As a proud member of the "stock-intake club", I noodled with the idea of a fancy drop in filter for $50. Before that, tho, I called my dealership and asked them how often they change the intake filter. "Oh, about 50 or 60 thousand miles...." was the answer.

So my oem filter at 21K of suburban driving (non-city, non-desert) should be fine, right...???

Well, here it is on the right, next to its $12 replacement (genuine OEM paper filter).

The massive increase in HP has yet to kick in, but the "happy car" vibe is all there! Maybe it feels like a "bit" more pickup.....

Check and change your filters, even if you are a "stock equipment" luddite who enjoys just a hint of supercharger whine.

 

Are you sure your MINI hasn't been puffing on some cigarettes?

Yep, they do get pretty dirty even in apparently clean atmosphere.

 

I bought my MCS used. After purchasing the car and looking at the service records, I found that the air filter was never replaced. Everything else was maintained according to the maintenance schedule. So I decided to order an air filter for the sake of changing it.

The air filter I pulled out looked very similar to yours (roughly 27k and living its former life in San Francisco). I couldn't help but notice that the original filter element almost seemed like an oiled element, though not quite like aftermarket filters like K&N. It was still a paper element, but kind of oily.

I bought the replacement filter from a MINI dealer. It did not have this oily film on the paper element, and the paper color itself was much lighter in color (much like in the pics of your filters).

Does your old filter look like it's kind of oily? I checked my filter recently (36k now) and while it has some dust on it, it does not have the oily look of the original filter.

 

I replaced mine at 15.5K miles. some oily grit on the bottom side, but not saturated by any means. Agreed, I would change this out of interval. Along with many other maintenance items prior to what BMW says....

 

The original did seem to be oily, and the new one was lighter and more dry (with some sticky lines down the middle).

 

A good filter is designed to work better dirty. I'm not saying clogged, but it's supposed to accumulate dirt. I'd be worried if it was clean.

 

Ok, good to notice others found the same with their filter they pulled out. Mine was oily feeling and just as dirty, I guess it must be road grime, because I have never noticed that in any other car I have owned.

 

You mean it is designed to get dirty, not work better (when) dirty, right?

 

Man, the one on the right looks like it's been on the barbeque...

 

Mine looked as bad as the barbecued one pictured above. One the dirtiest air filters I've ever replaced on any of my cars. I replaced it with an OEM unit from Morristown MINI ($14.45 shipped to my door).

 

Hmmmm...does anyone know if they are spraying a light oil on these when they ship them out? It would make sense if they do, maybe if someone has a maintence manual they can see if that is supposed to be done?

 

The stock filter does not need any oiling by the user. It probably has some oily film on it already.