Compared to the frankly ridiculous placement of the pollen filter on the Mk1/2 Galaxy, Alhambra & Sharan (which meant that many of them didn't get replaced as they should have been come service time) the pollen filter on the Touran is in a much more accessible position and accessed from the passenger footwell (on RHD cars at least!). The below procedure was carried out on a 2005 ('55 plate) model though I would expect them all to be fairly similar.


Start by removing the small plastic trim in the footwell just forward of the centre console (arrowed yellow in the below picture)- it's just retained by a couple of lugs on it's rear face into spring clips and should just pull straight out, noting that there are a couple locating tabs (highlighted in the final image in this thread) that slide in behind the lower dash/ centre console on the rear edge of the trim. Then remove the foam pad that covers the top part of the passenger footwell, below the glovebox. It's held up by 2x plastic screws designed to be removed by hand (circled red below):

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With the trim and foam pad removed, looking up into the footwell you should see the plastic pollen filter cover just forward of the heater resistor (which the wiring connector is going into in the below picture) in the blower box housing. On this Touran, there were no screws retaining this cover, it simply slides (in the direction of the passenger door on RHD vehicles) to remove- slide the cover in the general direction as indicated by the orange arrow in the below picture (there is also an arrow on the cover itself visible just right of centre in the picture). The cover is retained by a set of lugs and will drop down when slid to the side.

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With the cover removed, the filter itself will drop slightly. It needs to be distorted to actually remove/ install due to the profile of the floorpan/ bulkhead- as can be seen in the next image it won't fall straight out as there is a ledge in the way which the filter is resting on:

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With the filter removed you can see it is irregularly shaped as per the below picture, and for this reason it is directional. It must be installed with the sloped top edge closest to the passenger door (the filter base has cutout holes for the plastic lugs of the bottom cover to pass through which are irregularly spaced & should serve to indicate if you are trying to put the filter in the wrong way- also you will meet resistance before the filter is fully inserted if you try to put it in the wrong way round).

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The VW part number on the old filter I removed was 1K0 819 644 B (made by Valeo), though I replaced it with a Mann filter I picked up from Euro car parts. Both Mann and Valeo are O.E suppliers so the Mann filter would certainly be of equivalent quality, even though not a genuine part. The Mann reference for this particular filter as can be seen on the box is CUK 2939/1, and the irregularly spaced cutouts in the foam filter base pad can clearly be seen in the 360^o rotatable image in the link.

So, when refitting the replacement filter, as above, ensure it's the right way round- I was a little confused at this stage because the Mann filter has airflow direction arrows (the filter I took out did not) which are just visible in the third picture if you view it full size- I'm used to these arrows pointing towards the rear of the vehicle (which is what you would expect with air flowing in to the vehicle from the front), yet with the filter installed correctly (as it had to be due to the non-symmetrical shape) the arrows are pointing towards the front of the vehicle- which I find odd, unless due to the design of the blower box incoming air is ducted over the top of the filter first before being routed back through the filter. The filter will require distorting slightly just as it did when removing in order to get it back into the slot. Once the filter is in place, you can refit the cover- the below image shows the 6 locking tabs which secure it in place (one of which is arrowed green), these pass through the slots in the foam base of the filter itself and are irregularly spaced which should serve as a double check that the filter is installed the right way round as they will not line up properly otherwise. Refit the cover and slide it home.


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With the filter retaining cover refitted, you can refit the foam cover pad with the two plastic screws, noting that it locates above the black plastic 'lip' running below the glovebox which is arrowed blue in the very first image, it should also line up with the 4 or 5 little air ducts that stick through the pad when it is lined up properly (also visible in the first image in the thread).

Finally, the plastic trim next to the centre console can be refitted. As the above image shows, it is retained by two lugs on the rear (circled yellow in the above image) which engage in two metal spring clips (circled red in the same image). Line the trim up, noting the little air duct which sits in the cutout in the top of the trim, visible in the very first image in this thread. Note also the 2 locating tabs (arrowed yellow in the below image) which locate the trim in behind the lower dash/ centre console. Once the trim is lined up and the tabs properly located, a gentle push in the vicinity of the lugs should push them home into the spring clips and the trim is refitted.

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