K&N panel filters worth buying or not
- Thread starter si-forks
- Start date
No - I believe there can be issues with the foam type filters screwing around with the MAF. They do give a little more induction noise however so I've read.
They were great on carburettor bikes and cars I ran 30+ years ago because they sounded rorty and so obviously gave a 10% power boost :wink:
Expensive pointless faff on a modern ecu car unless you change the whole inlet system, which given how advanced the BMW set-up is seems pointless on it's own.
A proper test found out K&N which quickly deteriorated and was actually worse than stock. If the system was any good everybody would fit it as OEM
http://www.nicoclub.com/archives/kn-vs-oem-filter.html
Expensive pointless faff on a modern ecu car unless you change the whole inlet system, which given how advanced the BMW set-up is seems pointless on it's own.
A proper test found out K&N which quickly deteriorated and was actually worse than stock. If the system was any good everybody would fit it as OEM
http://www.nicoclub.com/archives/kn-vs-oem-filter.html
Liverpool
I put one on a 525i sport I had a while ago. Made absolutely no difference , so Id never use one again.
In fact I remember a magazine test years ago that tested OEM paper filters, K&N panel, and a variety of cone filters and the one which flowed the most air? OEM paper lol
In fact I remember a magazine test years ago that tested OEM paper filters, K&N panel, and a variety of cone filters and the one which flowed the most air? OEM paper lol
Nictrix said:
Mine wasn't dripping, but trying to clean it was a bit of a nightmare as all the debris and such was sort of stuck to the filter.
I'm left thinking that those air filter socks for the induction kits may be the way to go if anyone wanted a different air filter. Obviously a heat shield would be needed to minimise head soak.
Nictrix said:
This is true but it is very difficult to know exactly how much to oil them and hence very easy to screw up the MAF. I foolishly used one on two cars...an E36 BMW 328i ( I think it was already on that car when I got it actually) and a Merc 230CE. The K&N caused issues on both cars. You get a bit more induction noise but there's was no discernible performance gain and indeed I've read more than one report where dyno results have shown a loss of power.
Pointless waste of money...or worse! IMHO.
mmm-five said:Fixed that for youEwazix said:
Or are you saying that anything fitted as OEM is the best that could have been fitted at the time
I'm saying that BMW spend millions on R&D to squeeze every bhp and mpg they can, a piece of crappy foam soaked in oil is sure to be cheaper so if it performed better as well BMW would fit it? As I said K&N is old tech ideal for carb engines but I wouldn't let it anywhere near a modern unit.
OK - so I have been running one for over 7 years.
Never had an issue with MAF, oiling it, cleaning it, etc. Easy to do. Reports suggest and I'd agree that in theory they let more grit in, but my engines still perfect so I'm cool with it. Finally they are cotton inners on the flat filters - not foam.
Worth the money - no way - makes no difference whatsoever to sound or performance, takes time to maintain and you need to buy the cleaning kit and correct oil. I only use it as someone gave it me for free and I have the service kits for my Jeeps.
Si - If you want to try mine bring a decent paper filter to a breakfast meet and borrow mine for as long as you want...
Never had an issue with MAF, oiling it, cleaning it, etc. Easy to do. Reports suggest and I'd agree that in theory they let more grit in, but my engines still perfect so I'm cool with it. Finally they are cotton inners on the flat filters - not foam.
Worth the money - no way - makes no difference whatsoever to sound or performance, takes time to maintain and you need to buy the cleaning kit and correct oil. I only use it as someone gave it me for free and I have the service kits for my Jeeps.
Si - If you want to try mine bring a decent paper filter to a breakfast meet and borrow mine for as long as you want...
Rory said:What always makes me laugh is people buying a cone filter, then taking the time to construct a heat shielding airbox around it.
Sooooo that's what your car had to start with then, an air filter in a box? lol
That can depend.... if you are re-routing the feed to a achieve a better, colder air flow, then it can result in better gains. Been there and done it but not on the Z.
It also achieved better results when remapped, compared to a k&N pannel filter or OEM pannel filter. If cone is the way you intend to go its better to invest in a decent filter but its useless if you are going to draw warm air in from the engine bay.
Cone is a red herring here. This thread is about replacing a paper panel filter with K&N
