Opinions about K&N Oil Filters and other brands.

[BioNerd]

Hi,

I have heard that K&N is the best on Oil Filters, so I went and got one for my next oil change.

Any experiences or opinions about this brand or recommendations for a different filter?

thanks.

 

[Henrick]

I use MANN. I think this is one of OEM suppliers so you can't get anything better.

 

[FowVay]

I prefer Mann, Mahle, or Hengst for my Euro cars. These are companies that actually design and build the housings and systems for the vehicles.

K&N and other aftermarket products generally try to fit one filter to as many applications as they can which can (and does) lead to compromise in areas such as bypass pressures, burst pressures and dirt holding capacity.

Considering there is no cost savings to using this aftermarket product I don't see a reason to buy them.

 

[Joe_Meehan]

Much of the information about filters comes from individuals who take the filters apart and make judgment calls based on what they see. While well meaning, their opinions are just that. The real information based on life cycle testing by the car manufacturers and that information seems to be a little more difficult to obtain.

In the end, it appears that the real story is that they all do the job. The fact is engines seldom wear out as long as the oil and air filters have been changed according to the manufacturer's recommendations.

I will pick one filter out for comment. K&N makes a line of "wet" filters. These filters are re-usable and must be cleaned then oiled rather than replaced. It appears they do just fine, as long as they are serviced properly. However too much oil or too little will reduce their efficiency enough to make a difference. or may damage a MAF.

 

[Henrick]

Damage MAF?? What aboutt cylinder walls? I thought this one was more serious

 

[turbocharged798]

If you get a K&N, you might as well just replace your filter with a window screen and put some oil on it. Does the same thing.

 

[Plus 3 Golfer]

The OP is talking about OIL filters not AIR filters.

 

[oilhammer]

Mann, Mahle, Hengst, or Purflux are all OEM suppliers to VAG and are all excellent, and are all available for a reasonable price. No reason to look for anything else, IMHO.

 

[dieseldorf]

Mann, Mahle, Hengst, or Purflux are all OEM suppliers to VAG and are all excellent, and are all available for a reasonable price. No reason to look for anything else, IMHO.

+1. A fruitless endeavor to chase after 2nd tier components and pay inflated prices.

 

[oilhammer]

I would bet K&N does not even make their own oil filters, or at least not 100% of them. Most spin-on oil filters are rebranded/reboxed anyways. Group 7, Champion Labs, Honeywell, Wix and Purolator make most of the store-brand filters for most applications. And even at that, they won't necessarily make ALL of them as some of the slower-selling units won't warrant them tooling up to make. And often they make an inferior version for another house label. We recently found this out here with the 'Parts Master' line from one of our local suppliers. We used some of these on the non-VW stuff, mainly fleets. They are made in USA by Wix, but they are crap. Bunches of them leaked, and come to find out that while Wix makes the filter element and case, the endcap comes from someone else and the o-rings (the part that failed) came from China .

 

[leicaman]

Like the others have chimed in, I use nothing but VW oem or Mann. At least with OEM, you have a better chance of the engine operating as the manufacturer intended.

 

[b4black]

I would bet K&N does not even make their own oil filters, or at least not 100% of them. Most spin-on oil filters are rebranded/reboxed anyways. Group 7, Champion Labs,...

K&N is made by Champion and has a fiberglass media. A better than average filter. Same for the Mobil 1 oil filter.

If you think synthetic oil is worth the extra price, then consider buying filter with a fiberglass media like the K&N.

In the end, it appears that the real story is that they all do the job. The fact is engines seldom wear out as long as the oil and air filters have been changed according to the manufacturer's recommendations.

I agree with this and don't pay the extra expense.

 

[Dunno513]

I pay under $7 for OE VW oil filters. VW doesn't need to make false claims to get me to buy. One look at their filter and you know its made well.

I won't buy anything with the K&N label after seeing the charts of how poorly their filters filter. The only other "brand" which has ever been on my vehicle was a Napa Gold (Wix) to get me thru to my next order from 1stvwparts.com

 

[oilhammer]

Well, it is not a question of what I think is worth the extra price, it is simply a question of what did the manufacturer specify for that model car.

I've found simply sticking with the manufacturer's specifications, parts, intervals, etc. seems to work on pretty much anything. Be it a car, a motorcycle, a chainsaw, lawnmower, etc.

In this case, Volkswagen DID specifiy a "synthetic" oil (I do not really care for that specific word).

But the OP was asking about the oil filter, not the oil itself.

 

[BioNerd]

thats funny!

If you get a K&N, you might as well just replace your filter with a window screen and put some oil on it. Does the same thing.

hahaha! I guess Im gonna have to deal with that for 5000 miles!
Lol!

 

[BioNerd]

K&N is made by Champion and has a fiberglass media. A better than average filter. Same for the Mobil 1 oil filter.

If you think synthetic oil is worth the extra price, then consider buying filter with a fiberglass media like the K&N.




I agree with this and don't pay the extra expense.

I used Full Synth Shell Rotella T

 

[b4black]

In this case, Volkswagen DID specifiy a "synthetic" oil (I do not really care for that specific word).

But the OP was asking about the oil filter, not the oil itself.

Oops, I guess I chose a bad analogy on the oil, since VW does recommend syntethic on the new engines. What I was trying to say was the fiberglass media is better, but likely not necessary for the extra cost.

 

[BioNerd]

The place I used to change the oil and filter wrote in the lil sticker that I should come back in 3000miles. I think that's too early, isn't it 5000miles for full synthetic?

 

[FireStorm005]

the OCI on these cars is 10k miles

 

[turbocharged798]

The OP is talking about OIL filters not AIR filters.

My bad. I saw K&N and assumed air filters. Should have read the first post better.....

 

[dzldawg]

The manufacturers oil change interval is 10000 mi. IMO I think that it shouldn't be more than 5000- 7000 mi. VAG is in the business of selling cars not maintenance parts. Bottom line is if you pay attention to your car and service it at least to manufacturer standards then it should last a long time!

 

[IndigoBlueWagon]

There are many, many people here who've VW's OCIs and gotten great life out of their cars. My '02 has had 10K changes since new, has nearly 250K on it, and runs better than new. And my car is relatively low miles compared to many of our customers.

I'm in the business of selling oil and filters, and I constantly tell customers that it's a waste of money to exceed the manufacturer's OCI recommendation. And for comparison, there are VW engines out there that have a 2 year/30,000 mile OCI. 10K is child's play.

 

[oilhammer]

Yeah, 10k on all mine, too. No sweat, no worries, no problems, lotsa miles.

 

[wensteph]

There are many, many people here who've VW's OCIs and gotten great life out of their cars. My '02 has had 10K changes since new, has nearly 250K on it, and runs better than new. And my car is relatively low miles compared to many of our customers.
I'm in the business of selling oil and filters, and I constantly tell customers that it's a waste of money to exceed the manufacturer's OCI recommendation. And for comparison, there are VW engines out there that have a 2 year/30,000 mile OCI. 10K is child's play.

I agree on the smaller engines and this is a Jetta centric forum, so just in case there are any other 3.0L owners out there, analysis is showing the 507 oils to be pretty much additive depleted at 5-6K. If you want to prevent unnecessary wear on the V6, change earlier or go with a more robust oil.

 

[IndigoBlueWagon]

I agree on the smaller engines and this is a Jetta centric forum, so just in case there are any other 3.0L owners out there, analysis is showing the 507 oils to be pretty much additive depleted at 5-6K. If you want to prevent unnecessary wear on the V6, change earlier or go with a more robust oil.

I haven't seen any data on this. Have you got some? I'd be interested.

 

[wensteph]

I haven't seen any data on this. Have you got some? I'd be interested.

I've posted two UOAs in the UOA thread and also over on BITOG. One on the factory fill and the second with Fuchs Titan GT-1. No one seemed to be impressed with the 507s in this application. Both of my UOAs were done by Dyson Analysis and while his specific comments are proprietary it was time to change out the oil at around the 5K mark, maybe a bit longer with the Fuchs.

The 507's don't start out with a heavy additive package and there is speculation that maybe the rate of the depletion will slow beyond 5K, but what's the point of carrying it out further? The 507 formulation is spec'd to protect the downstream emission systems, not to promote engine longevity.

 

[tdiatlast]

Both of my UOAs were done by Dyson Analysis and while his specific comments are proprietary it was time to change out the oil at around the 5K mark, maybe a bit longer with the Fuchs.

The 507's don't start out with a heavy additive package and there is speculation that maybe the rate of the depletion will slow beyond 5K, but what's the point of carrying it out further? The 507 formulation is spec'd to protect the downstream emission systems, not to promote engine longevity.

Huh? Proprietary to whom? Does the lab prohibit you from posting his comments/numbers?

What do you mean by "the rate of depletion (of what?) will slow beyond 5K"...? Which additives are you referring to?

 

[n1das]

Getting back to the original thread topic of K&N OIL filters and not about OCIs and UOAs, it's best to stick with OEM filters and be done with it. No problems, no worries, and lotsa miles.

 

[BioNerd]

Wait, so then is not acceptable to ask other questions that are related to the original topic, but not the exact original topic itself?
Just wondering, in case I have to start a new thread for every question or search for the answer first.
I'm new here so I need some guidance. =)

 

[Lightflyer1]

Searching for yourself first is always recommended. Every effort should be used to keep the thread on topic. Disappointing to search and find the thread went OT after the third post and learn nothing. Closely related stuff probably won't be frowned upon.