my 300D ever will. But unfortunately as vstech pointed out, something should be done to get colder air directly to it. With that stock mess removed I had plenty of room to mount my veg oil filter system; no way I could have put it in there with that in the way.

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85 300D, PlantDrive VO kit, Stage 2 performance intake
Tampa, FL

Yes that is the truth! Filtration is key to longevity in these engines. Bypass oil filters, double fuel filters, very effective air filters. If you want more performance then I would look to another car, the MB were designed for fuel mileage, safety and reliability, not speed.

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1981 300D 147k
1998 VW Jetta Tdi 320k
2001 Dodge Ram 2500 141k
1979 300D 234k (sold)
1984 300D "Astor" 262k(sold)
Mercedes How-To and Repair Pictorials
I love the smell of diesel smoke in my hair

Ugly, it may be, but it is much superior to the system you have on there now. The bend may restrict airflow, but even with the stock setup, you're still taking in more than enough air than the engine needs due to the turbocharger.

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'81 MB 300SD, '82 MB 300D Turbo (sold/RIP), '04 Lincoln Town Car Ultimate

Sooner or later every car falls apart, ours does it later!
-German Narrator in a MB Promotion Film about the then brand new W123.