[Dr Dave]

Upon the advice of a member here, I was advised to replace the air filter on my 06 330d before the scheduled change at 60,000 miles (or so) as it would be quite dirty and would be affecting performance by now, at 51,000 miles.

It is not a straight-forward job to replace the filter as it is on some cars, so I thought I'd do a "How To" giving a step by step pictoral guide to doing the job.

So, here goes......

Time required = 1.25hrs

Tools required..

E14 & E18 Female torx bits

8mm socket & driver

5mm hex (allen) key



Remove 4 x fixings (indicated with yellow arrows) and remove engine top cover. Slide fuel pipe assembly out of it's retaining clips (indicated with red arrow) Cover is secured into position with a ball fixing near to the oil filler cap, this will require a sharp upward tug to disengage it. You will need a 5mm ball-ended hex key to slacken the four bolts.



Fuel pipe assembly detail



Remove microfilter after undoing 8mm headed screws. Check the filter, replace if neccessary.



Remove RH plenum cover



Remove LH plenum cover



Remove 2 x bolts that holds windscreen plenum down. Uncouple (but don't disconnect) sensors on plenum.



Slide side piece tabs from slots



When both bolts are out and you have removed the bonnet and ambient air temperature sensors from the panel (Don't disconnect them, just remove the wiing and the sensor from the part, saves any potential fault codes etc etc



Now onto removing the strut brace - this makes access so much easier. Remove the blanking plug with a wide blade screwdriver. Slacken & remove the large E18 bolt. It is very tight.



Then remove the two E14 bolts from the strut tops. Note the struts are marked L & R on the part number so you won't get them mixed up.....



Remove engine rear top cover - 2 x 5mm hex bolts.



Slide the rear cover section over to the nearside as far as you can go to gain clearance to the filter box. You've got to be quite forceful here.



Now you can turn your attention to the airbox itself. Remove the 3 screws that hold the side section on - disengaging the intake pipe as you do so.



Cover removed....now to remove the main airbox casing to gain full access to the filter. 5 or 6 hex bolts to undo. The rearmost two are a bit fiddly.



Casing fully removed (again, fiddly!) and filter exposed. It is now a simple case of carefully releasing the filter from it's rearmost 'mounting' and slipping it off the flange of the MAF sensor assembly.

Fit the new filter into the casing after vacuuming out all the accumulated debris contained within the lower section of the filter box. Make sure you fit the filter the right way up - look at the retaining lug on the end of the filter.





Reassembly is pretty much the reverse of the removal process.

Here's the air filter - FILTHY!



and the filter part exposed....





To whoever designed the 330d airbox/filter setup, I'd like to kick your ass.

[SoYank]

And now you know why it takes forever to get a service done on a BMW.

[Ti Rich]

Does it drive any better Dave?

All ready for the remap too!

[F31-340i]

Good write up.

Having done it on my last E46 330d, it looks even harder on an E90! Basically the same location etc., but more fiddling.

Mind the worst bit about the E46 was the rear hex bolts holding on the "last" cover over the air filter - very difficult access / easy to cross thread a bolt! Would you say this is still the worst bit?

How much is the air filter element these days?

Ditto "shoot the designer" - especially for not taking the opportunity to make it easier when the engine was updated!

[Dr Dave]

They weren't any more difficult than the rest tbh.

Air filter cost? £17 for a MANN filter - MANN make OEM filtration for BMW. Look at an OEM BMW air filter and you'll see the MANN logo!

[Dr Dave]

Originally Posted by Ti Rich

Does it drive any better Dave?

All ready for the remap too!

Remap is going to have to wait just a little longer - just bought towbar/electrics, 3 days at Legoland in summer hols, week away in summer hols - it's all £££'s at the moment!

After changing a filter, there is always a physcological 'difference' - but to be honest I haven't driven it very far/not hard enough to try it out.

That filter was so manky there will be some benefit for sure. Will keep you posted.

[hmi1750]

WOW! I just saved this as PDF as mine has done 50K miles now and must be in need of a change.

Not sure I would tackle i alone though!

Good job!

[TMP]

Great walkthrough - thanks in advance of me trying to do this (doubt I would have the bottle though )

[neo871]

geez.....that looks extremely complicated....

[MEGA]

What an absolute slag of a job!

Is it the same on a 320d do you know?

[Dr Dave]

I believe it is fairly similar, yes.

[zltm089]

damn!!! gud job!!!

[magic77]

hmm and I thought the e46 320D air filter job was an @"£se this looks just as bad, in a way makes me glad to have a 320D again

[Dr Dave]

Fuel economy has definitely improved since the filter change.



Still can't get over that some people get 35mpg+ around town in their 325d autos though! They must drve like saints!

[SiKkBaSs]

Originally Posted by Dr Dave

Fuel economy has definitely improved since the filter change.



Still can't get over that some people get 35mpg+ around town in their 325d autos though! They must drve like saints!

I'm Jealous!!!

I got mine down at 28mpg atm 32ish when I drive like a softie

[Koalway Kid]

Like the snap on tools !

[Dr Dave]

Originally Posted by Tony Morgan

Like the snap on tools !

Cheers Tony - those two ratchets you see in the first pic have been with me since I did my apprenticeship back in 1988 - and they're still with me and working as well as they did back then, today. Best investment I ever made, buying those tools before I got wed/had house etc.

[tmarshall57]

Originally Posted by Dr Dave

Cover removed....now to remove the main airbox casing to gain full access to the filter. 5 or 6 hex bolts to undo. The rearmost two are a bit fiddly.

Vey good write up. Took me about 1 hour 40 minutes. On my car the hex bolts referred to above were external torx bolts (similar to those securing the strut/braces). The lower front bolt is recessed slightly and would not accept my torx socket (which was too wide). I did manage to use a small narrow hex socket from a 1/4 inch drive set though. Worth watching out for.

Saved me a few quid this sunny morning

[Dr Dave]

Cheers! Glad I was able to help!

[330cdsport]

Great write-up!!

I remeber the bitch of a job it was on my old E46 330cd.

Thankfully the 335d is a 1 minute job. 3 clips and thats it

[- Paul -]

What a kerfuffle!

[F31-340i]

Kind of related question....

On my old E46 330d - it was quite common to change the engine oil/air separator at the same time (located next to the air filter).

Has anyone done this on an E9x yet? I assume the E9x 330d still has the same part, and it is also possibly prone to clogging as on the E46 (leading to possible premature turbo failure?)