[Speedwagon]

Where can I purchase and original oil filter, not wix, fram? Is the dealership the only way to get one besides ordering online here in Denver?

[raceyBMW]

Yes, as far as I know, dealer is it for OEM. You *might* be able to go to the parts stores and pick up a Mann filter, though they never seem to carry them in stock. Try calling Autozone or Advance AP to see if they have them. I believe the Mann filters are OE.

I usually order filter online from AutohausAZ (along with other parts to get free shipping) and get my Mobil1 0W-40 locally.

[IN54NITY]

http://www.amazon.com/Mann-Filter-HU...dp/B001DRHMRI/

oops, that is for N54. You probably have an N52.

Edit: According to Amazon (but I haven't checked this forum or OEMparts) this is the same for the N52.

[IN54NITY]

Story to tell: on my last trip to visit my family in Michigan, which I purposely coincided with a 3 day HPDE at Grattan raceway: I did a big no-no. I changed the oil on my car the day before going to Grattan. I figured, what the hell, the cost would be only in "oil" because my older brother offered me a free oil filter because he had a bunch (he bought a 335i too because I got one, but that's another story) and I brought a lot of oil from Colorado, which was 1100 miles away/ago. ~But~ I ignored the golden rule I learned from bike racing years ago: don't f#$^ with your bike the day before a race. (It was a really bad idea because the oil only had 2000 miles on it anyways and the filter my brother gave me - though made for the N54, was made in China.... know where this story is going now?) Grattan is about 3 hours from my brother's house in Ann Arbor. I have an AIM data logger which connects to the car's canbus and I have the oil temperature prominently displayed on the AIM display. It shows the oil temp (and I have water temp too) to the absolute degree.... After about 45 minutes of highway driving I noticed the oil temperature started rising (about 10-20) degrees which was unusual because temps had already become stable since I was just highway cruising. I thought, no big deal, my windows are down anyways as it was a really nice night: I turned the heater on full temp and full blasted the fan. Watched it carefully but ... hey, looks like problem solved, temperature went back to 220 or so. Suspicious though. Fifteen minutes later driving through Lansing and taking a 270 degree off ramp from one highway to another in, um, a rather spirited fashion, the dash fills up with lots o'lights.... Ends up I dumped 3 quarts (3 qts! ) of oil out a gap in the oil seal - which I had triple checked. The engine compartment was ~covered~ with vaporized oil, and I had a bunch of oil on the left side of the car. It's amazing that the oil level warning didn't go off earlier, ~but it didn't~, nor did it stink, nor did I have any oil on the windshield... Since I was with my brother (who couldn't figure out why this "rain" was smearing a bit on his windshield - I had the radar detector) we get in his car and luckily found an O'Reillys car parts shop still open (it was after 9pm) that had the right oil filter. Go back to my car, put the new oil filter on, pour in 3qts of oil, and drove to the nearest car wash (ya know, internet on the mobile phone is amazing) and utilized 3 cans of engine degreaser... Made the hotel at Grattan that night and a great time with no bad "events" the next 3 days. (3 day event! )

Moral of the story: I am a fan of OEM oil filters. However, I have used this Mann filter (Like Racey commented above, I do think it IS the OEM) and would recommend it.

[raceyBMW]

Holy crap, at least it didn't happen at the track! That could have ended in engine failure.

[AlpineSwift]

I'm using Bosch with Mobil 1 0W-40 and I haven't had any issues. If you buy oil and filter from the dealership you might as well have them do it since the prices pretty much equal each other out at that point.

[16M4]

For $100/sometimes less with a coupon, I always take mine to the dealership

[raceyBMW]

Yeah, not saving a bunch, though I only buy my oil when the have the 5 qts of Mobil 1 oil and filter deals at Advanced AP or Autozone for $30. Then just get another 3 quarts and it comes out to about $50-$60. And I know that I fully drained the pan, whereas I am not sure they wait to do so at any shop.

BTW, they both have deals running right now. Oh, and I would feel comfortable installing a Mobil1 or Bosche filter, just probably not Purolator or the lower brands.

[Speedwagon]

Thanks guys!

[critical05]

I order them from fcpeuro.com. They carry mann and OEM.