I seriously doubt if the OEM sports filter is going to be better then the aftermarket greens or K&N's.

The lowering sports suspension is probably going to be similar to the one now, stiffer shocks and lower front springs. New braking system? that I would like to see.

 

If I had a 280 or 350, I wouldnt consider this option; Straight away stick with Brabus bodykit, Full Exhaust and Ecu update some green filters and voila you get something more unique, stlyish and not available in showrooms.

 

My understanding is the Green Filter invalidates warranty, (Am i correct in this assumption) ?
Where as Mercedes filter obviously would be covered by its standard warranty
I have a new 2007 SLK350 , and would like to keep warranty intact

 

I am not sure, But I would act intelligent and ask them why would it cause problems, have it spoilt anything or take the other route and before taking you car into service just install the older oem filters.

 

Any comments-
Will the new air filter be available separately as i would like to improve the sound of my SLK350 ? ...

Hi Mike,

this "sports package" has been available in Germany since autumn of last year. I'll try to get the new airfilters for the next service, if there are new filters. My SLK has 1,200 kms to run.
I think the improved sound of the engine is the result of a new airbox. It is not open backwards but has another shape. Some guys over here has changed it. The last photo below shows the old stock airbox.

... New braking system? that I would like to see.

Yes, the 350 brakes for the 280 are new. This is the option to get.


.

 

I read at another forum that the sports air filter is made of paper still. I personally would recommend the green air filters -- better built, last longer and in my case, improved fuel economy too. I don't know about warranties, as other countries are fairly strict if one uses aftermarket products.

 

I agree with Eddy on this matter, since I have my green filters for half a year and no problems so far.

 

in the uk, they like to invalidate your warranty with any mods but as ynot said you can easily take it out.

anybody got new air filter part number?

 

Looks to me like the sport airbox has an intake at the back? Won't that draw in hot air and reduce the cool air benefit from the front intakes reducing HP in the process?

 

Intake at the back?

Air intakes are at the front of the box and it exhausts out of the back, the sports box does have a "bump" in the intake tube maybe thats what your noticing?

 

Two of Bernd´s photos are showing my SLK350. I was the first driving the new sportfilter box. You can fill it up with Green or K&N filters. OEM you find the standard paper items inside. With green or K&N filters you won´t lose the warrenty in Germany.

The pipes of the box have a hole on the rear side and you find a membrane inside. There is another thread "sportfilterbox" or "sportfilter airbox" you can look at.

 

I noticed the extra bit of pipe at the bulkhead end of the airbox. Some are saying theres a membrane inside?, what does this do then ?

Portzy.

 

It´s responsable for the change of the sound

 

So I'm still confused. This membrane, does it open when your on the gas drawing in hot air from the engine? Appears this setup does nothing for performance? Help!!

 

The intake air is already heated to bay temp from the main intakes at the front because of the design of the airbox and intake manifold.

You wont gain anything apart from sound but you wont lose anything either.

 

I have an SLK sport and obviously have the sport air box. Had if for 9 months now.

Air is drawn in from the Front mainly but there is an opening at the rear of each side by the filters, that draws air in from inside the Engine compartment. It is about 20mm in diameter and is protected by a metal gauze.
The Membrane is again on both sides and is thick rubbery material but it is quite loose. I assume this flaps in and out with the varying air pressure in the box. Coming from an Audi TT this is a standard trick to mod the air box to make the air in the air box vortex a bit, sounds like gulping.

As a side note I have changed to Green Filters and they null out some of the noise. So the Mercedes Benz Engineers have tuned this box for Paper filters.

 

thanks!..........helps a lot, makes sense now. Interesting comment on the green filter install null some the sound. I'll think about installing Green Filters down the road.

 

The sooner you install the Green Air Filters, the sooner you save on gas money (2 mpg improvement from my experience).

 

Paul, I've got the Green filters on my SLK55 and I noticed a slight change with the fuel consumption. In fact it sounds throatier and adds 2-3hp a couple of lbs of torque when dynoed on a C55 AMG W203.

 

Alroumi, I'm not disputing what you're saying but BHP and fuel consumption are 2 key selling points on any vehicle. I just can't get my head around why motor manufacturers don't install these filters as a standard item?

I appreciate that they are more expensive than the paper filters but when you take into consideration the actual cost of the vehicle it would actually be a drop in the ocean.

Are MB just being dumb or is there another reason why they dont use them?

 

Are Mercedes Benz just being dumb or is there another reason why they dont use them?

I really dont know.

 

Two reasons in my opinion, cost and service time / duration. Green cotton filters need attention after 6000 miles. No Manufacturer these days would want cars back in after 6000 miles. Imagine the Motoring press getting hold of the story Mercedes Benz need 6000 mile service.

 

As said it all comes down to the bottom line trivial numbers at the per chassis level but when you multiply that over the whole factory and it add's up to a lot of cash.

Another reason is all the air management parts like the blower housings for the AC and the airbox parts come from Mann Hummel and the filters are Mann Filter for everything not just the intake air filters so you have the one company to work with for everything relating to it and the parts arrive pre-assembled and ready for fitment so for the airbox its literally a case of pushing the housing down onto the engine and adding one zip-tie, this saves Mercedes Benz doing assembly work and that reduces the required man hours and that in turn comes back to bottom line.

The Mercedes Benz of old has gone and the current company is very much profit oriented even with service parts that should really be replaced we are told to repair them instead to reduce costs.

The best cars of any model series are the first year run after that MB will evaluate the common failures and will attempt fixes to them but will also start removing some of the engineering for cost cutting until the very last run of the cars before the next series has been tweaked to the point that there is no redundancy left.

Bill mentioned spark plugs and thats very true, another good question is why don't they fit Denso Ir plugs from the start they produce a more powerful spark and place less stress on the ignition system the answer of course is simple they cost a lot more per plug than the OEM NGK's.

Unfortunately Paul mate its just the way it works now i can totally see what your saying but in the modern car industry profit is everything (apart from VAG they are lucky enough to have had some crazy directors who enjoy spending money on wild things the Bug 16.4 for example)

 

hey guys.

Is this 2007 sport package still around? or should i wait for the 2008 one?

 

Yes, in the UK at least, but you will need to check individual country markets I guess. When you look at it though, the further up the model range you go the less attractive it becomes, certainly in the UK. .

Portzy.