K&N vs OEM air filter

[mister 2]

Does K&N performance air filter make a big difference over oem filter on stock a4?

THanks

[Tone-Dogg]

I doubt it, our intakes are perfect the way they are, as for the filter, think of it like this. Racing on the track, use a K&N, as a daily driver, use a stock filter. Our MAF's are sensative, stick to the stock filter. Just my 0.02, some where here there is better explanation of why, but that's the short version...

[texasboy21]

If your going to get any sort of a "high flow" filter get a dry one, the oil that K&N uses along with most other brands can damage or completely fry our MAFs. ITG makes one I believe

[EBG 18T]

ITG, AFE & Pipercross all make dry filters that are just drop-ins. Skip the K&N for now.

I am running the AFE one and it fits fine. Actually fits better than the K&N.

[Matt@EuropaParts]

We carry both...it's just up to you. The K&N doesn't make a huge difference, and I'm not a big fan of the oil it throws off:

OEM: http://www.europaparts.com/air-filte...3843-mann.html

K&N: http://www.europaparts.com/kn-perfor...r-33-2209.html

[bigblue]

I have the itg filter and I love it. I replaced my brand new oem filter with the itg and noticed a tiny difference. not like the drastic difference as someone who never changed they're filter before and toss one in tho lol.

[nightshutter]

Been using an ITG for a while now....... no complaints

[DaSkorpion]

Who is selling/where can I pick up the ITG filter and how much is it going for?

[Casius]

Yup I ran K&N and now I'm back to OE paper filter. The K&N is a PITA and I just don't trust it at all. Stick with the paper or as suggested the others if you can find

[a4darkness]

AFE Dry Filter guy here. Have always used them w/out issue (and you get a tiny bit o pep + a little growl, which is a nice bonus).

Used to get em from AMS in Carson, CA but they've since closed up shop. Bummer, they were good guys.

AFE Pro Dry S
30-10118
~$50
http://wwww.afepower.com/
http://www.purems.com/products/product.php/II=2794
http://www.ecstuning.com/Audi-B6_A4-...enance/Engine/ -> listed at two different prices?? Clean it up ECS. ;-]
Also and can be purchased from a number of other locations online, just search.

ITG
~$65
Can't seem to find the dry filter... just the oiled ones, maybe it's not being produced anymore?
http://www.eurosportacc.com/itg_perf...ir_filters.htm
http://itgfilters.net/main.sc
http://www.awe-tuning.com/pages/audi/index.cfm

[tommy782]

I buy last years a AEM dry flow and work perfectly. no need to oil it. wash the filter with soap and water. thats it.

[diplomat128]

I considered a K&N but I might as well just get the OEM one I guess. Does anyone know how much the OEM air filter costs at the dealership? As well as 1.8T spark plugs and the cabin filter... thanks :)

[bigblue]

Dont buy the plugs at the dealership cuz they're $20 each when you can get brk7eix for like $30 for all four. the cabin filter I bought the charcoal one 2 weeks ago for $35

[Mani]

Put in AFE Pro Dry filter yesterday... good one IMO....

[02rubya4]

I considered a K&N but I might as well just get the OEM one I guess. Does anyone know how much the OEM air filter costs at the dealership? As well as 1.8T spark plugs and the cabin filter... thanks :)

22 and change from my stealership for the OEM air filter


addition: you can find cheaper spark plugs online, i just got 4 BKR6EIX Iridium plugs for 25 bucks with free shipping on amazon they also had one for 3.50 a plug but they only had one

[tchuck]

I've done quite a bit of research on this subject lately... K&N has a "no questions asked" policy about covering damages caused to MAF sensors due to their oil. To date, not a single instance has ever been proven. Not once, ever. They also performed a simulation on their flow bench in which they over oiled the filter by 30% and found that the air flow through a filter is simply not sufficient to pull oil from the element. It's something like 14mph for a big v8.
Anyway, company propaganda aside... I personally use K&N filters in both my A4 (drop in) and my Infiniti FX35 (cone filter), clean and oil them regularly, and have never had a single issue. Not one, ever. I have used them on many other cars as well with the same results. I can't testify to any power increases as I've never done a dyno comparison but I can say that the filtration and build quality of K&N and Apexi filters is significantly superior to any OEM filter I've ever seen. Combine that with the fact that they are washable and I am a customer for life....or until a better filter comes along.
Also, this is my first post so "Hi". I've been lurking here for a while now. Great site.

EDIT: I forgot to mention that the price of the K&N is less than 2 OEM filters.

[TDIaholic]

Here's one test where the K&N and Apexi make an appearance: Clicky Click!

[a4darkness]

There are a number of VW/Audi owners who've had their MAFs destroyed by K&N oil that would likely dispute this claim by K&N's marketing dept. The MAFs in our car's are pretty sensitive... likely more so than the big V8. Obviously some of these instances have been user error, but not all of them.

I've used both oiled and dry filters and while K&N does make a great product their drop in filters do not provide enough performance gains to offset the potential risk to the MAF.

Also, welcome!

I've done quite a bit of research on this subject lately... K&N has a "no questions asked" policy about covering damages caused to MAF sensors due to their oil. To date, not a single instance has ever been proven. Not once, ever. They also performed a simulation on their flow bench in which they over oiled the filter by 30% and found that the air flow through a filter is simply not sufficient to pull oil from the element. It's something like 14mph for a big v8.
Anyway, company propaganda aside... I personally use K&N filters in both my A4 (drop in) and my Infiniti FX35 (cone filter), clean and oil them regularly, and have never had a single issue. Not one, ever. I have used them on many other cars as well with the same results. I can't testify to any power increases as I've never done a dyno comparison but I can say that the filtration and build quality of K&N and Apexi filters is significantly superior to any OEM filter I've ever seen. Combine that with the fact that they are washable and I am a customer for life....or until a better filter comes along.
Also, this is my first post so "Hi". I've been lurking here for a while now. Great site.

EDIT: I forgot to mention that the price of the K&N is less than 2 OEM filters.

[widgget]

been running my K&N filter for 3 years now without any issues. just don't soak it when you clean/re-oil it.
a dry filter seems to be the best solution if you don't mind replacing them, but would go K&N again for my next car since it has done me well.

[Dan[FN]6262]

been running my K&N filter for 3 years now without any issues. just don't soak it when you clean/re-oil it.
a dry filter seems to be the best solution if you don't mind replacing them, but would go K&N again for my next car since it has done me well.

same thing here.


BTW, i have a K&N panel filter for sale, really cheap. PM me if anyone is interested.

[Synthetik]

I didn't want to start a new thread for this, hopefully someone reads it...






I placed an order with ECS over the weekend, and sure enough I saw this thread afterwards. I called, emailed, and called and didn't get a response until it was "too late" and it had shipped. Anyways, my drop-in k&n is on its way, anything I need to do before I install it to avoid the MAF issues? (i.e. try and remove some of the oil?)

[n7plus1]

it comes pre-oiled from k&n...dont worry, its perfectly fine.

[Synthetik]

it comes pre-oiled from k&n...dont worry, its perfectly fine.

Yea I bought one for my Ranger back in the day. But cool, I just wasn't sure if I should try and "dry" some of it up with a paper towel or whatever.

[pkny]

I've done quite a bit of research on this subject lately... K&N has a "no questions asked" policy about covering damages caused to MAF sensors due to their oil. To date, not a single instance has ever been proven. Not once, ever. They also performed a simulation on their flow bench in which they over oiled the filter by 30% and found that the air flow through a filter is simply not sufficient to pull oil from the element. It's something like 14mph for a big v8.
Anyway, company propaganda aside... I personally use K&N filters in both my A4 (drop in) and my Infiniti FX35 (cone filter), clean and oil them regularly, and have never had a single issue. Not one, ever. I have used them on many other cars as well with the same results. I can't testify to any power increases as I've never done a dyno comparison but I can say that the filtration and build quality of K&N and Apexi filters is significantly superior to any OEM filter I've ever seen. Combine that with the fact that they are washable and I am a customer for life....or until a better filter comes along.
Also, this is my first post so "Hi". I've been lurking here for a while now. Great site.

EDIT: I forgot to mention that the price of the K&N is less than 2 OEM filters.

If you stop by the vortex forums you will find numerous people who had problems with their MAF sensor because of over oiling or not letting it dry enough. This also includes me. So their test of an over oiled filter might have worked if they also let it dry for 2 days.
I was doing my winter maintenance on my jetta and decided to follow the instructions on recharging my K&N filter. After about 4 hours of driving my CEL went on. A nice cleaning of my MAF sensor made me a believer that K&N will kill that very expensive MAF sensor.

[Raiketsu]

How often should the K&N filters been cleaned/oiled?

[pkny]

I did it every 10k miles or once a year since i drive mainly in cities and not dirt roads.

[n7plus1]

yea, just check it every once in a while. common sense of how dirty it is should play a role here.

[ADCS]

I use the AFE dry filter on my A4 however I have used K&N filters on previous cars and never had an issue (maf and map sensor setups).

[AudiAdi]

Air filter's first and foremost job is to (obviously) filter the air coming into the engine. No aftermarket style filter (K&N, ITG, etc.) filters better than the OEM style filter. The (very) little performance gain on our car is not worth it IMO.

Here's a good read http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/airfilter/airtest1.htm

[pkny]

Air filter's first and foremost job is to (obviously) filter the air coming into the engine. No aftermarket style filter (K&N, ITG, etc.) filters better than the OEM style filter. The (very) little performance gain on our car is not worth it IMO.

Here's a good read http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/airfilter/airtest1.htm

That is what i thought also, if car companies can push that extra 2-5hp they would for marketing sake. If they found a better filter that would increase mpg they would use it and push the cost on to the consumers.

[LB_NY_B8]

I dont buy into the oil ruining the MAF. I've had kn filters in jeep wranglers, bmw m5's, nissan sentra se-r, hyundai sante fe, ford edge, NO issues. I cant see it being an issue here. I'll just make sure I wipe off excess oil.

[Dirty(30)v]

x2

[EErie B6]

but why risk it for 2-5hp?

[blmlozz]

I'll never use any sort of high performance air filter again. They're fine for race cars where the engines get rebuilt every 10000 miles, but after 3 OCI's and 2 re-oilings with my K&N my silicon count quadrupled, which means that dirt was basically passing through the turbines of the turbos, past the piston seals.. ect. Slowly eating away any everything. There are a few people in here that work on big turbocharged diesel trucks that used K&N's and most will tell you the turbo turbines looked extremely dull after extended use. I use an OEM filter, and the K&N defentally gave a slight extra bit of responsiveness, but I wouldn't say it improved HP in anyway, just throttle response. Isn't it enough evidence that nearly all supercars still use plain old paper filter elements?

[rtmeikle]

I just use stock; I've used K&N filters in previous cars and never noticed any real improvement, so it's not worth the risk to me.

[LB_NY_B8]

Tough call....

[pkny]

i dont understand how some people on these forums can BOLDLY say that K&N filters will not damage the MAF sensor. Many on this forum including I have had problems. A quick stroll to the vortex forum will also show that these filters do in fact throw off the MAF.

the chances of this is not high but it does happen.

[Mani]

I have been using AFE dry filter... I would recommend it to anyone... Do I see any HP improvement? - None...maybe it is too low for one to see it..

[LB_NY_B8]

Ok, I just got off the phone with a tech at K&N. YEA I KNOW he works for the company so he wouldn't put down his product, BUT, as tchuck stated, as well as the tech, there has been 0 instances in over 250 tests on maf's, that oil has EVER caused an MAF failure. He said if there is EVER any issue what so ever, please call and they will take care of it, but I shouldn't be worried. He told me that I was one of many calling about this concern.

Believe what you want, but I'll take my chances with K&N.

[LB_NY_B8]

Biener Audi, the 2nd largest audi dealer in the U.S., just told me (a service tech) that he's has a few instances of people coming in for the MAF issue but never ended up being from filter.