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Air filters or Induction kit?

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Hi all, I've been researching how to service my own vehicle which led me onto air filters... There appears to be two ends of the market when considering an air filter; cheaper Mann et al at around £6-£10 or posher £30+ K&N ones. The latter is apparently washable and reusable? Have any of you guys got any experience of these? Is it worth the extra? Secondly, all this geeking-up on air filters drew me to many of the eBay listings for induction kits. Quite a few of the kits look horrendously chav in my opinion... stainless steel / chrome 'look' with bright red filters and racing decals... that just isn't me, sorry. However, some of the K&N ones look a little more subtle... especially ones with a cover (heat shield?) for M3s... not sure if they would fit a facelift 325i? So, whilst I occasionally like to 'open her up' to get myself away from accidents waiting to happen, I don't feel the need to drive like a dickhead or impress teenagers; so will I see any remarkable difference by fitting a K&N induction kit? The Youtube videos I have watched make them sound quite sexy but then again I don't open my bonnet unless I need to. Furthermore, apart from a set of decals, there doesn't appear to be a great deal differentiating them from their cheaper market rivals? Is it just a name thing? What would be my best bet?... Cheap filter, posh filter or the whole hog? Does any of them influence fuel consumption? Cheers, Sam

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Just get a normal OEM air filter. Induction kits do nothing (except maybe lower your performance if you don't fit it properly) and just change the sound of the engine. K&N filters will trash your MAF as you accidentally over-oil them and the oil collects on your MAF, so you'll then have to fork out a couple of hundred quid on a new one.

Stay away from ebay. It will only end in disaster unless you know exactly what you're looking for already :)

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Just get a normal OEM air filter. Induction kits do nothing (except maybe lower your performance if you don't fit it properly) and just change the sound of the engine. K&N filters will trash your MAF as you accidentally over-oil them and the oil collects on your MAF, so you'll then have to fork out a couple of hundred quid on a new one. Stay away from ebay. It will only end in disaster unless you know exactly what you're looking for already :)

Hi Mit, Much appreciated as ever! According to K&N, their air filters are good for 50k before they could do with a clean anyway... how much longer is this to a regular air filter? - I get what you're saying about the oil/MAF but was wondering if it would still be cost effective even if just for £50k? As for eBay, I generally find the part number using Euro Car Parts, or some place similar, then just google and/or eBay for the cheapest deal. Managed to save a tenner or so with the Mann active carbon cabin filter anyway. Go me! Haha Cheers, Sam
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Induction kits give no noticeable power but do give a slightly nicer noise (lost if you have an aftermarket backbox)

Induction kits as mentioned by Mit if fitted properly soak up heat and actually give you less BHP

That being said, I have had 3 different induction kits on mine, the latter still on it and I love them, just make sure you get a good one with proper heat shielding

Alternatively getting a high flow air filter may achieve the same as above but without the noise and will be easier to fit (utilising the OEM airbox) and cheaper (most likely)

IMO either get an OEM air filter or get a proper heat shielded induction kit, everything else is just a compromise

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I opted for a BMC panel filter in my 325ci, I read quite a few threads on various forums for and against induction kits and the consensus is that the standard airbox is hard to fault in terms of efficiency. Induction kits certainly do sound better but as to whether or not they offer power gains or indeed create power reductions depends on how much money you spend.

The K&N panel filters are quite oily and many people had MAF issues with them and not just with BMW's. The BMC ones are also oiled - but by far less so than the K&N's - with no reported MAF issues. I would say that i had some noticeable improvement on throttle response with the BMC panel filter, although I did perform a full service at the same time!

I think a lot of it is down to personal preference and for me a re-useable panel filter made sense as I never need to buy another one!

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Its a risk. Buy your K&N filter if you think you might save money (what, like £10 compared to buying new ones) and risk sinking £200 into replacing your MAF.

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Induction kits give no noticeable power but do give a slightly nicer noise (lost if you have an aftermarket backbox)

Induction kits as mentioned by Mit if fitted properly soak up heat and actually give you less BHP

That being said, I have had 3 different induction kits on mine, the latter still on it and I love them, just make sure you get a good one with proper heat shielding

Alternatively getting a high flow air filter may achieve the same as above but without the noise and will be easier to fit (utilising the OEM airbox) and cheaper (most likely)

IMO either get an OEM air filter or get a proper heat shielded induction kit, everything else is just a compromise

Hi,

Out of interest, what induction kit would you recommend yourself? I thought the K&N 571 Gen2 kit didn't look too bad but they appeared to vary somewhat in price on eBay and online... are these K&N kits ever counterfeited?

Cheers, Sam

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I opted for a BMC panel filter in my 325ci, I read quite a few threads on various forums for and against induction kits and the consensus is that the standard airbox is hard to fault in terms of efficiency. Induction kits certainly do sound better but as to whether or not they offer power gains or indeed create power reductions depends on how much money you spend.

The K&N panel filters are quite oily and many people had MAF issues with them and not just with BMW's. The BMC ones are also oiled - but by far less so than the K&N's - with no reported MAF issues. I would say that i had some noticeable improvement on throttle response with the BMC panel filter, although I did perform a full service at the same time!

I think a lot of it is down to personal preference and for me a re-useable panel filter made sense as I never need to buy another one!

Hi,

I'm afraid I'm someone who knows next to nothing about BMW stuff; I just saw that K&N appeared to be top-notch so assumed their products were reliable... I'm now glad I asked before just buying one!

I'll have a Google for the BMC one... just read another thread that Google pulled up which spoke highly of them too.

Cheers, Sam

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Its a risk. Buy your K&N filter if you think you might save money (what, like £10 compared to buying new ones) and risk sinking £200 into replacing your MAF.

Hi Mit,

I've been sufficiently dissuaded from buying a K&N filter now, so I'm kind of playing the Devil's advocate a little; I'm guessing the saving would be greater than £10 if meant that (allegedly) you would never need buy another Mann-kind filter again? - I read on another forum that people tend to replace them after 5k? Anyway, the oil knackering the MAF has sold it for me.. of which I thank you for the heads up! :)

Cheers, Sam

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Induction kits give no noticeable power but do give a slightly nicer noise (lost if you have an aftermarket backbox)

Induction kits as mentioned by Mit if fitted properly soak up heat and actually give you less BHP

That being said, I have had 3 different induction kits on mine, the latter still on it and I love them, just make sure you get a good one with proper heat shielding

Alternatively getting a high flow air filter may achieve the same as above but without the noise and will be easier to fit (utilising the OEM airbox) and cheaper (most likely)

IMO either get an OEM air filter or get a proper heat shielded induction kit, everything else is just a compromise

Hi,

Out of interest, what induction kit would you recommend yourself? I thought the K&N 571 Gen2 kit didn't look too bad but they appeared to vary somewhat in price on eBay and online... are these K&N kits ever counterfeited?

Cheers, Sam

The one that I have now but its UBER rare, its a genuine BMW Performance air intake system, failing that the Gruppe M/Gruppe M rep I had was good but I didnt like how it looked lol

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Whats happened to the dave.f induction kits? Were they M3 only? I know there are now dave.f kits for the R53 mini but its basically a copy of a John Cooper Motorsports intake just using a K&N filter - if designed well they can be worthwhile and copying a race proven part is a good start, as has been done by dave.f :lol:

Never heard of the MAF issue before - interesting. Is it that the K&N is particularly oily (think Soul Glo oily) or is it accross the board? Ive never had a K&N but did have an ITG filter in my R53 and that wasnt overly oily...

Reading this topic has made me kinda glad I didnt bother with the faff and just fitted an OEM paper filter :)

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Dave F kits can fit on non Ms but of the 3 I ve had this was the worst one IMO

Was that on a non m you had it? If so could that have been why if they were designed for the m? Also worst just in opinion or actual data to back it up? Interesting as I thought it was very highly regarded by BMW owners... Oem paper filter ftw :) Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk - now Free
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Dave F kits can fit on non Ms but of the 3 I ve had this was the worst one IMO

Was that on a non m you had it? If so could that have been why if they were designed for the m? Also worst just in opinion or actual data to back it up?

Interesting as I thought it was very highly regarded by BMW owners...

Oem paper filter ftw :)

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk - now Free

Yep it was on a 2002 330, they werent designed solely for the M cars nope

Just my personal opinion , no data to back it up I'm afraid.

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