Restrictive Air Filter Assemblies

[Oversize]

4 years 7 months since I felt this was an issue and it's finally be proven true on the dyno by Carobu!!! And rather than make a lot of changes to the standard assemblies, I intend to use one from a W140. But even that may need some (more minor) custom mods....

Oh and apparently the air valve baffle (stopper bridge) also restricts air flow.

 

[Oversize]

 

[sean sherry]

Been chasing knowledge about Mercedes C Class W204 Air Filters which are as good as they come. No advantage fitting K & N washable Filter
Biggest improvement has been resetting The ECU and the TCU back to how they left the Factory. I now have a part throttle downshift, crisper upshifts and responsive Throttle. I guess Mercedes know that they are doing !!!!

 

[Oversize]

They do NOW, but premerger with AMG I think they were somewhat confused. Seems like divisions of marketing, bean counters & engineering weren’t getting along.

I think in some ways they down-specced the 6.9 so it wouldn’t take sales from the 600 which was already selling at a loss apparently.

How else can you explain the std airfilter without cold air, a tiny throttle, tiny exhaust outlets, manual seats & vinyl without timber on the door cards??

Oh and the title of this thread could be better... The airfilter was great; what it was mounted in was not.

 

[Oversize]

I just bought 2 so let’s see how they go on a 560 & 6.9!

 

[sean sherry]

Interesting comment Mark about what Air Filters are mounted too Reminds me of the Mercedes Add that said Air Bags are great but it depends what they are mounted on..... a picture of a shopping trolly.

 

[sean sherry]

The factory knows best....advertised aftermarket Air Filters in Turbo charged Cars may pass more Air... but is it clean ?... such Filters cause premature wear on the tips of the Turbo Blades... very common.. ask the repairers. The factory Filters in both our C Class W204 Turbos give maximum protection coupled with efficiency.
I don't profess know more than forty thousand Mercedes Engineers !!!

 

[Patrick_R]

Our Australian spec trucks run dual elements in a single housing like this.



Sometimes in remote areas where it is extremely dusty, (especially our super fine red bull dust) they will run 2 of these in series.
Modern truck turbos are under so much pressure the slightest trace of dust can be catastrophic.

The below story does not fully relate to the topic, but it sort of does
If a turbo fails, and starts passing oil, a large Diesel engine can “run away” being fuelled by the engine oil, now passing into the combustion chamber, even if someone turns the ignition off.

I’ve only ever seen it once on a 17.2L IVECO V8, with a massive central single turbo in the valley.
It was brought in for engine oil consumption issues. Right at the moment the mechanic was checking it, the turbo bushes failed.

It started to run away, and the smart leading hand stripped off his overalls, and threw them into the open air cleaner inlet.

This was a big man, and his overalls were huge, but they disappeared in a blink of an eye!

Luckily, it starved the big V8 of air, and she shut down.

Could have been very horrible, as the max engine speed of the V8 was 2200RPM.
The truck telemetry told us the engine achieved a max rev of 3200RPM.

 

[Oversize]

The W129 airfilters won’t fit a M117 or M100 without substantial mods which defeats the purpose. Back to the drawing board...

 

[Oversize]

Here’s some ideas tried by some...

 

[sean sherry]

I could never understand why all the American V8s draw very hot air from the top of their Engines with the Filter in a hot Metal Box As the ambulant Temperature Rises ... H.P. goes down. 2% to1 HP
Then mated with heavy inefficient Cast Iron Exhaust Manifolds.
Their philosophy holds true ..... more H.P. ? build a bigger Engine !
$$$$ I suppose ? Charge more for more metal !!

 

[Oversize]

Honestly I think on the performance models, Benz would’ve been better to raise the whole air filter assembly above the divider & eliminate the restriction at the centre of the assembly. That could also allow more headroom into the air flap. Obviously a bonnet bulge would be required which would distinguish it as a premium model while allowing easy access to cold air via one or two tasteful scoops

 

[Patrick_R]

You need to do a mock up drawing Mark of how this would look.

 

[Pete49]

Ahhh yes but that involves a structural mod which would require approval from an Engineer

I would think that an Air Cleaner plonked on top of an engine and drawing hot Air from high up in the Engine compartment can't be very efficient irrespective of the type of filter element.
On the 107 SLs fitted with a 110 DOHC Six Mercedes located the Air Cleaner low down to the side of the Radiator to avoid this issue.
My understanding is that for every 2% rise in ambient Temperature , an Engine losses 1 H.P.
Jaguar did the same thing with their E Types with the Air cleaner on the side of the Engine drawing cool Air.
Both our modern cars a C Class and a Mk V11 Golf have cold air intakes , std.

on my Jaguar 420G the air filter is down on the right hand side mudguard in its own little area like the E type. simp[e and effective.

 

[Oversize]

You need to do a mock up drawing Mark of how this would look.

I was thinking something like a ‘shaker’ with an adapter for the CIS intake

 

[Oversize]

BTW the title of this thread should be changed to ‘Restrictive Air Filter Assemblies’, since there’s nothing wrong with the actual filtering function

 

[Michel]

on my Jaguar 420G the air filter is down on the right hand side mudguard in its own little area like the E type. simp[e and effective.

However, on the W126 560 SEL, the air filter had two conduits that drew cool air from the from top the car, past the radiator and gave a very well deserved breath of fresh air to the engine!

 

[Oversize]

However, on the W126 560 SEL, the air filter had two conduits that drew cool air from the from top the car, past the radiator and gave a very well deserved breath of fresh air to the engine!

Yes however it’s still internally restrictive

 

[sean sherry]

If K & N Filters are so great how come high end manufacturers don't fit them ?? Is it because that Paper Elements do what they are supposed to do .. Filter efficiently to protect the Engine.

 

[Oversize]

If K & N Filters are so great how come high end manufacturers don't fit them ?? Is it because that Paper Elements do what they are supposed to do .. Filter efficiently to protect the Engine.

I think it’s all about good marketing without independent testing or real data to support their claims. Similar to Moreys oil additive and pretty much all fuel system ‘cleaners’