about how long do these things last? If mine was clogged, would I lose performance? I dont think it has been changed since the last service, which was about 30,000 miles ago. Are there any gains to be had with a "High Performance" fuel filter? Where is it located and how do I change it? Thanks.

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1993 400e
Charlotte

Most sedan's fuel filter lasts the life of the car - well over 120k mi.

Sports cars require fuel filter changes at 60k mi interval due to performance loss reasons. If the filter gets clogged, the car can run lean and the computer may compensate by reducing load on the engine, causing loss of performance.

With your mileage, you should be fine.

Your cars owners manual may have the replacement intervals, or there may be a separate service booklet that shows the intervals.
A clogged filter can very well affect driveability; starting, acceleration, hesitation, stalling.
I always felt it is good maintenance to change the filter as recommended by MB,
For my MB it is every 4 years or 60K miles.
Do a search on the tech forum for `fuel filter changing` may come acoss a few tips - like cutting off old line clamps and purchasing new screw on fuel clamps. some cars use union nuts and you need to replace the copper washers - ask dealer for your model.
On MB cars the fuel filter is usually located a foot or so from the gas tank.
Best to use an OEM filter, high performance may simply refer to particulate filtering hole size as opposed to car speed.

I feel it depends on the quality of the fuel in your area, I have replaced the fuel filters on my two cars, 400E had 230K Km and my Ford had 150K Km at that time, I was curious enough to tear apart the old filter from my Ford, there wasn't too much gunk in it.

The fuel filter on 400E is pretty big so it has a fairly large capacity, I would suggest if your car runs fine, without any sign of fuel starvation, leave it alone.

If you want to change it for a peace in mind, be sure to prepare some copper gaskets, as they are not resusable.

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99 BMW 540i 6-speed 110K Km
03 SAAB 9-5 wagon 80K Km
92 400E (Sold) 245K km
Still missing the days with the Benz, it kept me busy.

im going to change it anyways to see if it improves performance. It really feels sluggish right now and im going to see if this is the problem. Thanks. Im taking the back seats and the spare tire out for the races this weekend anyways. Thanks again

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1993 400e
Charlotte

I just changed mine, didn't notice a thing. I wouldn't worry about it.

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1992 Mercedes-Benz 400E
2002 Mercedes-Benz ML500

talked to my mechanic today who said they should be replaced about every 30,000 miles. Im gonna switch mine out by saturday and i might get some 1 bump pads. Also gonna have the whole car looked at, especially the cat-converters. Def time for the 200,000 mile checkup/tuneup. Thanks for the input.

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1993 400e
Charlotte

The MB recommended interval is 60k. It's probably not causing performance problems at that point but they're cheap and fairly easy to put on.