BMW cage lose from filter cap

[Scout1]

This is the car I recently posted a UOA (2013 328i N51 engine) showing some elevated Aluminium and Iron. That analysis also showed some fuel and had a pretty low flash point. I've recently replaced one coil pack and just last week had some additional misfires so I just put in new spark plugs which seems to have solved the misfire issue. I thought I'd do an early oil change now it's running right.

In doing this change, I found something strange with the oil filter. When I unscrewed the oil filter cap, the filter and little plastic cage stayed on the car. Normally, the filter is supposed to come off with the cap as is the plastic cage that holds the filter... Furthermore, the filter itself looked a bit squashed. So I'm wondering if the filter may have not been installed correctly and if it was letting unfiltered oil circulate in the system, hence may have caused the elevated metals in my UOA? Unfortunately, I'm the one who put that filter in a year ago and I don't recall anything unusual at the time...The old filter was a Bosch but it doesn't have any reference numbers I can look up.

I was able to reinsert the plastic cage back into the oil filter cap where it seems to hold on by clipping in with some plastic prongs on the cap, but it is very loose now. Is this a problem and do I need to get a new cap or is this loose cage OK?

 

[RooflessVW]

Buy a new OEM cap - and an OEM filter while you're there.

 

[ZeeOSix]

Crushed inward from too much delta-p. Where's the filter bypass valve on this engine?

 

[WellOiled]

I'm thinking the bypass valve needs maintenance or replacement. I'm not sure what BMW's process is on that.

 

[slo town]

I have a BMW with an N51 engine. I've never had a filter crush like that, not even slightly. Even more importantly, that does not look like the proper filter!!!! I have a brand new Hengst sitting right here on my desk. P/N E61H D215.

Buy a new oil filter cap. If the cage broke off it's damaged and/or broken.

Scott

PS The N51s are hard on plugs. I replaced my OEMs at ~65k miles. They were SHOT. Look for my post on it.

 

[Scout1]

Originally Posted by SLO_Town
I have a BMW with an N51 engine. I've never had a filter crush like that, not even slightly. Even more importantly, that does not look like the proper filter!!!! I have a brand new Hengst sitting right here on my desk. P/N E61H D215.

Buy a new oil filter cap. If the cage broke off it's damaged and/or broken.

Scott

PS The N51s are hard on plugs. I replaced my OEMs at ~65k miles. They were SHOT. Look for my post on it.


Yeah, I'm a bit worried on that filter. It seems to be the correct height, at least compared to some Napa Gold filters I bought for the car but it bugs me I can't see the Bosch filter number on it. Maybe it's a fake!

Good to know about the N51 being hard on plugs. We only have 41k miles on this one but the plugs looked pretty poor when I removed them. The gaps were a bit wide and some carbon buildup. Sure runs well with the new plugs though!

 

[Scout1]

By the way, I put in a Mann filter and I know it isn't crushed since I removed it twice to look and make sure it was installed correctly this time. I also did a careful inspection for any loose plastic parts that may have broken off the cage clips to the cap. Didn't see any but a little worried something may have fallen down in the housing.

 

[jeepman3071]

Always use a MANN filter with BMWs, your filter cap is fine. MANN is the OE for BMW, so if you buy a BMW filter from the dealer it will look exactly like the MANN. Many aftermarket filters do not seem to be the correct height, and end up crushing like your pic. I've seen it with Bosch, Fram, STP, K&N, etc on BMWs I've serviced. I've never had a MANN filter crush, and it is what I use on my own BMW (also an N51). You can find the MANN HU816X the cheapest on Amazon.

 

[Scout1]

Originally Posted by jeepman3071
Always use a MANN filter with BMWs, your filter cap is fine. MANN is the OE for BMW, so if you buy a BMW filter from the dealer it will look exactly like the MANN. Many aftermarket filters do not seem to be the correct height, and end up crushing like your pic. I've seen it with Bosch, Fram, STP, K&N, etc on BMWs I've serviced. I've never had a MANN filter crush, and it is what I use on my own BMW (also an N51). You can find the MANN HU816X the cheapest on Amazon.

I wish I had a Mann to compare to these Napa Gold filters I stocked up on, I have 3 of them. Seems to be pretty similar to the crushed one but hard to tell how tall that Bosh was originally! Think these Napa Golds will fit OK? And when you say my filter cap is OK, you mean it's OK for the cage to rattle loosely around on the cap?

 

[RooflessVW]

Originally Posted by jeepman3071
Always use a MANN filter with BMWs, your filter cap is fine. MANN is the OE for BMW, so if you buy a BMW filter from the dealer it will look exactly like the MANN. Many aftermarket filters do not seem to be the correct height, and end up crushing like your pic. I've seen it with Bosch, Fram, STP, K&N, etc on BMWs I've serviced. I've never had a MANN filter crush, and it is what I use on my own BMW (also an N51). You can find the MANN HU816X the cheapest on Amazon.

Mann is not always OEM for BMW.

Mann, Mahle, or Hengst would all do well.

 

[drtyler]

The Wix/Napa Gold filters for this application are a little taller than the Mann or Mahle for these cars. I bought two a while back to use with mine. Both were taller, but one less so. I used the shorter one and it did have some crush at the next oil change.

You will probably have the same crush issue with them as the Bosch filter.

The Mann, Mahle, or Hengst filters really are the way to go here.

 

[jeepman3071]

Originally Posted by Scout1
Originally Posted by jeepman3071
Always use a MANN filter with BMWs, your filter cap is fine. MANN is the OE for BMW, so if you buy a BMW filter from the dealer it will look exactly like the MANN. Many aftermarket filters do not seem to be the correct height, and end up crushing like your pic. I've seen it with Bosch, Fram, STP, K&N, etc on BMWs I've serviced. I've never had a MANN filter crush, and it is what I use on my own BMW (also an N51). You can find the MANN HU816X the cheapest on Amazon.

I wish I had a Mann to compare to these Napa Gold filters I stocked up on, I have 3 of them. Seems to be pretty similar to the crushed one but hard to tell how tall that Bosh was originally! Think these Napa Golds will fit OK? And when you say my filter cap is OK, you mean it's OK for the cage to rattle loosely around on the cap?



The filter cage is not snug in the cap, it does wiggle back and forth a bit.

 

[jeepman3071]

Originally Posted by rooflessVW
Originally Posted by jeepman3071
Always use a MANN filter with BMWs, your filter cap is fine. MANN is the OE for BMW, so if you buy a BMW filter from the dealer it will look exactly like the MANN. Many aftermarket filters do not seem to be the correct height, and end up crushing like your pic. I've seen it with Bosch, Fram, STP, K&N, etc on BMWs I've serviced. I've never had a MANN filter crush, and it is what I use on my own BMW (also an N51). You can find the MANN HU816X the cheapest on Amazon.

Mann is not always OEM for BMW.

Mann, Mahle, or Hengst would all do well.


Probably not for all models/part numbers, but for the N52/N51/N54/N55 the BMW OEM filters I've seen have been Mann.

 

[aba4430]

To the OP - when replacing the filter, make sure you are snapping the filter to the cage assembly attached to the cap, and not placing the filter in the filter housing and then installing the cap/cage by screwing it into the housing. Please ignore if you are installing correctly. The NAPA gold picture in a post looks similar to a Mahle - is it Made in Austria?

 

[drtyler]

Those Napa Golds are made in China.

Originally Posted by aba4430
To the OP - when replacing the filter, make sure you are snapping the filter to the cage assembly attached to the cap, and not placing the filter in the filter housing and then installing the cap/cage by screwing it into the housing. Please ignore if you are installing correctly. The NAPA gold picture in a post looks similar to a Mahle - is it Made in Austria?

 

[Scout1]

Originally Posted by aba4430
To the OP - when replacing the filter, make sure you are snapping the filter to the cage assembly attached to the cap, and not placing the filter in the filter housing and then installing the cap/cage by screwing it into the housing. Please ignore if you are installing correctly. The NAPA gold picture in a post looks similar to a Mahle - is it Made in Austria?

Yep, made in China for the Napa's as well as that Bosch I took out. As for snapping it into the top I really don't remember how I did it a year ago... could be the problem. It really looked funny to me to have the filter and basket stay on the car though when I removed the cap. Figured something was wrong.

 

[Triple_Se7en]

I never encountered this before here at BITOG. Bizarre!

 

[Scout1]

I went ahead and bought a new OEM filter cap at my local BMW dealer. They were willing to get close to on-line prices so happy about that. The plastic cage on the new one does move around a bit but is quite a bit tighter than the cage on my old cap. And the old cage had some up-and-down play that wasn't in the new filter cap. So I changed it.

I also bought a new Mann filter and compared the height to my Napa Gold filters and they are exactly the same! The Bosch filter that was crushed is a little shorter than either the Mann or the Napa so my conclusion is I just installed it wrong and somehow crushed it down. Maybe it hung up on the cage and never fully seated in the cap. And the crush drove the bottom in so hard it unscrewed the cage from the cap when I tried to remove it. Never know for sure but it's OK now I think...