i was wondering about that too. i have never changed my charcoal activated one, as far as i know it;s still factory one in there. but i never use it. ???
Vehicle: 1999E320 Wagon,2000 E 320 Wagon, 2000 E 55 powered wagon MGB Track/Rally 94 Subaru
Posts: 4,994
I think
it comes on automatically when the smog/pollution sensor kicks on in areas of high pollution i.e. behind a bus,truck,driving through forest fires
So I don't really know how dirty your's gets.Most people that have the hardly use it theory,when they pull it they remark how funky it was.So worth a look
ohlord
"GOT AIR?"
i just looked at mine and looks fine. at least i haven't changed it in the last 70k miles, but i doubt the previous owner did, because i have all service paperwork since day 1, and it doesn't say anything about charcoal activated filter. i don't think my car has the smog/pollution sensor, the charcoal filter must be activated only when i press its button. maybe that feature was added with the fss/1998+ w210s.
Vehicle: 1999E320 Wagon,2000 E 320 Wagon, 2000 E 55 powered wagon MGB Track/Rally 94 Subaru
Posts: 4,994
Probably
In 98-02 that sensor always seems to throw an error code when you run the onboard diagnostic climate control program,and it confuses most peeps because it really hardly comes into use unless you drive in a smoke stack(La.)
And if your car was dealer maintained they most likelychanged the filter when they gave the PO his quarterly screwing
ohlord
Yep, although the one you note above is for the CHA$$$CHING charcoal filter, the other one is for the regular cabin filters.
"The other one" (AF1147) appears to be for 1999-later models but I'll try removing my glove box and see what I can find behind it.
Jeremy
__________________ Our all-biodiesel family
1985 300D-T ex-California (W123) 232000 miles FOR SALE
1987 300D Turbo (W124) 148000 miles
1996 E300D (W210) 262000 miles
1988? Satoh Beaver garden tractor
...behind the glove box, as everyone said. Four screws to remove the glove box, lift up a clip and remove the door to the fan housing, pull out the filter elements. The first picture shows a view into the fan housing with the door removed and the two filter elements taken out. The filter element is in two pieces because the door is not big enough to remove a one-piece filter. You have to remove one piece, then slide over and remove the second. It's easy to do.
I was surprised at how dirty the old filter elements were. The second picture shows one new filter with the two old ones (that arrangement fit the camera's frame best). The first owner of my car had all the service done by the dealer as the schedule called for it (including cabin filters). The second and third owners kept up with the oil changes and repaired things that broke but tended to ignore non-critical items like cabin filters. As near as I can tell from the records, the cabin filters were last changed at about 200,000 miles (now 248,000).
No record, incidentally, of the charcoal filter ever being changed. That pair of filters (210 830 02 18) is $87.90 from Autohaus AZ and rather more from the dealer. I'll attempt to find mine and see what they look like. A shame one can't run them through the dishwasher!
I was surprised at how dirty the old filter elements were. The second picture shows one new filter with the two old ones (that arrangement fit the camera's frame best).
No record, incidentally, of the charcoal filter ever being changed. That pair of filters (210 830 02 18) is $87.90 from Autohaus AZ and rather more from the dealer. I'll attempt to find mine and see what they look like. A shame one can't run them through the dishwasher!
Jeremy
Hard to believe your fan could force air through those filters?!! Will be curious to see what you find with your charcoal filter: Bet it's in great shape as I suspect it rarely if ever has been used.
ohlord & other all-knowing folks: As best I can tell, air never gets routed through the charcoal unless it is called upon, either automatically by sensor or manually via the climate control system switch?
__________________
'87 300E: sold after 11years @ 230k & still on the road somewhere in rural Tennessee.
'94 C220 with 93k totalled 10/06 by hit & run broadsiding monster truck: not a scratch or bruise for me
Last edited by gregs210 : 11-05-2007 at 02:36 AM.
Reason: fixed quote
I was surprised at how dirty the old filter elements were. The second picture shows one new filter with the two old ones (that arrangement fit the camera's frame best).... As near as I can tell from the records, the cabin filters were last changed at about 200,000 miles (now 248,000).
No record, incidentally, of the charcoal filter ever being changed. That pair of filters (210 830 02 18) is $87.90 from Autohaus AZ and rather more from the dealer. I'll attempt to find mine and see what they look like. A shame one can't run them through the dishwasher!
Jeremy
Hey, Jeremy. Those are pretty easy, aren't they? Add an oil change, wiper refill, fluid top-off and a litany of inspection items and you got yourself a $600+ B Service. Nice racket, eh?
For 48,000 miles those look really bad, worse than I would have expected, unless the PO lived in a dusty or polluted area.
I think you could run the charcoal ones through the dishwasher...you just couldn't reuse them after that.
Anyway, glad you got them done.
Take care and enjoy the ride,
Greg
__________________ If we ever forget that we are one nation under God, then we will be a nation gone under. Ronald Reagan
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.
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