For JEFFSR, Just curious, but what caused your head gasket to blow, and I'm not implying that it was air filter related. Thanks.

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Fred Prickett
85 500 SEL, 241,500 mi
90 5.0 Mustang LX conv.

Fred, it was an acute loss of coolant. My wife was on the highway doing about 70 per and a seal in the water pump let go. She didn't pick it up in time and the engine got real hot, aluminum head lifted and !voila!, head gasket went. Hope you dont get to live thru one of those experiences. BTW, Mike, there is no filter element that will get you a 20 hp increase. At least not on this planet..

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Jeff L
1987 300e
1989 300e
1987 BMW 325

I'm running a K&N airfilter in a E300 Turbodiesel and could not be happier. Noticeable diffrence. they also make oil and fuel filters but cant get them here.

Another small tidbit that helps MBZ performance is (at least on the 190e' airboxes) they are not very well insulated. I put some reflective insulating material under the box and inside the cover and I am pleased.. the car doesn't seem to be as affected by heat when idling in traffic. As far as heat goes I originally did this because the plastic had warped slightly on the bottom of the airbox. Also... if you look inside of the airbox cover Mercedes uses this foam material which disintegrates... and falls into the intake.

I swear a good aftermarket airfilter is all you need. Unless you do regular off road driving in tons of dust. Visualize an old air filter. How much dirt and trash does it have on it? Not that much usually.
I believe in air filters, and have changed filters regularly, that is twice a year, on a couple of old Volvos we drive plus on our 240D.
But - for what it's worth - we also have a 71 GMC three quarter ton pickup, and 17 years ago we put a rebuilt motor in this vehicle, and I'm embarrassed to say the old air cleaner assembly didn't fit the new rebuilt motor, so I left it off. It was my daily driver for eight or nine years, several miles every day on unpaved roads. I still use it to haul firewood. The motor is in pretty good shape.
So I'm just saying that air filters are important but I wouldn't make a religion out of them.
Marketeers probably look closely at air filters and think of ways to hype them because they are easy do it yourself items.
Harvey

Ok. One stupid question. Is it true that air filters make the exhaust sound louder?

Chuck

http://formen.ign.com/news/17258.html

my friend sent me this site about ways to improve your car. what do u guys think about cold intake.... or is the stock good enough?

mike

O.K

A) to hkoh, no it's not a stupid question, but the "added" sound you hear is coming from your intake, not your exhaust.

B) to skioff, "cold air" intakes is really kind of a misnomer. A cold air intake will only work if it "straitens out" the air on it's way to the manifold (i.e. removes bumps or twists the factory put in) or is able to move a larger volume of air due to a larger diameter, etc. I think, by implying the air charge will be "colder" is misleading. By the way, "cold air intakes" generaly make more noise also.

C) to everyone, I guess I'm also in the minority here also. I believe in K&N filters and use them in all my vehicles, although, I have to admit, I didn't feel a BIG difference when I instaled the one in my Merc, I feel they really help when you get into higher horsepower applications.

Happy motoring. Paul

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'99 SLK230 (Bahama Blue)
17" O.Z. Racing "Vela" Modular wheels
Real carbon fiber interior
AMG sideskirts
Custom rear wing

'96 Impala SS (Black)
17" Boyd's "Phoenix" wheels
Custom exhaust
Full custom interior(black and purple) with real carbon fiber
Custom intake

'94 Firebird Formula (Turquoise)
17" Antera "Opus One" (three spoke) wheels
Full custom interior
Vortech Supercharger
Other Misc Craziness

skioff - good link, looks like it has a lot of other good articles that I will be checking out also.

I recently installed a K&N filter on my wife's Honda CR-V and it seems to have helped the gas milage. She had been averaging around 24 mpg and on the last trip to Atl. it got around 28 mpg. I have been unable to tell if there is any difference in the performance.

engatwork
'95 E320
'97 Honda CR-V

One thing I have not seen addressed in this firestorm on air filters is the fact that manufacturers are designing intake systems with the airbox operating at a specific resonance. When that resonance is altered, horsepower and torque are affected, especially in the top ranges.
My brother learned this on his racing motorcycle, when a factory tuner showed him the dyno results with the K&N and without it. He lost several top end horsepower with the K&N and the factory man showed him some other modifications that were much more effective.

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In my experience the K&N's increase intake honk a bit. If there is a significant restriction on the OEM intake system a filter will help a little bit. They most likely do sacrifice a bit of filtration to get the airflow. If I had a car where there was a pinch in airflow I would use the K&N at the track then swap back to OEM's as soon as I was done. The rest of the time the OEM's work so well that the cost-gain (if any) is not worth it.

As far as "cold air" goes...colder air is denser with O2 which of course helps power. This condition is magified in many MB as the intake air temp sensor and coolant temp sensor cut back the timing and fuel/air ratio fairly aggressively as temps rise. If the intake air is getting "heat soaked" by engine bay temps then you are losing a bit of power to it. In an instance like that, insulating the ducting/airbox would help. Otherwise it just causes more clutter.

Hope this helps...Lee

I am in the minority also. I use K & N filters in all my cars and I couldn't be happier. I actually felt the differences in both torque and high rpm breathing between stock (new) filters and the K & N when I fisrt switched. I think they are well worth the money.

i live in arizona, and its dry and very hot here. there is no moisture in the air... so im guessing its a little dusty... however i cant compare cause i havnt gone out of state for a while.... so sacrificing alittle filtration for more air with my 156k benz would be a....good idea? or no?

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1990 300 e
clear corners
limo tint
2 10's

The biggest limitation on the m103 engine is the design of the air box and intake ducts themselves. If you look at it you might think you are getting a ram effect with the origin of the intake just behind the grill next to the radiator and condenser. Well good racing design removes all bends, heat and whatever so your cooler denser outside air get a straigt shot at the induction hardware. You have a stock air box that's huge with a lot of room for turbulence and redistribution of airflow with a narrow intake duct that changes shape at least two times. An air filter might clean this up a bit, but you're still stuck with an air handling system designed for average use. Can't make a silk purse out of a cow's ear, but you can have a lot of funn trying.

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Jeff L
1987 300e
1989 300e
1987 BMW 325

is there anything i can do to modify the air box...i dont know where to begin... this is my summer break, so i have lots of time... oh yeah, i dont want a silk purse, i want a fur coat

mike

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1990 300 e
clear corners
limo tint
2 10's