I just purchased my Mini Cooper S and was wondering if anyone here has installed a K&N Air Filter to replace the stock filter.

The guy at the parts counter of my local dealer told me that he has heard of them damaging the Mass Air Flow Sensor.

Any comments?

 

Ask them to explain themselves. You can work them quickly into a corner, when armed with a little knowledge. The air filter is not even close to either of the two MAP sensors the MCS has, so there can be no alarm for damage to it, unless you hire a bumbling mechanic, then anything is game for being damaged. It'd be like saying, oh, "you'll damage the backseats when you install aftermarket wheels", or "you'll damage the radio if you install a center armrest." Get my drift? Anything could get damaged when working on a car.

 

My 2003 MCS had the K&N Typhoon CAI installed in 2004, has 40K miles on it, and it's been great. It never ceases to amaze me what parts persons say to customers...

 

Actually any filter that you oil (such as K&N) can damage the MAS, but only if you over-oil it when you clean it. It takes very little oil to penetrate the filter so as long as you are careful and follow directions you should have no problem.

 

The biggest challenge is to not over-oil the filter element. And, yes, if you do over-oil the filter element, you run a definite risk of damaging the MAF. There is a big controversy in the Corvette world about that specific item (over-oiling the filter element). In 2003 & 2004, GM offered a CAI accessory around the K&N filter element. Then, when they started getting failed MAFs (from owners and even service techs over-oiling the filter element), they put out a service notice that stated the problem was with over-oiled filter elements and they would not cover the replacement of the MAF. Guess how much of a s**tstorm that caused? (Especially from owners that bought the accessory kit from the Chevy dealer....)

 

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ght=air+filter

There is a foam filter that does not require oiling that is available for Mini's that I saw somewhere on this site. Danged if I can find it though.

 

But isn't that like saying, you can damage anything if you do something wrong? If done right, there will be no damage to any MAP sensors. What the parts guy was saying is that a normal install of the K&N filter will cause them to go bad. Which is very untrue!