There is a good chance the elements are outsourced. My mom has a Honda Legend with one of those kind of filters ,any brand purchased looked as it came from the same mfg.
Fram filter inserts for BMW-Any good?
- Thread starter Steve S
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You should try and see if it has a country of origin printed on it. It may be the same thing.
The Fram PH 9018 looks as good as the Purolator L 15436's I am using. Last I looked, it was made in Thailand and cost twice as much at Wally's. I can think of no reason to buy the orange box when you can have an ST 9018 there for less. They come with a new O-ring on the bottom, and my Ecotec doesn't have any washers to fuss with.
I don't know if this is the same part as BMW uses. I have seen pictures of a Saab filter that looked the same.
I don't know if this is the same part as BMW uses. I have seen pictures of a Saab filter that looked the same.
In the past, Fram medias were known to occasionally perforate where they meet the center tubes holes. This could potentially apply to ANY Fram filter, including insert filters. A Fram insert I once bought years ago for my '94 325 came with the wrong size O-ring, causing an oil leak and mess under the hood after discharging a quart of oil at higher RPMs. For inexpensive, locally found options, I'd go with Purolator, STP, or Napa Gold instead. The German brands, not readily found at local parts stores, are certainly your best choices, but the three prior brands mentioned should certainly suffice if you prefer the option of local parts stores.
Russell:
A colleague recently bought a '99 528 and used a FRAM cartridge filter when he did his first oil change on it...that filter looked a heckuva lot nicer than the ones that come in the orange canisters...the pleats were nice and even (and there were a lot of them), and the end caps were of some black plasticky-looking stuff, not cardboard...if I hadn't seen it come out of the box, I would've sworn it was too good to be a FRAM...
A colleague recently bought a '99 528 and used a FRAM cartridge filter when he did his first oil change on it...that filter looked a heckuva lot nicer than the ones that come in the orange canisters...the pleats were nice and even (and there were a lot of them), and the end caps were of some black plasticky-looking stuff, not cardboard...if I hadn't seen it come out of the box, I would've sworn it was too good to be a FRAM...
Everyone thanks a lot. It looks like I have several local options, including the dealer as their filters and less than $8 with the BMWCCA discount. Advance, Autozone and Napa are the most accesable local retail outlets for me. Of Course bulk mail order is by far the cheapest.
Everyone seems to bash Fram oil filters in the metal cannister. However are the fram filter inserts (no canister) any good? They physically look a lot like the Mann or Mahle. Is the filtering media subpar? also, the bypass valve is in the engine not the filter. I am maing sppeking about oil filters for the BMW 6 cylinder engines from about 1993 on. Mine is the 95 525i with the M50TU engine.
TIA
TIA
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