air filter

**A13ART** · 04-05-2008 10:01 AM

so yea runnning the stock wir box right now and was wondering is the k&n filter worht the extra 50 bucks or should igo with the ganeric ones for like 20

**Smitty2A4** · 04-05-2008 10:03 AM

I have to replace mine soon too and am wondering the same. I know that K&N's are reusable so that may be a factor, but I am also somewhat worried about the over oiling issues. Although I had a FIPK on my old Jeep and never had an issue with it, although I only cleaned it once, but there was never any oil in the tube, but it was also a 95 and did not have a MAF.

**Papachristou** · 04-05-2008 10:03 AM

OEM is fine, if you do K&N make sure you LIGHTLY oil it then let it sit in the sun a few days to thoroughly dry... quite a few people have had MAFs go bad from extra oil from the K&N filter...

MAF=$$$

**AudiA4Turbo22** · 04-05-2008 10:21 AM

i have one with 20k on it that i recently cleaned and oiled sitting around if someone wants it, it did wonders for me! i'll sell it for $30 shipped!

**A4natomical** · 04-05-2008 11:25 AM

yes. get it. the dealer even has a little display in the parts dept.
showing how much more flow is allowed through it over stock.

**05A$SE** · 04-06-2008 08:12 AM

GO GREEN! i work at a parts store and refuse to buy any new k&n product. they have shipped us filters with the rubber not even covering the sides of the filter. K&N has lots of problems with quality control since they out branched. i have yet to see a green filter come in a severly messed up as the k&n's weve gotten.

**doublezero30** · 04-06-2008 09:42 AM

i got one with about 7-8k on it, ill sell it to you for $35 shipped if ya want it. took it out and put on a cone filter/heatshield.

**Capt. Obvious** · 04-06-2008 10:56 AM

I have a new K&N for a B5 for cheap if anyone wants it (I'm an idiot and bought the wrong one...).

**My OOOO My** · 04-06-2008 11:09 AM

Check out my posts from the past.....

K&N filter deal at Amazon.com

How I properly replace & re-oil my K&N filters

**djs** · 04-07-2008 09:13 AM

In my past life I used to design air induction systems for cars. Yes the K&N has slightly better flow characteristics, BUT the losses due to the flow through the filter are so low that you really don't realize much performance improvement. IMO most of the perceived performance is the owner wanting to see improved performance to justify the $50 just spent on an air filter.

Another thing regarding air filters, most people can use the same filter for at least 50k. Filters are designed to hold a lot of dust and fact of the matter is the roads in the US are very clean. Unless you're driving dirt roads on a daily basis, you probably don't need to replace it as often as the dealer suggests. Actually we found that changing the filter that often is worse for dust ingestion for 2 reasons

1) The efficienty at which the filter capturs dust increases as the filter gets dirty. If you constantly change your air filter, it's effieciency is less than optimal.

2) When you open the air box and pull the filter out, dust shakes loose and gets into the airbox. When the car is started back up that dust is sucked into the engine.

You can actually increase the life of the air filter by pulling it out once it's dirty and gently blowing compressed air on it from the clean side. This will blow out a lot of the dust collected by the filter. Couple of comments on this; Do NOT use a high flow rate because you will tear the filter. Also, make sure you are blowing from the clean side (MAFS side of the filter) to the dirty side to dislodge the dust particles, else you'll just be blowing them into the filter. Lastly, do this AWAY from your car so as to not get dust in the air box while it's open.

Hope this helps.