Once the 6 screws are removed, you can just pull out on the glovebox assembly to remove it. It will take a hard jerk to remove it. There are tabs on top, but you stand the chance of damaging the dash if you pry around on it. OTOH I have never damaged a glovebox assembly by jerking it out. When it comes loose, you can then disconnect the wire from the glovebox light if you want to, but for replacing the filter it's not neccesary to dosconnect the light.

Gilly

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I've done this once and my only comment is that I had to pull/jerk very hard, much harder than I'd have thought was reasonable. To make matters worse when the screws were out it didn't feel as though the box was tight/wedged but rather that it was held up on something positive that was meant to be removed. Having checked and double checked all the screws were out I removed a number of other dash parts trying to see what was going on - all to no avail. In the end I simply pulled VERY HARD, align your forearm with the glove box door to spread the force over the whole width of the door.

BTW if you're glove box door makes a strange noise on opening you may be able to fix it by lubricating the dashpot damper which is accessible when the glove box is out.

Good luck,

Peter

The glove box is a tough pull, once you get all the screws out.

Once the box comes out, unhook the light. No need to remove it.

There is a white clip holding the cover to the filter. It unlocks from the bottom. Once you get it off,and remove the black cover you will see the dirty filters.

The instructions come with the new filter, if your not sure.

Cost is around $20.00 for replacement. Don't neglect.

TIP: After putting in the first filter and sliding it over in place. Put a little lubricant on the edge of the foam of the second filter, before sliding it in. It will go in easier and won't hang on the first filter.


Mike Mullins

97 E320

Thank you all. I now feel well armed with the right knowledge. Have ordered the filters from the parts shop. Will place feedback on this string when the deed is done. I am expecting very dirty filters as I am sure they have never been changed. Will check the charcoals later but doubt they were used much.

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hlg

Got it done. And you were right about having to pull harder than you would like. However, I did notice that while pulling that there was exposed a slot at the top of the dash frame on either side and when flat screwdriver placed in this and twisted (there is one on each side.) that it pops the top loose on the side applied. The filters were indeed yucky. No doubt the previous owner did not get MB service. I also found the engine air filter equally dirty. The charcoal filters were not dirty and I suspect they were not used. We and the engine are now breathing easily again. Thanks to all. Harvey

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hlg

Got it done. Had to vacuum out the area since the old filters were garbaged. Hint, there is a slot in the top edge of the glovebox just in front of each of the two tabs holding it in. First pull down on the lock tab that sticks out until you can see one or both of the slots. Place a flat blade of screw driver into the slot enough to pry it down, and leave it there as you pull firmly. Repeat on the other slot and out it pops. Hope that helps someone. Cheers.

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hlg

Regarding the charcoal filter, my understanding is that it needs to be replaced at the appropriate interval, regardless of whether the charcoal filter is seldom switched on. Is this true?

Or, is it just good practice to replace them both at the same time, especially since removing the glove box is not very easy.

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Dave

1998 E320
2001 SLK320
2000 Lexus RX300

My car has 67k on it and I inspected the charcoals after changing out the regular filters. Mine looked new and not discolored. My thought is that people rarely turn them on unless pressed by a bad smell. Odds are they, like me, won't make the effort unless really offended. So I doubt that there is more than several hours on mine (can't prove it of course). I can say that as a physician, that there is not likely to be any bacteria in the filter at all. Mold spors should be mostly in the regularefilters since all goes through there first. Charcoal without moisture, does not promote bacterial growth at all. I therefore do not think the charcoal refills are a good investment unless used a lot and begin to fail. But WTHDIK? Just my opinion.

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hlg

The service interval for the charcoal filters on the 210 chassis is 45,000 miles. If you don't want to do it, hey, it's a free country, don't do it.
I'd base the decision on how often you use the feature and how important it is to you to have the filters at peak efficiency. Someone with lots of allergies may feel differently than someone without.
I'm a "good German" though and try to get the owners to replace them on schedule. Every 45,000 miles or 4 years.

Gilly

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Fair enough, I will bow to your good judgement. Thanks for the input.

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hlg

OK, I changed the "dust" filters on my 1998 E320 sedan today. Sorry, I forgot my digital camera so I don't have any pictures.

But I can say this. There are EIGHT screws to remote the glove box. There are 4 that are clearly visible in the upper right and left sides of the front of the glove box. There are 2 that are on the "floor" of the inside of the glove box that are covered by plastic covers. And finally there are 2 more on the "ceiling" of the inside of the glove box that require a short screwdriver to get to. All screws are phillips head.

So I take all eight screws off and with one hard tug I snapped the glovebox out. The filters were VERY dirty and there were about 200 pine needles all over the place back there. BLAH!!! I got the parts from my local dealership, both filters come in a package. Price was like $18.50 since my friend works at a repair shop.

I slid the filters in and that was that.

NOW, where is the charcoal filter? I looked at the parts diagram and it seems like it's to the left of the glovebox and you must take apart the dash or get under the dash to get to them.

My '98 E320 only has 37k miles on it and the previous owner (original owner) never used the charcoal filter so I am not even going to bother checking how clean it is unless it's easy to get to.

Thanks to everyone on this forum who posted part #s, photos, and tips and tricks, it was helpful! :-)

Cheers!

Technique, The charcoa filters are under the passenger side dash and can be reached by removing the underneat cover. It is pretty simple from there, and they are (two of them) pulled down to remove after the covers are removed. You cannot clean them. However, if what you say is so, I wouldn't replace them either, since I did not. Cost is about 165+ and not worth it. Unfortunately you cannot tell if a charcoal filter is full of smells or not, except if it does not work. Therefore I left mine in as they are still working. Since they are not main line, they will not obstruct the flow of air unless turned on when they are full. However, WTHDIK. See the comment of Gilleybenztech. I will send you a copy of the manual for this. I will need your email since it won't attach. Regards, Harvey

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hlg

Hmmmm, I have no way of knowing if the filters are working unless I drive by a smelly area and then turn the filter on. I tend to drive with the charcoal on 100% of the time since I am in the washington DC area now and don't like pollen or pollution. I wish there was a way to visually look at the filters and see if they are "good" or not... Is there any quantitative way to test it? Or qualitative way to inspect them?

Thanks!

PS - I emailed you a message with my email.

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2001 Acura CL 3.2 Type-S (Silver)
2005 Jaguar S-Type 4.2 (Black)
1998 Mercedes E320 Sedan (Black)
http://www.backwardshat.com/mb/trio_small.jpg

I really don't know of any other way to test. The dust filters pretty well keep any particulate material, pollens, etc out. As for charcoal, it is an adsorbent, not absorbent. It chemically binds to molecules, such as in odors, fumes, non-odorous toxins, gases. If you use it all the time, then you best change it. MB recommends every 60k, but more often I would suspect if you use in constantly.

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hlg

Ok,
I've been through this post three or four times since my A/C is a bit smelly unless I use the charcoal filter. I ordered the filters, and an air filter, from our host and marched out to the car this morning ready for a tug of war with the glove box.

First I noticed that the screws had been removed before by the scratches in the green primer on the heads. I removed all eight and the glovebox almost fell out in my hands. It took zero effort to pull it out. After removing the black door/white latch assembly, the pollen filters themselves go in really easily. I reinstalled the black door/white latch assembly and put the glovebox and screws back in. The nasty odor is gone. The old filters didn't really look very dirty, but they sure smelled up the A/C. Anyway it was really easy and the air filter was too. Sure hope it remains odorless for a while; time will tell.

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David
Tucson, AZ

98 E320 Wagon 66K
00 BMW 323i Sedan 38K
93 Volvo 945T 100K DECEASED 4/18/03 R.I.P.