A method for predicting a service life of a filter element of a filter module in a system, the filter element serving to clean air, includes the steps of: a) retrieving characterization data of the system from a database; b) retrieving characterization data of the filter element from a database; c) retrieving measurement data of the system detected in the system by sensor technology; d) retrieving measurement data of the filter element detected by the sensor technology in the filter module; e) retrieving measurement data of air to be cleaned; and f) creating a data model from the data and determining the service life of the filter element to be expected.