Not to burst anyone's bubble, but I went through the same problems with my first 3" MAF. I actually scoured through the M/B forums and found out that the generic MAFs are the problem. I bought one of the cheapos on ebay; What a mistake. Luckily, I found a used SL Bosch OEM one at a salvage yard down the road and managed to talk them into swapping it for the new one I had. Solved all my problems.

I 'm thinking that the generics don't use the same Bosch sensors that the SL ones use.

Just to remind everyone...only use the Bosch OEM 3" MAF. And if you want a new one, make sure to buy it from a reputable parts dealer and that it has the Bosch OEM p/n 0280217810. Ebay will list some of them as being Boschs, but alot of them are foreign knock-offs with the name "Bosch" stamped on them. A quick look around the net showed that AutohausAZ had the best price for the OEM Boschs. Around $150.

And no, I didn't have to change out the sensor. It was just plug and zoom. It re calibrated just fine. Been running it for a year now without a single hiccup....smooth as butter!

Then again, if money is tight, buying a generic one that is much, much cheaper in price and changing out the sensor is still a very viable option.