W201 190E Air Filter Query

> K&N filters are mostly a bad idea too :)
>Why is that? >Marty >Post a follow

Yeah, I've heard people suggest that K&N filters will destroy engines from people on this newsgroup, but does anyone have any evidence of this?

Personally, I've used a K&N filter on a pickup truck that I owned for

7 years and suffered no ill effects and I use one on my 1995 saturn wagon. I installed it at 30,000 km and the engine still runs like new with over 360,000 km on it.

So, having used a K&N filter on my Saturn for 9 years and over 200,000 miles, when can I expect to have my engine suddenly wear out? :-) By the way, my head gasket developed a small leak which I had repaired. While they had the head off, they remarked that there was no scoring or tarnishing of the cylinders and they could still see the factory cross-hatching.

I've been considering using one on my '84 300SD. If someone can let us know what the real issues with these filters are, I'd really appreciate hearing them.

Thanks!

Tim Delaney

I have been using a K&N for about 8 years on my '82 123 300D. I think the biggest thing about them is they require maintenance. And like all other maintenance items, the quality of the outcome depends on who is doing the work. It requires a few minutes time to insure the filter is washed out well and oiled adequately but not over oiled. With a paper filter you just pop the top of the air cleaner, lift out the old one and drop in a new one. Couple minutes at most.

My take... crapy maintenance with the K&N and cheap-O paper filters yield about the same results. Likewise, good maintenance with the K&N and good quality paper filters should yield about the same results also.

Larry In the back yard, soaking the filter under the oak.