Couldn't they make it a bit easier.....
 

to change the in-cabin air filter?
I followed the good DIY video, but why make a regular maintanance item such a pain in the a$$ to change out? Sure it only took about 30 minutes, but removing trim panels and the glove box and having to reach those screws tucked back in the nooks & crannies just seems to be so "un-user-friendly" :(

Are all cars equiped w/ in-cabin filters so hard to access?

It says to change them every 15k miles, but I think 30k is about all I want to deal with :(

I think there was a way to do it so you don't take out panels, just the glove box.

This is actually one of the easiest i've seen so far. On my last car, replacing the in-cabin filter was a little trickier as the airbag connectors were in the way and apparently if you touched or disconnected it a certain way, the bag would deploy.

+1
The 1st gen G35 was also lot more difficult.

The placement of the filter is for efficiency and compactness of the HVAC system;
Unfortunately this also = a more difficult service location.

Its not that bad, i changed mine out when I was installing the OEM Kickplates and Ambient lighting at the same time. I had a pivot li-on powered screwdriver to remove the screws to make it easier and plastic trim removal tools to help. The one thing that was initially tricky to take out was that pin that held a little piece of rope that spooled up to act as damping when opening the glovebox. I figured once you know how to do it, then its easier the next time around. The previous car I owned, all you had to do was open the glove box and pop out a plastic cover in the glove box that held the filter.

^+1. I agree it's not too bad after the first time. First time was 30min (taking it slowly and carefully) . Second time was 15min. As far as prolonging the intervals to every 30k, I personally wouldn't do it after seeing how dirty the filter is after 15k.

Open the hood.
Remove the battery cover.
Remove the passenger side windshield cowl.
Look down the hole, stick your hand in there, remove and replace the filter.
Super easy.
Takes minutes.

Have you done this ? I've watched some videos on replacing the battery and I've also seen the access 'hole' myself but I'm not sure if the filter will fit through there. If that does work, I think I might go that route for changing the cabin air filter instead. Doing it the "normal" way involves so many plastic clips that are too easy to break.

It is a much more of a PITA that it has to be - I've done it 5 times already and it's a pain to have to reinstall the glove box. My other car has 3 removable tabs and voila.

I got spoiled by the cabin air filter in our Honda Odyssey - open glove box, pop the door supports (left, right) off the ball and pull out the two bumper stops to allow it to swing open 180º. There's the filter. Well, behind a door that you un-clip. My wife's Fusion is similarly complicated like the G35. I shouldn't say complicated for either one but they both have too many breakable plastic clips that aren't the type you can replace - they're molded parts of the interior pieces. On my G35, one of them is broken but luckily there's enough other clips plus fasteners that it doesn't really affect it (nothing loose, nothing vibrates, etc). Sad part is, I bought this from my sister who always had it serviced at an Infiniti dealer and they're probably who broke it.

After changing the cabin filter on my newer Ford Focus I've come to realize most cars aren't that bad after all.

Just watched a couple videos for the Focus and other than it being uncomfortable (I presume) from crawling around inside the foot well, it doesn't look bad at all. Probably helps if you're younger and small to do this though !

The problem is that damned filter hangs up on the edges and it's practically impossible to get it spread out evenly since you can't even see what you're doing. The OEM ones have no rigid border or backing it's too flimsy so I just yanked mine out after the second replacement.

When the FSM tells you to reach in with a coat hook and yank it out from the middle there's probably some engineering issues.

Haha ! That sounds like someone forgot to accommodate for the space required for a filter housing during the design steps ! They had to squeeze it in and only had so much wiggle room to move related components. Oooops !