E90s throw the check engine light if they dont have the fleece on the outside haha. The worst are the Polish made ones, they have the orange gasket and paper so it looks OE, but half the pleats and half the thickness.
It has nothing to do with the Purolator being "just fine", it is that the Chinese-sourced purolator was warped, didn't fit properly, didn't SEAL properly, the surround was coming apart and would be MORE expensive to purchase from Canadian Tire or a jobber than the Austrian-sourced BMW filter which was better constructed in every possible way.
BTW, I have to ask, where the heck does a comment like this come from?
It could be a Corolla, Focus....etc it could be any bloody car, I just posted what it was out of.
But because it's a BMW, I get some off-colour comment like this one? WHY?
The filter, Purolator or not, was a Chinese-sourced POS. The OEM filter was FAR better quality. I don't care if it's for a bloody lawn tractor, that wasn't the point! It was simply a comparison between an obviously superior OEM filter and a poorly made aftermarket "equivalent".
Filters are really a toss up from what I've seen.
I got a Purolator cabin air filter for my Mercedes really cheap (would always go OEM for Air Filter).
I got excited when I saw it had Mann written on it.
Then I compared it to the OEM filter inside the car and it had half the pleats. It was nowhere near as good.
But good thing I checked because they hadn't done a good job of fitting in the OEM filter. It had just been stuffed in there and bent in places.
That filter with the foam is a Mahle (original installment and made in Austria). The Mann filter (now sourced from Mexico) will have a white pre-filter that looks like a piece of scotch-brite pad. They're both good quality but I specify the Mahle for the air and the Mann for the oil. I use Mahle fuel filters and Mann cabin air filters since that's what came in my car from the factory.
The air filters are only $13 so it's not a life-changing expenditure to get the OEM stuff.