Air Filter

[bmwbmwfan]

Hello,

I am purchasing items to do some maintenance on my car.

I have purchased:
-an oil filter from BMW (approx. $28!)

Planning to purchase:
-Mobil1 Synthetic 5W30 (guess I need two jugs approx. $42/each)
-NGK Iridium spark plugs
-debating if I should change the fuel filter as well or not (its around $120 here)

As to the air filter...could I please get some advice?

A lot of members have recommended to stay away from the K&N brand because it has too much oil in it. There is another brand called FRAM...what do you think?? Its about half the price compared to the K&N (at about $60) which worries me. But if nothing is wrong with the FRAM, I would be even happier paying less.

[ekimv65]

Originally Posted by bmwbmwfan

Hello,

I am purchasing items to do some maintenance on my car.

I have purchased:
-an oil filter from BMW (approx. $28!)

Planning to purchase:
-Mobil1 Synthetic 5W30 (guess I need two jugs approx. $42/each)
-NGK Iridium spark plugs
-debating if I should change the fuel filter as well or not (its around $120 here)

As to the air filter...could I please get some advice?

A lot of members have recommended to stay away from the K&N brand because it has too much oil in it. There is another brand called FRAM...what do you think?? Its about half the price compared to the K&N (at about $60) which worries me. But if nothing is wrong with the FRAM, I would be even happier paying less.

The Fram is just as good as any other.... No worries.

[bmwbmwfan]

Thanks, good to know.

[1stE53]

I was skeptical about Fram filters for a VW I owned last year. I went to WalMart to check it out anyway, found it was made in Germany by the same people who made the VW branded product . I paid a third the price for the same product. You may luck out with the BMW filter as well. Check and see where it is made. I have noticed the European made filters are far superior to any 'normal' filter out there.
Seems like things are niticiably more expensive there; oil should only be about $6.30 a qt so about $51 for 8.

How many miles do you have on your car and are you using premium gasoline? If you have less than 100k and use premium, you should be OK on the fuel filter.

[sethro]

Why are you using Iridium plugs instead of the OEM Platinum ones? Everything else looks good.

[JCL]

No worries on the Mobil oil, that one is fine.

You can use the Iridium plugs, but not sure what you are trying to save here. You are better off with OEM.

I wouldn't use a Fram filter, all filters are definitely not all the same. Whether or not it is made in the same country or factory as an OE filter is irrelevant. What you should care about is the filtering efficiency, and the pressure drop. Many filters from the same manufacturers use different filter media, and different assembly methods. Fram is a Walmart grade filter, not an OE grade filter. Great choice for an older North American vehicle. Unless you have specs on both the Fram and OEM filter, you are much safer using the OEM filter. The K&N filter is available in two styles, a wet filter (the one with the oil on the filter media) and a dry filter (samed style as a Fram). This is a part you only buy every 100,000 or so, so suck it up and just spend the money. Presumably you are doing this work to make your vehicle run longer, so putting inferior parts in is counter-intuitive.

You can do the fuel filter if you like, but what problem are you attempting to solve? Do you have fuel starvation issues? Whether or not you use premium fuel doesn't matter, it is whether or not you use clean fuel. Premium is often not as fresh as regular, as it can sit in the distributor's tanks longer, so more often than not a vehicle using premium from smaller stations will clog up a fuel filter before one using regular from the same stations.

[faz]

I have generally stayed with OEM filters in my cars and motorcycles, be it oil or air or fuel filter.

Try and buy them from online sources (especially since these are maintenance items and you have time) and save a few bucks, but try and go the OEM filter route for peace of mind.

[1stE53]

Originally Posted by JCL

No worries on the Mobil oil, that one is fine.

You can use the Iridium plugs, but not sure what you are trying to save here. You are better off with OEM.

I wouldn't use a Fram filter, all filters are definitely not all the same. Whether or not it is made in the same country or factory as an OE filter is irrelevant. What you should care about is the filtering efficiency, and the pressure drop. Many filters from the same manufacturers use different filter media, and different assembly methods. Fram is a Walmart grade filter, not an OE grade filter. Great choice for an older North American vehicle. Unless you have specs on both the Fram and OEM filter, you are much safer using the OEM filter. The K&N filter is available in two styles, a wet filter (the one with the oil on the filter media) and a dry filter (samed style as a Fram). This is a part you only buy every 100,000 or so, so suck it up and just spend the money. Presumably you are doing this work to make your vehicle run longer, so putting inferior parts in is counter-intuitive.

You can do the fuel filter if you like, but what problem are you attempting to solve? Do you have fuel starvation issues? Whether or not you use premium fuel doesn't matter, it is whether or not you use clean fuel. Premium is often not as fresh as regular, as it can sit in the distributor's tanks longer, so more often than not a vehicle using premium from smaller stations will clog up a fuel filter before one using regular from the same stations.

I agree with all you said, it was a VW so I didn't care so much. Nothing but original parts touch my BMW or Mercedes. I went as far as interviewing gas stations on how much premium fuel they go through. Found a Shell station that only had a 300 gallon tank and went though it once a week. My tanks rarely go under the 3/4 mark as well. I'm about as big a nerd as they come .

And, yes, I did see the gas station's paper work

[FSETH]

For reference, I have an 02 4.4i.

I purchased an oil filter from my local dealer for $14.96 (BMWCCA discount) $17.60 without.

Oil from the dealer was $47.79 (BMWCCA discount) $56.25 without.

If you don't want to buy from the dealer, Bavarian Autosport sells Mann oil filters for $9.95

NGK Iridiums should work, but they will need to be replaced twice as often as OEM plugs. OE are good for 80-100k miles. Iridiums are good for about 40-50k (according to an NGK rep).

I would use an OE air filter if possible. If you want a cheaper option, Bavarian Autosport sells Mann air filters for about $17.

I would skip the fuel filter personally.