MB Medic Mercedes-Benz Repair Guides, Service, How To DIY
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How to change the engine air filter on your Mercedes-Benz. Applicable for Engine Air Filter for Mercedes Benz W203 S203 W210 S210 W163 6110940004. This is a simple job that can be completed in just a few minutes. Each Mercedes-Benz engine needs a clean air filter to run efficiently. The air that mixes with the fuel needs to be as clean as possible, and that is as true of the CDI diesels in the list above as it is of the gasoline cars. The function of the air filter is to collect dirt, pollen, debris, and dust.
Applicable models
- W203 C220 CDI C320 C230 C240
- W210 E220 E320 E430 E420
- W163 ML270 CDI ML320 ML430 ML500
Parts Required
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Mercedes w210 engine Air Filter E320 E220 E430 |
How to change your engine air filter
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New Air Filter
Buy a new engine air filter. Most air filters are inexpensive, even for luxury cars. You can purchase the new filter online, with links provided to save even more on auto parts.
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Locate the air filter.
Open the hood and locate the air filter housing. The housing is a large plastic box, and which side of the engine bay it sits on depends on the model, so the quickest way to find it is to look for the wide hose running into the engine and follow it back to the box. You will also see a large hose from the air filter housing to the engine.
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Open air filter box
Open the air filter box by releasing the locking tabs. Unclasp the large metal clips that keep down the top part of the box.
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Remove the air filter.
Pull out the old air filter. Inspect the old filter. Place the side of the new and old filter side by side to compare. You will be able to check the condition of the air filter. If it isn’t replaced regularly, it may be completely dark, and you may find all kinds of debris.
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Install a new air filter.
Insert the new air filter in the box. Make sure it sits properly; otherwise, you may not be able to close the air filter housing correctly.
Engine Air Filter for Mercedes Benz W203 S203 W210 E320 S210 E430 W163 ML320 ML350 ML500 6110940004
Why should you change the air filter regularly?
Throttle response, not fuel economy. This is worth being straight about, because the opposite is repeated everywhere. On a fuel injected engine the engine control unit measures the air it is actually getting and trims the fuel to match, so a dirty filter does not make the car burn more fuel. Department of Energy testing on modern fuel injected cars found no measurable fuel economy gain from fitting a clean filter. What a clean filter did improve, on every car tested, was acceleration. A clogged filter costs you power and throttle response, and that is the honest reason to change it.
Longer engine life. Changing the engine air filter regularly will help prolong your car’s life. Serious damage can be caused by dirt if it gets allowed into the engine combustion chamber. A filter costs a few dollars. Debris drawn past a failed or badly seated one reaches the mass air flow sensor, the throttle body and eventually the cylinders, and every one of those is a larger bill.
Two things to get right that the filter box will not tell you
Do not fit an oiled filter. The mass air flow sensor sits downstream of the filter in the intake tract on these cars, and it reads airflow with a heated element that a film of oil ruins. Oiled gauze filters shed some of that oil into the intake, and the symptoms that follow look like expensive problems: hesitation, rough idle, poor power, sometimes a check engine light for the airflow signal. A plain dry paper element is what these engines are designed around.
Seat it, then check every clip. Air takes the easiest route available to it. A filter resting almost in its groove, or a lid pulled down by only some of its clips, leaves a gap that unfiltered air flows straight through, and a new filter installed that way does less for the engine than the dirty one it replaced. Run a finger around the edge before you close the lid and make sure the element is down in its channel the whole way around.
As for how often, judge the element rather than the calendar. Someone on paved suburban roads and someone on gravel are not on the same schedule, and the filter is visible in under a minute, so look at it whenever the hood is open for something else.
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Before you buy parts, scan every control module, not just the engine. It shows the root fault behind the warning lights and tells you whether the problem is still active. See how to do a full health check.
