DIY: Microfilter change

[old skool]

While I had the car apart installing my alarm, I went ahead and changed out the microfilter as part of my Inspection II that I am slowly completing.

EDIT: I thought it would be worth noting here that it may not be necessary for you to remove the glovebox. There is significant discussion of this in the thread. I recommend reading the whole thread before starting.

Of course the first step is to remove the glovebox. I have a small no picture write up in my alarm install DIY, and there are many resources out there. If I had thought about it I would have done a writeup with pictures but for now I am not removing that damn glovebox again.

After the glovebox is removed, you will want to remove the plastic air vents that feed the footwell in order to gain better access to the microfilter compartment.

To do this you need to push down on the back of the plastic vents to release a vertical clip holding it up. You can see it in this picture:
Just forward of the purple wire in the clear plastic covering you see a vertical post near where the plastic is coated with insulation.

[old skool]

The second clip can't be seen as it is on the underside of the vents inside the vent right at the center of the car. To remove this press up from the bottom until it pops out and the pull away from the center of the car to release the snap fitting of the vent and then wiggle it out and towards the front of the car to clear the metal frame that it is tightly fitted into.

[old skool]

Now you have to remove this.
There is a release clip at the top center. Pull left in the picture and then push up on the unit to remove it.

[old skool]

Here it is removed and you can see the release clip in the middle and the other two slide clips on either side.

(Some people have another black tray attached to the top of this clip. You will have to remove the top tray first. In order to do this, you slide the top tray back as far as it will go and then lift up. You can see the 3-4 sets of grooves in this picture. Installation is the opposite of removal.)

[old skool]

Here is the console it fits into. You can see how it attaches.

[old skool]

Now this is the access to the microfilter.
Up is the front of the car, right is the floor, left is the hvac core.

[old skool]

Twist this and pull it out to expose the microfilter.
Push the black tab shown on the filter towards the front of the car to release the foam seal. Then pull away from the center of the car to remove it. The frame is broken in three places and will make a bit of a mess...just keep pulling and working at it until it is removed.

[old skool]

here it is. Yuck.

[old skool]

To insert the new one, simply break it in the three obvious place on the plastic frame so that you can carefully feed it in the opening and clear all the components under the dash. When it is in, just press it towards the front of the car to fit the foam seal. Reinstall the cover and twist in the opposite direction to secure it. Then simply reinstall all the pieces of the dash.

[Binkie]

Good thread.

How much is a microfilter at the stealership?

[e36]

wuts the microfilter for?

mike

also, wheres the list for inspection II?

[Binkie]

wuts the microfilter for?

mike

also, wheres the list for inspection II?

Its a filter for you central air system.

[old skool]

It is the cabin filter...or pollen filter. It filters the outside air for your hvac.

The filter is like $15 or less if I recall correctly.
There are a number of links to inspection 2 lists...try the bimmerdiy.com

[old skool]

I am going to bump this up for the Monday crowd.

[Hestola]

Nice writeup, but I have replaced mine without removing the glovebox. It's a bit tight in there, but it's possible to do. Oh, and I paid $27 at the $tealer.

[old skool]

Soem writeups tell you to remove the metal dash brace/frame as well...honestly the more that is gone the easier it is....however it is obviously possible to do without removing the dash...just not fun. shoot I almost recommend removing the seat when doing this. I hate crawling around upside down in the footwells of the car.

[Ffroggs]

Soem writeups tell you to remove the metal dash brace/frame as well...honestly the more that is gone the easier it is....however it is obviously possible to do without removing the dash...just not fun. shoot I almost recommend removing the seat when doing this. I hate crawling around upside down in the footwells of the car.

How do you remove the metal brace/frame as you mention? I sliced up my hand pretty good when replacing my microfilter. I got so pissed off I pretty much convinced myself that I was going to pay someone else to do it from now on.

Note that I also didn't unhook the black computer piece from the other piece like you suggest. If I had done that, the whole thing would have been much easier. I didn't realize they came apart.

[old skool]

Some people think removing this is easy...I am not so sure. You can see on either end it has a bolt holding it to the side of the car and the center dash support....those are easy to remove, but wiggling it out of there is tough...plus I am not sure you can easily do this with the center shift surround in the way.

[fredo328]

I did it too without removing the glovebox, just a duct and some wire. I also didnt break the filter in those three different places it went in with some wriggling around.

[808Cardinal87]

I did it too without removing the glovebox, just a duct and some wire. I also didnt break the filter in those three different places it went in with some wriggling around.

I just replaced mine tonight without removing the glovebox. I just removed the kick panel and then removed the Y shaped duct. That gave me free access to the filter. Took about 15 minutes to change.

[supark]

god - this is such a pain in the ass if the filter breaks and you leave a bit in there - what fun...

[roberttran]

Why did you break it in 2 places? I installed mine he same way and didn't have to break it.

-Robert

[surfacewound]

I was thinking that once you get the glove box off it was essentially right there in front of you w/ easy access. It sounds like a hassle. Ah well.

[Brashland]

It's always funny to see a common DIY and then the "I had to X" "Well I didn't have to X" "Well you can do it Y way also" "Y?!? That was impossible!"

I know when I did mine there was no way the filter was going in without breaking it at the marked tabs. Under the dash was pretty cramped and there was no way I could have slid that 8+ inches of straight plastic into the housing.

[Makster]

i need to do mine soon...thanks for the write up!