Okay, did some searches and can't find the exact answer to my question.

I have a Oct/2003 MINI Cooper that I was going to do an oil change on. Looking at MINI mania they mention the early builds had a different Housing/Cover that had a 'cage' in the center. They sell a 'new' housing that does not have this cage.

My question, can I still use my original housing with the filters sold by vendors (MINI OEM part) or do I have to buy the new housing? I have the version on the left.

 

Your existing housing will work fine. I use the Mann filters with that setup. pour a bit of oil into the filter & get the end well oiled. That will make it easier to push the filter down onto the cage. It's suppossed to be an interference fit. Don't remove the cage!
it's a very quaint setup. Even the 1960's Triumphs I had used spin on filters

 

Thanks for the reply Gordon!

 

This isn't totally relevant to the thread but close enough that I'd feel bad about starting a new one. I took my car to a certain auto center who shall not be named, who also specializes in selling Craftsman tools among other household goods, for an oil change just after I purchased it. I guess I have an early '04 build because my oil filter canister has the cage/spring setup. Well apparently the auto center wasn't aware of the change over in model years because they decided it was a good idea to force a newer filter that already had a built in cage over the existing cage/spring setup (they also put in a synth mix oil instead of a full synth even though I requested full synthetic just for the record). I wasn't aware of the oil filter debacle until I decided to change my own oil this afternoon. When I tried to remove the oil filter filament the fit was so tight that the base of the oil filter filament tore away from the filter and stuck to the bottom of the canister around the plastic cage. I had to use a pair of needle nosed pliers to work the cage out of the canister because the torn away base was so tight you couldn't get anything around the edge to shimmy it up the plastic cage and out of the canister. Long story short I ended up damaging the plastic cage (tore chunks out of it). Its intact enough that it supports the correct filter filament but I don't like the idea of having a damaged part in a critical part of the motor. I found the complete replacement assembly with the metal canister and all associated parts but its $100. Is it possible to order just the plastic cage? Sorry for the long winded post but I needed to vent about the idiocy that is big box auto repair shops