Remote Oil Filter - 124 Body - 300E
 

Has anyone researched or installed a remote oil filter set-up for our 124 body 300Es? I cannot consistently change my oil filter without extra oil going to the floor. I say consistently because sometimes giving the filter a slight turn to "break the air lock" and letting the filter drain into it's mounting flange does the trick and sometimes it doesn't.

Seems these vehicles would be an ideal candidate for a remote oil filter installation - with the filter positioned upright instead of upside down. I have searched the database and cannot find where this topic has been covered in the past.

Appreciate any comments.

Use a nail or some other sharp device to punch a hole in the top of the filter to let air in so it can drain before removing it.

Dave - thanks for the nail in the oil filter idea. It's simple to do and worth giving it a try.

Let me know how it works.

I have punched mine with a long punch numerous times and if you give it enough time it will drain out that way. My problem is that I get in a hurry and spill it anyway.

I try to drain my oil and filter on a Friday night and let it drain over night. I've already gotten in my work clothes, and if it's bad weather out, I want to get the filter off, the oil draining and get back in the house and clean up for supper. If I punch the filter and leave it to drain overnight, it's just that much more sludge that goes through and possibly gets left in the crankcase. Yes, I know when it comes to my oil changes I am very anally retentive.

Have a great day,

Actually I have never had any drips when I remove mine. It seems that the oil drains out naturally. I have always wondered why and I am always expecting a mess when I change it. Just lucky I guess.

Thanks Dave and Larry - both good points. I am still interested if anyone in the forum has any experience with installing a remote oil filter set-up in a Benz. I don't know if the remote oil filter mfgrs. even make models for MB.

I will do some research on the availability of a remote set-up and advise the forum of my findings.

FYI - I got the idea for a remote from my dad's 94 Olds Bravada, 4.3L V6. This vehicle has a factory supplied, remote oil filter set-up mounted immediately behind the radiator bulk head on the drivers side of the engine compartment. This makes changing filters a snap.

Dave, FYI - I am also interested in a remote oil filter set-up for my 96 GMC K2500 Suburban. I don't know what the K1500 set-up is like; but I am tired of the mess my oil filter makes on my 7.4L. It is mounted worse that the MB - it is perfectly horizontal and it floods the CV joint in my front drive shaft upon removal. Not a big deal, just messy to deal with. I learned to take a 12 inch length of Al foil and arch it over the CV joint - this re-directs the oil to the catch pan.

Larry - like you, I like to do a thorough job and remove as much of the old oil from the system as possible. For this reason, I have yet to be interested in a suction system. However, reading the forum notes on suction systems, I may need to re-consider my position. Postings inply MB is designing drain pans on the newer models (i.e. MLs) to remove more of the oil via. suction than is allowed to drain by gravity. (OSHA concerns??) For this to be true, I would think the area immediately under the dip stick tube would need to become the lowest point in the oil pan. On my older MBs, the drain plug appears to still be the low point.

My long time friend who is my dealer MB Tech said that there was actually discussion about not providing a drain plug on the latest models, but they predicted that there would be too much complaint from those who still do their own changes.

As long as you are changing frequent enough, the suction method will work out okay. Modern oils do a much better job of cleaning, making this more feasible.

The drain plug in my C Class seems to be in a good position to drain well. The biggest benefit of a drain plug drain for the home shop change is that you can drain the oil hot and let it drip for a long time. Some of the Topsiders and such, are plastic and will melt with hot oil. If the oil isn't hot, you are not removing as many contaminants with the oil. No good!

Have a great day,
Change oil hot and change oil often

Larry - Exactly, I couldn't agree more! Your point about the oil being hot is an excellent one and enough to keep me gravity draining as long as I can. Appreciate your additonal comments.

So far, I have found only Amsoil to manufacture a remote oil filter kit for the 300E. Following is a reply to my question to Amsoil: "Does Amsoil make a dual remote oil filtration system that will fit my 1990 MB 300E?"

Amsoil Tech. Service wrote: "We do not have a dual element system, but we can offer our AMSOIL BMK11 single bypass system. The end result is the same, but the single element system draws its oil supply from the oil pressure sender via a tee. A complete description of this product may be found on our website in the product information section."

I am concerned plumbing anything into the 'oil pressure sender via. a tee.' This seems like an opportunity to spring a leak and, as Murphy would have it, at the most inopportune time. Also, to get price and availability, I need to find out where Amsoil products are sold. Continuing . . .

I doubt that you would be able to get enough flow thru the oil pressure sender tap. Its a very small hole compared to the feed and return lines on a filter. I would expect you would need at least a half inch line to the filter and back. No way on an oil pressure sender connection.

A bypass filter would never take the place of a the full-flow filter already in place on your vehicle. It would add some extra measure of filtration, but you'd still have to change your regular filter since a bypass wouldn't be an acceptable substitute. I don't think any OEMs have used a bypass type filter since the '50s -- my '58 Chevy 6 cylinder had an accessory bypass oil filter -- the V8s came with a full flow, as did the 6's after '63. I don't think it would help you much.
John

Thanks, I realize now what Amsoil means by a "by-pass filter." It is a filter that is added to supplement the factory filter. Looking further at their website, Amsoil describes it as follows:

"The AMSOIL By-Pass Oil Filter provides the best possible filtration protection against wear, oil degradation, rust and corrosion. Working in conjunction with the engine’s full-flow oil filter, the AMSOIL By-Pass Filter operates by filtering oil on a "partial-flow" basis. It draws approximately ten percent of the oil at any one time and traps the extremely small, wear-causing contaminants and water that full-flow filters can’t remove. The AMSOIL By-Pass Filter typically filters all the oil in the system several times an hour, so the engine continuously receives analytically clean oil."

This will not help me. I am looking to "relocate" the factory, full flow filter to a more convenient location/orientation for changing.

bypass filtration
 

I'm surprised you guys on this forum don't know more about this subject. On some of the other forums, this subject has been covered time and again. The bypass filtration systems are the single best modification you can make to your engine for longevity and extending your oil drain intervals. The tee setup works perfectly. The bypass filter works much more slowly, and most of the oil is diverted to the full flow filter, whether its factory or aftermarket. The bypass filter takes about 5 minutes at around 40 mph to clean all of the oil. These systems definitely work, and definitely extend the life of your oil. These results are proven through oil analysis.

For our Mercedes that have the cartridge filter, not the standard spin-on, the bmk-11 is the kit, the amsoil guy was right. Its pretty easy to install. Follow the below link for a picture step by step install on a vw bug. its not that tough. It was much tougher on thebug because there's hardly any space to mount the filter. Most mbs have room under the hood, allowing vertical mounting (read=no spilling).
http://www.amsoil-synthetics.com/99NBbypass.htm

This system won't help you relocate your MB factory oil filter, but will extend the life of your engine, and most likely with the right oil, you can go 20-40,000 miles on an oil change, while only changing filters, with cleaner oil than you would have in a 5000 mile oil change and standard filtration. Of course you can ONLY determine your proper oil drain interval through oil analysis. Analysis kits are about $14 and easy to do.

LightMan -

Thanks for the additional detail and vote of confidence for the Amsoil dual filter system. I will track one down and install it on one of my 300Es. I would think Amsoil makes a dual remote system that replaces my spin on AND adds the second by-pass filter.

how about cm filters link http://www.cmfilters.com/

All the filter can do is remove particulate. The reason you need to change oil is not to remove the particulate matter. Rather the reason is that the additive package in the oil wears out. Once the additives are used up, acids and moisture serve to make the oil less effective. Additionally the Viscosity Improver additive present in multi-grade oils of which most of us use these days last probably a shorter length of time than the other additives.

Reducing the particulate is not a bad thing, but I believe you are making a mistake if you consider removing the particulate eliminates the need to change oil frequently.

My $0.02,

Right ON Larry! I agree completely. I second that motion.

Keith -

Thanks for the lead to CM Filters:

http://www.cmfilters.com/

I checked them out and am very impressed with their offerings. Not only do they offer remote mounting options, they also offer a machined Aluminum canister that directly replaces a spin on disposable filter AND has a removable plate on the bottom for replacing the filter cartridge. What interests me in the spin on replacement canister is one can change the filter cartridge "out the bottom" which, for my 300E, means "out the top." i.e. this solves my original problem of continually "spilling" oil down the side of my engine when I change the factory filter. I just need to confirm they have a set up for my Benz.

Larry and dpetryk - I agree with your assessment of extended drain intervals - that was never my objective. While I will change my filter set-up, I won't change my drain intervals. I am one of those who changes oil every 2,500 miles; in part for the reasons you mentioned. I figure oil is relatively inexpensive, is recycled and is one of the easy things an owner can do to help maintain a vehicle in top condition. Over the years, I have migrated to using Mobil 1 primarily because of the stability it seems to provide over the temperature extremes in Minnesota - low and high. Now, I may further migrate to Amsoil synthetic because of what I am learning about what defines a true synthetic product. While Amsoil 'appears' more true to the synthetic concept, I still wonder about the additive package in any synthetic and whether or not it too is synthetic. I was once told that the additive package in synthetics may not be synthetic AND can contitute up to 50% by volume of the product.

Thanks to all for helping me find a solution to my filter set-up!!

If you have the spin on filter on your car, and enough room to mount it, most likely the BMK-13 kit will fit your car. The adapter spins on where your original oil filter was, and has an in and out line going up to the mount. Both the full flow and bypass filter screw in to the mount so its really simple to service the filters etc. Good luck and please post pics of your installation! You're so lucky you have the spin on filter, if I did, i'd already have a 13 kit on my car as well, but I have a cartridge in mine, making it more difficult to install.

Sounds good and thanks for the suggestion to post pics of the installation - I appreciate it when others do that!

Here is the latest on this thread.

For [my] Mercedes gas engine application with spin-on oil filters, I contacted Amsoil tech service about which filters they offer for my 124 body, 300E 3.0L gas engine - their reply is in quotes below. Because Amsoil does not offer dual bypass kits for Mercedes, I will contact CM Filter to see if they do. Note: The Amsoil BMK-13 dual bypass kit is not offered for Mercedes. (I will also post this reply in the 'bypass oil filter thread.) Here is the Ansoil reply:

"For the Mercedes engines, we recommend our AMSOIL Synthetic 10W40 Heavy Duty Motor Oil (AMO). We do not have the dual bypass kits for the Mercedes, but we can supply the
BMK11 single bypass kit. The optional BE90 filter element will be needed as well. You will need the assistance of a Mercedes dealer or trained technician for the installation. The Mercedes requires a match to fit adapter for the oil pressure sender unit. There is no standardized part for this - it could be one of many ways and needs visual inspection. The 300E uses the GF217 fuel filter.

Complete description of these products may be found on our website in the product information section. For pricing and/or ordering information call 800-777-7094 from 7 AM to 5 PM Central time Monday through Friday. You may also access pricing and ordering on line in the "Company Store" section of
our website."