1. Thinking about replacing air filter with a K&N. Those of you who have...notice any performance enchancements?
2. Dust Brake Shields...Do they really work? I heard it can overheat brake components...(I imagine it might if you race your MB)...but I'm a regular driver.

No on brake dust shields.

Get some Different pads, Search for which ones give the least dust, I think they are called EBC Greenstuff, but not sure on that.

I use factory pads, OEM, and just wash my wheels more often, its a pain, but I figured I would try these pads out first before switching to others.

K&N is your choice... it wont help low end accelleration, but helps in higher end.

Alon

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'92 300CE - Sold
2004 C240 - 744 - C7 Wheels - Android Radio
2002 C320 - 816 - Sport Wagon

Thanks Alon,
Nice Web Site, Thumbs up on your modifications...I too have a 1992 300 CE (Black on Tan).
WinstonHong

Yes, Alon, nice Website.

I have a question for you. You said "The Car does not leak, but is showing signs of very small head gasket failure, but nothing to be concerned about yet." What does that mean?

Thanks.

Bo

Winston,
You can try K&N's if you like. Don't expect more than a 3% or so power improvement (peak). You might also get a bit more intake noise. I'm not sure whether or not that matters to you, just giving you a heads up.

Skip the brake dust shields. Even on a daily driver (especially stop/go city or rush hour traffic) can be hard on brakes. Braking is too important to mess with when compared to how easy it is to clean your wheels (once a week recommended) with a good wheel cleaner. Getting the right cleaner makes all the difference between it being a PITA that you will end up not doing as often vs something that is easy enough to do in a couple mins. That said, I'd recommend either P21S wheel cleaner (can be hard to find sometimes) or Meguiar's Gold Class wheel cleaner (black bottle) That stuff seems to work particularly well on MB's. (works great on my C36's wheels, but not as well on my girlfriend's integra)

In a nutshell, try the K&N's if you like just don't expect much and skip the dust shields in favor of a good wheel cleaner w' diligent use.

Hope this helps,
Lee

What I mean by that is that my mech pointed out a slightly oily looking area of pretty much dry oil near the head gasket. He pointed it out and said its the sign of a small leak beginning.

I guess its small enough for the engine to not lose any oil though, because I havent used any oil since my last oil change, except maybe a few drops, which probably seeped through that small leak.

Last time my car was at his shop he told me the car needed nothing (that is after he rebuilt the tranny... )

He did say to keep an eye on oil usage, and I have and I have no noticed a drop in oil level on the car in the 12000 miles I have roughly driven it...

I have changed the oil 4 times already, and each time the oil as still very clean and still filled up as many bottles as I put back in it...

If you inspect the engine around the head gasket you should notice some small black marks like something ran out and down the engine a bit. This is what he noticed on mine, but on mine it was pretty much dry....

Alon

__________________
'92 300CE - Sold
2004 C240 - 744 - C7 Wheels - Android Radio
2002 C320 - 816 - Sport Wagon