After addressing the biggest issues on my 2002 Audi TT (MK1) that were just too difficult to ignore, I started knocking out some of the easy maintenance items on the car. Probably the easiest one to check off the list is the engine air filter, which typically takes only five minutes or so to do. Audi generally recommends the engine air filter to be replaced every 20k miles.

Engine Air Filter

Mann Filter C 37 153 Air Filter
Wix Air Filter Panel – 42472
ECOGARD XA5267 Premium Engine Air Filter

How to Replace the Engine Air Filter

At the driver’s side of the engine bay, there is the engine air filter housing unit, which has the engine air filter inside. Unscrew the two Phillips head screws on the back side of the air box, loosen the large hose clamp for the intake, and remove the electrical connector on the intake.

You should now be able to pull the intake hose out since the hose clamp is now loose. You will also need to lift up on the back of the air filter housing cover, which will be pivoting about the front of the housing. The cover will then be able to be removed.

Remove the old filter and inspect. My engine air filter wasn’t terrible, but it was definitely not new either. Probably a good time to replace.

Clean up the inside of the engine air filter housing if needed and replace it with the new air filter. When installing the air filter cover, be aware of where the tabs are so that you can insert them into the bottom part of the housing before completely closing down the cover.

If the engine air filter is installed correctly, the housing cover should close down and seat completely and evenly. Once you’ve confirmed the cover can close and seat properly, you can proceed to re-insert the intake hose, re-tighten the hose clamp, screw in the two screws on the housing, and reconnect the electrical connector back onto the intake.

And that is as easy as it gets as far as maintenance on your Audi TT goes. Another easy maintenance item that you can also easily do that is related is the cabin air filter. The cabin filter on this vehicle is actually located in the engine bay as well, so it makes a lot of sense to take care of these two maintenance items at the same time.