With all the pine pollen in the air right now (and showing up on the Piano Black trim inside Viola and on the roof, and the floor mats and... *grumble*), I'm thinking I may need to replace the cabin air filter more frequently than I will be taking the car in for scheduled service checks. I have three questions...

1. Is this something I could do myself, and is there a thread somewhere on the forums that has step by step directions? I haven't done any sort of maintenance like this since I did my own oil changes on my first car, but wouldn't mind doing things like this myself as long as they aren't too complicated.

2. If it is complicated, is this something that my dealer should do when I take the car in for its warranty service check in a year and will it be okay to wait that long given how bad the pollen is here in the spring?

3. There is a cabin air filter, right? *chuckle*

Thanks!

 

On the GEN1 this is a simple 5 min job. Unclip the box cover under the dash, pull the old, slide in the new, snap the cover back on. Vacume up the crap that fell if you didn't spread newspaper....

but....do you have a source for a GEN2 filter yet other than the dealer? I replaced my 02's at about 4 year point with an aftermarket filter.

I have not scoped out this replacement on my 07 but can check it out if you'd like

 

I have no idea, that's why I asked. I'm not very car literate, but I want to do as much as I can because my dealership is several hours away. If I manage to track anything down on this, I'll post it here.

 

I e-mailed my MA about this. Apparently these filters only need to be replaced every 60k miles. I was told that I can either order the filters and do it myself, or take it to a local shop to have this service done, but he was unclear as to how one does it. He'd never been asked about the cabin air filters in this model before, so he had to go talk to the service guys himself to find out.

I'll bug the guy at the service department if the pine pollen drop doesn't end soon.

 

should be easy enough, it's under/behind the glove box, there may be a screw on either end of the cover, but then it just unclips.
60k sounds about right if you really believe in the 18k mile oil changes
They just don't want to pay for changing it out under their free maintenance. I've seen it on Minimania for ~$27

 

I believe if you have auto air you have a charcoal filter. If you have the regular system it is non charcoal and believe me the non charcoal is good for about 5000 miles at best. I have the non auto AC and the air from my vents smelled terrible after about 3000 miles.

 

Swapping this filter is a 5 minute - no tools required job, {that the dealer will charge something outrageous to do.....}

Look under the glove box and you'll see this box




Two plastic clips on the front hold it closed. I used a screw driver to get under them and pull them towards me to release the bottom of the box, but a strong fingernail will work fine. The cover is hinged at the back. Once open the filter can be pulled out


Pull the old, slide in new and shut the box. It will take longer to vacume the fallen crud if you didn't put down newspaper and you had crud in here....

A quick eyeball suggects to me that the filter has changed a bit but MOSS only lists one part number for all years (actually 2, paper or paper with carbon as noted for the auto-a/c...but they are the same size) Here's the original filter from my 02 changed at about the 3~4 year point after the car went out of pre-pay maintenance....

 

Thanks, Capt! Very easy DIY, and very clear pics!
Anyone know what the recommended change interval is on the R55/R56?

 

Haynes lists this check right next to brake pads.....easy to check and replace as needed.

The service book for the 02 says replace it every oil service....

Obviously, from the picture of my first one, it was never checked during dealer service.

I pull it and look about once a year now.

The picture of the one in the car is from my 07...about 10 months old...

 

Capt bj, thanks for posting this with pics! I'll hang on to this and check my cabin air filter myself on a yearly basis. With all the pine pollen we get around here in the spring and again in the fall, I have a feeling this will probably be something I'd want to do once a year.

You've made my day! *hugs!*

RG

 

my gf has bad allergies and in her 330i the filter lasts about a year before it looses effectiveness.

carbon filter is worth every penny. specially when you have to drive past a cattle ranch on I5


for R56 non carbon filter 64319127515 $39
carbon filter 64319127516 $51

price is from pelican parts.

 

Yes very good info Capt, thank you very much and great info about the carbon and standard being the same size.

 

Capt BJ, that filter looks like a rack of ribs in the pic with the blinds.
It's a monster.

 

very burned ribs maybe

you must be very hungry....go eat

 

Great DIY Capt! Thanks!

 

the carbon filter is about $25 shipped at Rockauto.com

 

Bagwell, thanks for the heads up on the website for the filter! Our local Mini dealer here in Tampa wanted to charge $60, for the non carbon.

 

no problem....

now if someone would come up with a way to make the ozone sensor more sensitive...!!?!?!?!!?!?

 

Spoken like a true Texan.