Quote:
Originally Posted by WVMTNBIKER
I'm just about ready for my first oil change in my '03 X5 3.0i. I've used K&N products for a long, long time now. I see that K&N makes an oil filter cartridge to fit my bimmer. I don't doubt that it is a superior filter, even to Mann filters.
Anyone out there with experience with K&N oil filters on their X5's?
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In answer to your question, I have no experience with K&N oil filters, for the reasons listed below. But since you asked....
What is the basis for considering it a superior filter? Do you have the micron spec, the SAE test results, or the ASTM test results?
A quick search found a statement that the K&N filter is made by a third party who make filters for a lot of companies, Champion Labs. If you want to buy a no-name filter with no specs, may as well go to Walmart and get it cheap. Do you trust the quality of Champion Labs, who don't market their filter directly but use companies that have a name, such as K&N, to do so?
I would only use an OE filter, since we don't have specs for what the OE filter is designed to do. Anybody can manufacture a will-fit filter with the same exterior dimensions, but unless you know the design flow rates, and the design filtration specs, you have nothing to gain by changing away from the BMW filter, and everything to lose.
Even using Mann, or Mahle, isn't a guarantee of getting the same filter. Filter manufacturers routinely make the same physical size filter in 2 micron, 5 micron, 10 micron, etc, specs. They have to meet a certain standard to supply a filter to an OEM, but they don't have to meet the same standard to sell a filter directly.
For a part that costs a few dollars, and is only required once a year or less, I don't understand the allure of aftermarket filters.