Here's a picture of the air filter from the used MINI I just bought that, according to the dealership's records, was up on all its maintenance. Note that all pictures I tried to take didn't truly capture the condition this filter was in but this one displays a taste of it.



I have never seen a more disgusting air filter in my life. This picture is even after I cleaned it of by hand and shook out ~ 1/3 to 1/2 cup of sand (no exaggeration). Needless to say, I noticed an immediate improvement in performance in the MINI after the filter was replaced.

 

Mine had been maintained 'by the book' but looked worse than that when I thought to inspect it.

 

yea, you will find that the "by the book" maint schedule for changing air filters is excessive. its fine if you live in a relatively dust free environment, but more frequent changing is required otherwise. those paper filters are hackers though, they can handle quite a bit of debris and keep clean air flowing, with minimum pressure drop (relatively speaking).

that being said, if i were in your shoes, i would go out and buy a can of air intake and throttle body cleaner (do NOT use carburator cleaner, it will harm the throttle body seals) and spray the hell out of your throttle body and intake piping downstream of the filter. you will be amazed the difference you will see after you do this. i do this type of cleaning every 20K miles, and i bet it has never been done to your car...

just some friendly advice...

 

I worked for a dealership here in phoenix that used to charge people $850. for a used car "prep fee" telling them it was for them to give a 101 point inspection. That Included changing all the belts and hoses, all fluids. and anything else that was needed, Including tune up.To my surprise (not really) all they did was detail the engine bay with lots of armoral and call that the inspection.
You could see the belts were old and the air filters were never changed

 

My dealer (Keeler) replaced the air filter at service I free 'per owners request' - I had to ask but they did it gladly.

 

I don't have enough miles or the type of driving to be concerned for my Mini S, but what's the factory recommended interval for changing that air filter? I guess I better look at my manual. It's been on my mind, but I haven't moved on it.

 

Actually, the filter still works even though it looks pretty disgusting. When I changed mine the first time, the dirty side was almost black, but the clean side still looked almost new.

I changed to a K&N panel filter because you can clean it yourself and the filter lasts forever. Also, they work better while they're dirty.

If you get a deal, a K&N panel not a whole lot more expensive than a new MINI OEM filter.

BTW...I recently changed out my K&N for a Cold Air Intake.....

 

I actually bought a K&N drop-in but after doing more research about the oil filters I decided to just get paper filter from the dealer. (If anyone wants a good deal on a new unopened K&N let me know)

 

I was doing a partial 60k service on an 03 Cooper. Pulled out the air filter to find 3/4" of sand in the bottom of the box. (No kidding. Is there some national beach walk every year, or what?) I'm pretty sure using the shop vac that much counted as abuse, but cleaning and a new filter had that Cooper squared away.

 

wow! i hope none of that got passed the airfilter

 

I installed 4 CAI on the 23rd at Madness and 3 of the 4 MCS's had aweful looking filters :-( ppl need to check them more often!

 

I bought my MCS last summer with 41,000 miles. It was Mini CERTIFIED, with a warranty to 100k, their 150 point inspection, blah, blah, blah. When I checked the air filter a few days after having the car, I couldn't believe how much dirt was caked on it. I asked the service manager how the car could have been "inspected and certified" if they don't even check the air filter. His response was that it wasn't due for inspection until 45,000 miles were reached. LMFAO

 

RULE #1
No air... No go.

Inspect and clean your air filter 2 to 3 times per year.
Expect the worse.
Have a new spare filter for track days or High Performance driving events
Replace the air filter once yearly or about 15,000 miles or sooner if needed.

I have an alta filter that is foam and clean it (and reoil it) about every 6 months at least.

 

What's kind of rediculous is how "hands off" the dealerships are. I know they're going by factory maintenance schedules, but they recommend the plugs be done at 100k, no transmission services, no air filters, etc.

Oh, and the oil changes at 10k. And don't change the antifreeze for five years, 'cause that's how long it lasts. Never mind the acidity chomping through all the plastic components in the cooling system. Or the fact that DexCool is in a class-action lawsuit.

/end rant. But seriously, I keep my car better than that. I know the value of routine maintenance, and new cars aren't any different than the classic stuff.

 

The car was choking (14"Hg intake manifold vacuum at idle!), but after the air filter was done it was fine.

 

My K&N panel filter was probably one of the dirtier looking ones, but when I got it home, I cleaned it (using the K&N filter cleaning kit) and it really didn't take much to clean it all out. So it I think it looked dirtier than it really was. I think I'll keep it as a spare in case I need to revert back (I'll remember to duct tape the cowl mod if I do go back to a panel).