BMW Mahle air filters....OE BMW/Mahle made in Austria, aftermarket Mahle made in China

[f355spider]

I noticed the air filters for the BMW N63TU2 engine are made by Mahle for BMW. When purchasing the BMW boxed ones, they are made in Austria.
https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/bmw-air-filter-genuine-bmw-13718613251
When they come in the Mahle box, they are made in China.
https://www.autohausaz.com/pn/MH-13718613250

Has anyone tested or seen a quality or performance difference?
Marketing ad about one of their dozens of Chinese production facilities.

I'll probably continue to get the ones in the BMW box for now.

 

[wings&wheels]

Haven't seen Mahle China COO air filters yet. China COO Mahle oil filters have been available for a few years also in parallel w/ COO Austria. I'm sure that they are fine, quality is company dependent more so than geo; invest in QC and pay for a decent product and that is what you will get. A but distasteful I agree, but fine filters. I'm running my first China COO et on the 993 and I will cut and paste them soon as well as compare to the European COO ones.

 

[The Critic]

Waiting for someone to chime in and say "that's impossible, Mahle resells the OE part under their box for less money"

 

[Thebigm]

I noticed the air filters for the BMW N63TU2 engine are made by Mahle for BMW. When purchasing the BMW boxed ones, they are made in Austria.
https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/bmw-air-filter-genuine-bmw-13718613251
When they come in the Mahle box, they are made in China.
https://www.autohausaz.com/pn/MH-13718613250

Has anyone tested or seen a quality or performance difference?
Marketing ad about one of their dozens of Chinese production facilities.

I'll probably continue to get the ones in the BMW box for now.

I purchased one from RockAuto for my 2002 Camry; it was made in Bulgaria

 

[f355spider]

Waiting for someone to chime in and say "that's impossible, Mahle resells the OE part under their box for less money"

They used to, on the FCP Euro website, they still have pictures of the Mahle with "Made in Austria" but the item listing description says "Made in China". https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/bmw-air-filter-mahle-behr-13718613250

The change in listing description appeared about a year ago, they have not updated the photos.

The oil filter for the N63 from Mahle is identical, other than the box and the BMW one having "BMW" stamped, along with "Mahle" on the end cap. But strangely, the BMW version is $18, and the Mahle aftermarket sells for $21 to $24 online.

 

[chris719]

This is not the only example of this I have seen. BMW N55 Bosch spark plugs were made in Germany only with the BMW part number and made in Russia with the Bosch generic part number. The finish was terrible on the Russian plugs. I think this ended with the war at least.

 

[BMW Dom]

I'd have no issues running the Mahle made in China

 

[Vern_in_IL]

Probably some law somewhere saying you got to have xx percent of the vehicle made in the EU.... like you got to have so much percentage to say your car is made in the USA. Sourcing air filter from more EU friendly places might be required.

 

[jcy]

I purchased one from RockAuto for my 2002 Camry; it was made in Bulgaria

same for me too, made in bulgaria.
'17 540ix but purchased from fcpeuro

 

[MrJayhawk]

They used to, on the FCP Euro website, they still have pictures of the Mahle with "Made in Austria" but the item listing description says "Made in China". https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/bmw-air-filter-mahle-behr-13718613250

The change in listing description appeared about a year ago, they have not updated the photos.

The oil filter for the N63 from Mahle is identical, other than the box and the BMW one having "BMW" stamped, along with "Mahle" on the end cap. But strangely, the BMW version is $18, and the Mahle aftermarket sells for $21 to $24 online.

My last 3 Mann oil filters I have bought from FCP for my N55, 2 were from Germany and 1 from Mexico. I also recently replaced a Bosch plug for OPE that had been running kinda rough. Stamp showed Russia.

 

[Spedestrian]

My mahle air filter for my b58 is made in france. The oil filter box says made in Germany but oil filter is ufi made in Tunisia.

 

[KevinMalone]

That's a shame, but at least it is priced accordingly. I don't think I would be concerned about COO if it's Mahle

The Mahle LX1035 filter for my N52's eurobox was made in Austria until 2021, where production was moved to China.