Howdy, I've had my K&N since it was new('99 ML320) and love it. I think it has saved money and saved the landfills. Now if I could just get my forth fuel sending unit to work properly. Still love the truck (110,000miles)!
Chas
If you do a search you'll find dozens of threads about K&N filters. Some people use and trust them, others post ridiculous claims about performance increases, still others simply make ignorant statements that 'they know they don't filter as well'.
I'm a long-time K&N user for lots of reasons which are mostly irrelevant at this point, but the main reason I'm posting is to note that if K&N filters are not properly maintained, there is the possibility of injury to the engine/systems. Poor maintenance includes improper cleaning, over-oiling and failure to let dry thoroughly before reinstalling. I keep a paper element around just to throw in while I'm doing maintenance to ensure it gets to dry after cleaning and after re-oiling.
Take care and enjoy the ride,
Greg
__________________ When you learn from your own mistakes, that's experience.
When you learn from the mistakes of others, that's wisdom.
When you fail to learn from any mistakes, that's government.
I'm looking to drop a K&N filter in as well.. I have read multiple threads where people are getting worse gas mileage with a K&N cold air intake... not the filter the whole intake system. Apparently the engine was designed the way it is supposed to stay. Thats why im just sticking a filter in, not the whole intake.
...due to the O2 sensor on the tube (advice from MBZ mechanic Uncle)...
I thought a MAF (mass air flow) sensor/meter is in the intake tube (after the air filter )? AND the O2 sensors (two of them) are in the exhaust system?
Remember that your first air filter change will only be performed after 50,000 miles. None of the A or B services before that will include the change of air filters. Depending where your ML has been, your air filter can be very dirty and may need to be changed earlier.
On my last service at the dealer, I complained about how dirty my air filter was, since I always check the air filter every couple of weeks, and they mentioned that they will check it.
When I got my bill, it included the cost of the air filter and the labor to install it. It was around $70.00 for parts and labor. Don't waste your time mentioning it to the dealer since they will charge you labor and parts for something that takes 3 minutes or less.
On my 2005 ML 500, I had the funny looking old type OEM air filter (without the different size folds) that seemed made of cheaper denser paper (could not see much light through it and using my air pump blower the filter seemed to have some flow issues). Whenever I replaced it with my good old K&N filter, on my ML 500, I felt a difference when flooring my ML 500 and my engine growled louder. This does not mean that my ML became some kind of solid fueled rocket booster, but it just means that you could feel an improvement in acceleration, which could be easily noticed.
On my former 2001 ML 320, I used the K&N air filter until I traded the ML at 108,000 miles. It always worked great and never had any problems. From all my friends ML's, I was the only one to never had a MAF problem and never had to replace it. The K&N air filter difference is more noticeable in the ML 500 than in my former 2001 ML 320. Once the warranty is over on my ML 500, I will install the K&N filter since I like to personally service it.
I have used the K&N filters for more than 30 years on various types of vehicles. Never had a problem with them and always prefered it to the cheaper OEM ones. Depending on how air-flow-limited the OEM filters were, the results varied accordingly.
At the end, the K&N filters/intakes are just improved maintainable air filter/intakes used by top professionals and by plain vehicle owners, and depending on your personal experience and/or servicing preferences you may or may not like it. There are several people who just badly hate it and others who just love it. There is a huge amount of money made by companies that make or sell cheaper paper/discardable air filters; those companies and their marketing engines, are very proactive in intelligently trashing any kind of reusable filters since it directly affects their bottom line/sells.
AC
__________________
2005 ML 500
Black, 18" AMG Wheels, 285/60R18 Falken Ziex ST/Z + Bi-Xenons(+ Drew's e-code mod), Yakima roof bars. Former vehicle 2001 ML 320 with 108K miles, when traded, and a large repair/defect history.
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