(Quick edit: if you're only replacing the filter, you need not go through this entire ordeal. This is much more involved, in order to get to the blower motor. I know a lot of people here know this, but some might not. Same thing for opening the hood all the way. I know most of the regulars here know this, but newbies might not. ) --Karl
Last night, I decided to have another go at removing the blower motor from my 1994 E320 sedan. While in there, I was going to replace the cabin filters. Having found there to not be a lot of info on the 94-95 cars, with their different seals at the base of the windshield and slightly different disassembly procedure, I decided to take some pictures and do a writeup. Here goes.
The first thing you'll need to do is park the windshield wiper arm at roughly 45 degrees, so that it is extended. Pull the cover off to expose the single 4mm hex bolt holding the arm onto the mechanism:
IMG_1529 by krshultz, on Flickr
Remove this bolt and set it aside. Pull the wiper arm off of its base:
IMG_1530 by krshultz, on Flickr
Now, raise the hood. Some folks might not know this - there's a trick. You can open the hood to completely vertical. At each hinge, there is a pull tab that you pull towards the center of the car. Start at the driver side. Pull on the tab and lower the hood just enough to allow the tab to move:
IMG_1531 by krshultz, on Flickr
Same thing on the passenger side:
IMG_1533 by krshultz, on Flickr
Now raise the hood completely, and behold the magnificence of your totally accessible engine bay. Make sure you have enough clearance up above so you don't dent your grille on the rafters of your garage!
IMG_1534 by krshultz, on Flickr
Remove both pieces of weatherstripping under the hood by the cowl. They just lift right off. Closest to the firewall:
IMG_1535 by krshultz, on Flickr
And closest to the engine:
IMG_1537 by krshultz, on Flickr
Now, remove the cover between the battery and the ECU, OVP, and other electrical components. It lifts right out:
IMG_1539 by krshultz, on Flickr
Your next target is this foam insulation between the back of the engine and the bulkhead. I hate this thing. When my wiring harness was replaced by the previous owner, the wires were routed in such a way that I can't get the wires put behind this, so your wires might be behind it. In any case, this has to come out:
IMG_1541 by krshultz, on Flickr
To do this, you'll first need to remove the plastic trim just behind it. It snaps into place. Here I'm lifting it out of one of the snaps. Look carefully at it and don't yank at it, and it should come right out:
IMG_1542 by krshultz, on Flickr
IMG_1543 by krshultz, on Flickr
IMG_1544 by krshultz, on Flickr
Now the insulation. It's supposed to be held on with four fasteners. My car only has two. They are plastic thumbwheels, shaped like a flower, one on each side. I could only get a picture of one. Undo all the fasteners and you can carefully lift it out without tearing it up.
IMG_1545 by krshultz, on Flickr
Now that the foam is out, you can see why we did this. There are two screws holding the center part of the plastic intake box unto the bulkhead. I'm not taking these out yet, this picture is just to show you where the screws are. This is driver side, you can just see what I think is the EGR tube at the lower left corner of the photo:
IMG_1546 by krshultz, on Flickr
Last night, I decided to have another go at removing the blower motor from my 1994 E320 sedan. While in there, I was going to replace the cabin filters. Having found there to not be a lot of info on the 94-95 cars, with their different seals at the base of the windshield and slightly different disassembly procedure, I decided to take some pictures and do a writeup. Here goes.
The first thing you'll need to do is park the windshield wiper arm at roughly 45 degrees, so that it is extended. Pull the cover off to expose the single 4mm hex bolt holding the arm onto the mechanism:
IMG_1529 by krshultz, on Flickr
Remove this bolt and set it aside. Pull the wiper arm off of its base:
IMG_1530 by krshultz, on Flickr
Now, raise the hood. Some folks might not know this - there's a trick. You can open the hood to completely vertical. At each hinge, there is a pull tab that you pull towards the center of the car. Start at the driver side. Pull on the tab and lower the hood just enough to allow the tab to move:
IMG_1531 by krshultz, on Flickr
Same thing on the passenger side:
IMG_1533 by krshultz, on Flickr
Now raise the hood completely, and behold the magnificence of your totally accessible engine bay. Make sure you have enough clearance up above so you don't dent your grille on the rafters of your garage!
IMG_1534 by krshultz, on Flickr
Remove both pieces of weatherstripping under the hood by the cowl. They just lift right off. Closest to the firewall:
IMG_1535 by krshultz, on Flickr
And closest to the engine:
IMG_1537 by krshultz, on Flickr
Now, remove the cover between the battery and the ECU, OVP, and other electrical components. It lifts right out:
IMG_1539 by krshultz, on Flickr
Your next target is this foam insulation between the back of the engine and the bulkhead. I hate this thing. When my wiring harness was replaced by the previous owner, the wires were routed in such a way that I can't get the wires put behind this, so your wires might be behind it. In any case, this has to come out:
IMG_1541 by krshultz, on Flickr
To do this, you'll first need to remove the plastic trim just behind it. It snaps into place. Here I'm lifting it out of one of the snaps. Look carefully at it and don't yank at it, and it should come right out:
IMG_1542 by krshultz, on Flickr
IMG_1543 by krshultz, on Flickr
IMG_1544 by krshultz, on Flickr
Now the insulation. It's supposed to be held on with four fasteners. My car only has two. They are plastic thumbwheels, shaped like a flower, one on each side. I could only get a picture of one. Undo all the fasteners and you can carefully lift it out without tearing it up.
IMG_1545 by krshultz, on Flickr
Now that the foam is out, you can see why we did this. There are two screws holding the center part of the plastic intake box unto the bulkhead. I'm not taking these out yet, this picture is just to show you where the screws are. This is driver side, you can just see what I think is the EGR tube at the lower left corner of the photo:
IMG_1546 by krshultz, on Flickr