are the K&N air filters worth it
 

im planning to invest in the ever so popular k/n air filter. are they really worth the $50 bucks or so? what are ur experiances with them? thanks for ur input

mike

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1990 300 e
clear corners
limo tint
2 10's

I have yet to put a K&N on any of my Benz's, but I have one on my off road four by four, and my Vette.

On the '88 Vette with a Mass Air Flow system, anything you do to increase flow is compensated for by the computer. There is a SLIGHT flow increase which may add a couple of horsepower. This is very incremental, you would probably never know the difference.

I use it on the 4 X 4 because it can trap more dust. The one I use on it is 5" tall which you can get under the hood of a '78 Ford pick up.

The K&N is an excellent product for trapping dust offroad or gaining a slight flow increase. If you want to use one for economy reasons, I think it would be false economy. Even if you don't have to buy any more air filters, you have to keep it clean, and to do this you use the kit from K&N which is not cheap.

If you're looking for economy replace standard filters as needed. If you want to spend money for a SLIGHT, maybe unnoticeable performance increase, buy a K&N filter.

Good luck,

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Larry Bible
'84 Euro 240D, 523K miles
'88 300E 5 Speed
'81 300D Daughter's Car
Over 800,000 miles in
Mercedes automobiles

Don't bother, get the factory item. Does a great job. I have tried these on the BMW, no difference I could detect, other than increased induction noise..

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Jeff L
1987 300e
1989 300e
1987 BMW 325

where is a good place to get the factory filter, besides the dealer??

mike

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1990 300 e
clear corners
limo tint
2 10's

At the shop here, carparts.com, ************************ and some aftermarket outlets such as Auto Zone..

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Jeff L
1987 300e
1989 300e
1987 BMW 325

whats a decent price to pay for the air filters?? ill prob go with mercedes shop though, once i get some money from work

mike

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1990 300 e
clear corners
limo tint
2 10's

Whatever they cost!! :D :D :D

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Jeff L
1987 300e
1989 300e
1987 BMW 325

I have a 190e 2.3 with 271,000 miles and most of those are with a K&N filter.. I have saved alot of money and the filter seems to work fine. I pulled the pan at 200K because the gasket was bad... there was NO sign of wewear in the cylinders... all hone marks were present.

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Dust escaping the air filter usually does much more damage to the top ring, than to the cylinder walls for some reason.



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Larry Bible
'84 Euro 240D, 523K miles
'88 300E 5 Speed
'81 300D Daughter's Car
Over 800,000 miles in
Mercedes automobiles

Food for thought. My '89 300E has 168,000 miles on the clock. Blew head gasket at 165K. When I got the head off, I too could see original crosshatching on cylinder walls. I have used OEM air filter since I bought the car new. Unless your engine is inhaling rocks, the factory element is more than up to the job.

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Jeff L
1987 300e
1989 300e
1987 BMW 325

alrite fellow mercedes owners,
thank you for your input. ill just stick with oem air filters. btw, i love the support on this website. thanks alot guys

mike

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1990 300 e
clear corners
limo tint
2 10's

Larry, The KN is the last thing I would put in an off road truck. I have a 99 Ford diesel and spend time at Ford-Diesel.com. At one time there was a big discussion about KN filters. Somebody provided a link that showed private testing of KN vs. paper vs. other cleanable filters. The KN did poorly. To achieve increased airflow the KN sacrifices filtration. Your engine eats more dirt. When the KN gets dirtier it filters better, by the time it filters as well as a paper filter its airflow is actually lower than the paper filter. I know a lot of people use them and swear by them but after seeing the test results I would not run one in an off road vehicle. I certainly wouldn't clean it all of the time either. In a street car not exposed to all the dust it would probably be OK, and you will get increased airflow, just don't say somebody didn't warn you.

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90 300GE 5sp
95 740iL
86 944 Turbo

I guess I'm the lone ranger here. I just put in a K&N filter in my 16v and I don't have any negative feedback. From what I can tell, the engine is a fractionally more responsive at lower speed but on the freeway, the accleration was noticably better.

i dont understand how a different air filter can give u a 20+ increase in hp. if its because of more air flow, then why wont people just buy new intake. anyway, alot of things are physlogical, (spelling??) the box says better for the car and people believe it. i remember when i was smaller, 5 or so, when i would be in the car with my father. i asked him to go fast, and he said ok, and made an engine noise with his voice, and i actually thought we were riding faster. this is just an example, but people are naiave about stuff. folks, its all in the mind-

mike

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1990 300 e
clear corners
limo tint
2 10's

i say scrap the k&n and make some free vroom noises! =) More horsepower than that hyped up product will ever give ya!




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Phil Ly

1987 300E Midnight Blue
Remus Sport Exhaust
European headlights
Clear corners
AMG 17in Monoblock IIs (hopefully soon)
Eibach Lowering Springs