94 E500 cabin air filters replaced, questions...

[S500E]

Thanks to Gerry's write up and gsxr's tip: http://www.500eboard.com/forums/sho...lters-(1994-95-models)&highlight=cabin+filter

94 E500 cabin air filters (part#: 1248350047) replaced. Few questions:

(1) Saw this thin deteriorating brown foam liner/tape (with adhesive backing) inside when both filters were removed. Didn't want to breath in old foam particles and peeled it off. Photos show the brown foam liner/tape and inside area with the foam removed (There was another dark grey foam layer underneath). What is this foam liner for? Need to replace this?

(2) When I reassembled the "rain gutter" mesh back (L, driver's side), I saw a small gap (marked with red arrows in the photo). There is no gap around the mesh on the R, passenger side. This gap appears to be big enough to let pine needles and etc to go through. I noticed that both my L & R mesh pieces do NOT have any part numbers on. Also no MB "star" marks although they appear to be the originals looking at the manufactured date on the R piece (L piece has "0" markings). (photo shows the inside of the mesh) Is everything looking "normal" here? Do I have an ill-fitting aftermarket piece? Anyone has MB part#'s for these?

(3) Lastly, I can't get the rubber trim at the base of the windshield TIGHTLY back on. Windshield glass was replaced before, and I noticed that my rubber trim was somewhat "glued" to the base of the windshield. You can see the residual black glue or seal material still on the base of the windshield in the photo. So how do I get this rubber trim TIGHTLY back on the base of the windshield? Do I need to re-glue it every time? I don't see any clips here (or in Gerry's photos) that would hold to rubber trim. Trim near the center seems to stay okay, but the end portion (shown in photo) just isn't tight against the windshield glass.

Thank you in advance for your expert opinion and suggestions here.

 

[gsxr]

(3) The rubber seal is not supposed to be glued to the glass. There is supposed to be a plastic channel at the bottom of the glass, which the rubber seal presses into. This is missing on your car. A previous owner has replaced the windshield and the glass shop screwed up, and did not order the 94-95 windshield, which includes this special channel. Very common problem. No easy fix, until the next time you replace the windshield, as that plastic channel is not sold separately by MB.

 

[S500E]

(3) The rubber seal is not supposed to be glued to the glass. There is supposed to be a plastic channel at the bottom of the glass, which the rubber seal presses into. This is missing on your car. A previous owner has replaced the windshield and the glass shop screwed up, and did not order the 94-95 windshield, which includes this special channel. Very common problem. No easy fix, until the next time you replace the windshield, as that plastic channel is not sold separately by MB.

Thanks Dave for the answer.

(3) Looking more closely at Gerry's photos, I can see that I am definitely missing the black plastic channel piece at the bottom edge of the windshield. This plastic channel must be part of or comes with the proper 94-95 OEM & aftermarket windshield? Yes, my windshield was replaced by PO (more than once, I was told), and the glass shop must have screwed up. My windshield glass is made by Fuyao, and glass itself appears ok at least. If the plastic channel piece is not sold separately by MB, I guess I am out of luck until my next replacement. I'll have to go with glass adhesive for now and "glue" the rubber trim back on. Adhesive used before at least did not damage the rubber trim and peeled off relatively clean on the rubber side.

Windshield parts diagram from parts.com attached. Are any of the moldings or seal in this diagram the plastic channel piece that I need?

(2) Also looking at Gerry's write up photos, my "rain gutter" meshes are also different from ones in his photo. My L (driver) side mesh doesn't look like the one in Gerry's photo with the vertical plastic portion (My R, passenger side mesh has the vertical plastic portion instead; reverse of Gerry's parts). His photo also shows this L mesh piece with the star mark followed by 10-digit part number, 1246204278. According to parts.com diagram (attached), this part (#3 in the diagram) seems to be the entire center portion including both side meshes and everything else around them at $232.50! PO's shop must have used aftermarket parts when these meshes were replaced and thus not fitting precisely.

 

[Roma_500E]

I believe 500E does not have cabin filter ?

 

[bing]

I believe 500E does not have cabin filter ?

Correct ! But I think there are aftermarket filters that can/will fit pre 94s , Dave GSXR posted something like this but can't find the thread .

 

[gerryvz]

That is correct ... only "facelift" cars have cabin filters. There is a French company that makes filters for earlier cars. GSXR and I believe 2Phast have information on these. if you use the Google Site Search function above and look for "500E cabin filters" you should be able to find the couple of threads on this topic.

Cheers,
Gerry

 

[gsxr]

(1) Saw this thin deteriorating brown foam liner/tape (with adhesive backing) inside when both filters were removed. Didn't want to breath in old foam particles and peeled it off. Photos show the brown foam liner/tape and inside area with the foam removed (There was another dark grey foam layer underneath). What is this foam liner for? Need to replace this?

The foam is from the main air flap. It's not sold separately. You can live without it.

(2) When I reassembled the "rain gutter" mesh back (L, driver's side), I saw a small gap (marked with red arrows in the photo). There is no gap around the mesh on the R, passenger side. This gap appears to be big enough to let pine needles and etc to go through. I noticed that both my L & R mesh pieces do NOT have any part numbers on. Also no MB "star" marks although they appear to be the originals looking at the manufactured date on the R piece (L piece has "0" markings). (photo shows the inside of the mesh) Is everything looking "normal" here? Do I have an ill-fitting aftermarket piece? Anyone has MB part#'s for these?

The rain gutter pieces fit poorly, even from the factory. I doubt there are any aftermarket companies that produce these items. The parts are not sold separately, MB only sells the complete assembly, you found the correct part number and price already. Again, I wouldn't lose sleep over this. Pretty much all 124's have the same issue but most people never notice.


BTW - the diagrams at parts.com are incomplete, inadequate, and inaccurate. If you have a Windoze PC, get a free subscription to the EPC, which has the correct diagrams and part numbers.

 

[S500E]

The foam is from the main air flap. It's not sold separately. You can live without it.



The rain gutter pieces fit poorly, even from the factory. I doubt there are any aftermarket companies that produce these items. The parts are not sold separately, MB only sells the complete assembly, you found the correct part number and price already. Again, I wouldn't lose sleep over this. Pretty much all 124's have the same issue but most people never notice.


BTW - the diagrams at parts.com are incomplete, inadequate, and inaccurate. If you have a Windoze PC, get a free subscription to the EPC, which has the correct diagrams and part numbers.

Thanks for the info again. Good to know that it's normal to see the factory rain gutter pieces fitting poorly. Looked again and found the MB part number on my rain gutter assembly as well. Mine must be the original OEM part from factory just fitting poorly on L side.

Is the Part# 1246204278, rain gutter assembly at $232.5 specific to 94-95 only? I see the same assembly listed under 92-93 with part# 1246201378 at $144! So this rain gutter assembly must be different between pre & post facelift?

For the plastic center piece at the top of the inner firewall that also sits on top of the rain gutter assembly (refer to item #4 in parts.com diagram above & see attached photo from Gerry's writeup):
My "original" center piece has part#1246200778 ($63 at parts.com) on it. Interestingly parts.com lists only "300" series under this part number.
Parts.com has part#1246203478 (at $108) as the same center piece for V8 400 & 500 series. Are these 2 parts (300 series vs 400/500 series) actually any different? Is the inner firewall shaped differently in 300 series vs V8's?

One more question… does anyone know the part number for the "metal clip" with sharp tips in Gerry's photo below that holds the rubber moulding in place? Looks like I am missing a few.

Yes, parts.com diagrams look terrible. Didn't renew my subscription to the EPC after switching my personal laptop to Mac. Should use my old desktop for the EPC use...

 

[gsxr]

The plastic center piece is different pre- and post-facelift. The 94-95 style allows removing the left side so you can replace the filters without removing the entire assembly.

I think the metal clip is p/n 006-988-14-78 but I'm not 100% certain about that...

 

[Roma_500E]

That is correct ... only "facelift" cars have cabin filters. There is a French company that makes filters for earlier cars. GSXR and I believe 2Phast have information on these. if you use the Google Site Search function above and look for "500E cabin filters" you should be able to find the couple of threads on this topic.

Cheers,
Gerry

I cannot imagine how I am going to drive my 500E in my home country which is EXTREMELY dusty with polluted air without cabin filter :? Probably i should start looking for that aftermarket one ....

P.S. On my other cars I have to replace geniune engine filter at least once a month. Cabin filter at least once per two month..... I am also thinking to remove K&N cuz it will got clogged in a two weeks

 

[samiam44]

It's a good time to take the cover off the wiper assy and clean/lube the rails.


Michael

 

[gerryvz]

I cannot imagine how I am going to drive my 500E in my home country which is EXTREMELY dusty with polluted air without cabin filter :? Probably i should start looking for that aftermarket one ....

P.S. On my other cars I have to replace geniune engine filter at least once a month. Cabin filter at least once per two month..... I am also thinking to remove K&N cuz it will got clogged in a two weeks

Sheesh. The cabin filters even on the late 124s are a complete joke. Compare with the filters used on the 210s and 140 models, which used activated charcoal and were much more advanced.

If you need filtered air, you need to sell your 124 altogether and get a 210, 140, 211, 220, etc.

 

[gsxr]

The late 124 cabin filters are mostly good for keeping the evaporator clean. Not sure if it does much else, but that alone is a big plus... if you've ever opened up a few of those boxes before, there's a biiig difference between with and without filters...

 

[Roma_500E]

Sheesh. The cabin filters even on the late 124s are a complete joke. Compare with the filters used on the 210s and 140 models, which used activated charcoal and were much more advanced.

If you need filtered air, you need to sell your 124 altogether and get a 210, 140, 211, 220, etc.

I would rather get lungs cancer than selling 500E Anyway it is weekend car so I do not worry much about it .