Since I am basically a tight wad and enjoy doing most automotive periodic maintenance tasks I decided this was a good weekend to replace my air and cabin filters. Armed with the StarTek procedures and a few cups of coffee I went forth to conquer. Anyway here are some observations on the ML320CDI that I made.
1. Change the air filters at or before the recommended time. I don't live in a dusty area or drive on dirt roads but at 29K miles they were 90% clogged. Since this is my first turbo I can only guess that the engine must pull in a lot more air than a normally aspirated engine. I found 3 entire oak leaves, two giant dragonflies (at first I thought they were hummingbirds), some bumble bees, rocks (?), and lots of just plain dust and dirt.
2. Hold on to your 10 mm wrench. If you drop it doing the drivers side filter you will get to remove the engine belly pan and become intimate with the vehicles undercarriage. Same goes for the 10mm socket but a magnetic retriever found it.
3. A Combination Filter (cabin filter) "kit" commonly sold on the Internet does not mean you get two filters. So before you disassemble the glove box make sure you have two. I get to do the routine again real soon or half my cabin air will be unfiltered. This task may go undone for a while. Contrary to what I was told by a vendor, the ML 350 filters will also fit a ML320.
4. If you have the 6 CD changer make sure the release button works before putting all the torx screws back in. And yes one of the four screws is different so make sure you put it in the correct hole or you will strip the threads (luckily I didn't). It takes some pushing to align the box so have somebody hold a light for you.
Take your time and Good Luck!
It really was not difficult. Just follow the directions, take your time, and it helps to have somebody hold a light or hand you tools. I usually save the beer until I'm done or at least to the point that I'm not too dangerous to myself or the vehicle.
That said, on the air filters care must be taken to keep the area around the turbo input clean and make sure ALL the fittings for the intake plenum are good. Otherwise debris could be sucked into the turbo and engine causing damage. Double check everything including electrical connectors before restarting the engine.
Any pics? Also I had seen somewhere that the ECU has to be re adapted after an air filter change? Anything on this?
Great write up. Thanks for the 6 disc tips. Those screws would have "gotten" me.
[quote=CJzBenz;2882086]It really was not difficult. Just follow the directions, take your time, and it helps to have somebody hold a light or hand you tools. My girlfriend just left. What can I do in the mean time ?
Should I wait until ....someone step into my life again ?
Just kidding. Thanks for your guidance.
Location: Lower Mainland, British Columbia, Canada
Posts: 284
Great write-up, thanks for sharing! Since there aren't any pics, perhaps you could attach the Startek procedures instead to supplement those directions? I'm surmising that there may be some pictures in the Startek info?
There are plenty of excellent pictures in the StarTek info. For less than $20 you can get a 24 subscription and print as much as you want. I spent a couple of hours going thru the W164 pages looking for what I considered DIY do-able for me. I found the site a little cumbersome to use until I got the hang of it. For ML320CDI owners the on-line site is very good because it has the diesel engine info whereas (as I understand it) if you by the CD for the ML it doesn't. Then you have to buy the R320 CD to get the diesel stuff. Last check I made that was $60 per CD so the on-line documents to me are the best deal even if I have to re-subscribe five more times which I doubt.
Anything on this? 
Linear Mode
