Oil filter always comes out crushed?

[tankowner]

Originally Posted by BMW BOB

Has anyone looked to see if a piece of an old filter is in there. I've seen that happen with aftermarket filters. That would explain your problem. V-8 filters snap into the top cover the 6 cylinders don't.

Anything within the filter cover should be pretty obvious, at least I would think. When you look down into the cover there should be nothing surrounding the little cage that the filter slides on to.

I had installed one of the Mahle filters with the hard plastic ends and had a terrible time getting it out. Ended up ripping out all the filter media then drilling holes into the hard end cap that was stuck inside the cover until it was weak enough to break out. Of course, because of all of that, I ended up having to wash out the cover and thoroughly drying it out with a heat gun. Way too involved for an oil/filter change.

Then I installed a Mann filter (without the hard plastic ends) and when I pressed on it, it did actually snap in. I never noticed the filters being twisted like the OPs, but will watch for that now.

I love my X5, but this filter and filter cover design leaves a lot to be desired. I had a couple Mercedes prior to this and much prefer the canister design of those filters. And the filter housings and covers aren't plastic like these.