I ordered the part from Pelican Parts, because a suggestion on a post, but it is not like the stock part. It is made out of paper sides, so it does not fit tight on the plastic rails. The stock one has thick plastic sides, so it will fit tight. Now I paid 30 bucks for this cheaply made item. Just a FYI for future buyers.

I called customers service pretty much not existent.

 

There might have been a redesign for your model year and the filter you ordered is for the wrong year.

I ordered a higher quality cabin filter from one of the vendors a while back. It fit tighter than the OEM part.

 

We only stock the "activated carbon" micro filters at work, and there are only two part numbers we use...

64 31 1 496 711 is for R50, R52, R53

64 31 9 127 516 is for R55, R56, R57

 

What exact part did you buy (link?). Was it OEM or aftermarket? This is the OEM filter they sell ($50.25): http://www.pelicanparts.com/cgi-bin/...rt%3A%20FILTER

 

a few points to ponder

1. I'm an early 02 owner and have replaced my cabin filter many times.

2. I have both a GEN1 and a GEN2, the part number for the cabin filter has not changed....

3. Early cabin filters, or maybe I should say OEM cabin filters, have a hard plastic frame. They slide into the system easily.

4. I started ordering from parts sites rather than THE dealer a while back and for a time I got the hard plastic frame type filters.

5. NOW I get the paper only filter with no hard sides.

6. The way the filter slides into the box in the car (GEN1 or GEN2) is a little funky....and WAY TOO EASY TO TRY TO DO WRONG WITH THE NEWER ALL PAPER FILTER ELEMENTS.....

I'm gonna buy OEM next time around just to ensure I get it mounted correctly cuz the BS of the POS paper one vs the slide in' of the OEM just ain't over-riding the price diff'

 

+1 on what partsman said....they are different

 

The early 02-03 MINI's came with the plastic sided filters. Then in 04 the cars came from the factory with the all fabric/paper filter. I worked at the dealer at that time and saw this on several cars. Then when we did replacements we got the all fabric/paper filters. I asked parts about this and they said it was the "new" version of the filter. Then later in 05 I noticed the cars started to come with the plastic sided ones again. So to answer the question here, I believe there is an OEM version of both. I think MINI had a supply problem or did it for cost at one time. But I think it is still offered from MINI either way since MINI shows 4 different Micro filter part numbers. 2 charcoal and 2 non charcoal.
I just use the OEM MINI charcoal filters for all my customer cars. They always fit and the charcoal is better for oders.

 

I got the [SIZE=1]64-31-1-496-711-M347. I called vendor he assured me it is the correct one. I am just going to replace it with the OEM.[/SIZE]

 

http://www.pelicanparts.com/cgi-bin/...oper%20S%20%20

 

Hello all. There seems to be some confusion here on the filters, and I will be sure to document it in my new, upcoming book, "50 Weekend Projects for your MINI Cooper". I don't have my MINI here at home today (it's at work), so I cannot check what filter is inside of it. My MINI is an 03 model just like Keeyu's.

As seen in the link that Keeyu provided you can see that Pelican offers three different brands for this part, the Helsa / Rein brand, the Micronair brand, and the Genuine one from BMW. Both Micronair and Helsa / Rein are OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturers) suppliers who provided parts for the cars as they were assembled on the line in Germany. That may or may not mean that they were an OEM supplier for these filters in particular.
These vendors are also rated four stars (EXCELLENT) by our internal quality ranking system.

As for the paper versus plastic, I have seen this quite a few times in the past when a manufacturer updates a spec for a part, and no one quite knows why. I think I mentioned this too, in the BMW 3-Series book. Certain filters from different manufacturers may look slightly different from each other, but should perform to the original specifications of the part. In some cases, it's a better design. In other cases, it appears to be a redesign that allows the previous part to fit later models as well. It's sometimes difficult to keep track.

If you wish to return this part and/or exchange it for the Genuine BMW one, you are more than welcome to at any time. Pelican guarantees the satisfaction of our customers and if you are ever unhappy with the quality of a part, we will be more than happy to exchange it for you.

Thanks,

Wayne

Wayne R. Dempsey
CEO, Pelican Parts Inc.
Author, "101 Projects for Your BMW 3-Series"
"50 Weekend Projects for Your MINI Cooper" - Coming 2010

 

Now that's what I call service, from the CEO no less!

GotMINI

 

Honestly, I got a paper one to replace mine, I found it easier to install than the plastic framed ones.

 

Although I don't have the old version and the new (paper?) version in front of me, my instinct is that these two probably perform near identically.

-Wayne

Wayne R. Dempsey
CEO, Pelican Parts Inc.
Author, "101 Projects for Your BMW 3-Series"
"50 Weekend Projects for Your MINI Cooper" - Coming 2010

 

I have mentioned this in another thread and nobody seems to notice or accept the fact that there are two different designs of microfilters for two different microfilter housings on the R53. Read that again, there are two different sized housings for the R53, thus two different sized/designed filters. There is subtle size differences between the two styles that you can not without modification fit the more common plastic frame filter, bigger, (oem 64311496710 or oem 64311496711) into the housing designed for the fabric sided filters, smaller, (oem 64316930351 or oem 64316930349). The R53 housing for the fabric sided filters was discontinued at some point, don’t know when cause the factory put it in my September build 06, probably had some left over in a parts bin. So some of the R53’s out there have oranges for a filter housing and most have an apple for the filter housing and mixing the filters for the two doesn’t work out that well.

 

I say good riddance to the plastic edged filter. You must get on your back, put your hand up in the box, and manually push the plastic frame the last quarter inch home for the cover to fit back on. The paper edge filter slides right in, and can be installed while on your knees, just be sure the direction arrow is pointing down. I’ve installed both types in all model years to the end of 2006, no box was different, but some of the plastic frame panel filters were stubborn. I like the Micronair product for installation ease, fits snug, and I think the dash panel vents flow better with it.

 

BMW lists two different filter housings for the R53. My understanding is part number 64116930568 is intended for use of the plastic side filter and part number 64111497544 for the paper side filter. I think some people believe if they can get the filter in and the lid back on it's all good. It sounds like the paper side filter will fit both boxes but will be loose in the 64116930568 box and some air will leak around the edges bypassing the filter. The plastic side filter can be forced into the 64111497544 box but will not actually slide all the way in place and bulge against the lid essentially sealing off the last few inches of filter from doing any filtering and leaving a little gap high up in the box where air will bypass the filter. The plastic filter can be used in this box if the edge on one end can be trimmed so it matches the dimensions of the paper filter in order to slide into a slot high up in the box. There is a 3/16 inch difference in depth and 5/8 inch difference in length between the OEM stock paper side filter and an aftermarket plastic side filter, that 3/16 inch depth matters for the high end to mate and seal in it's slot. Maybe two OEM filters are closer to the same size and then differences between the two boxes would hardly matter, but you would think aftermarket would have their size specs a little closer to OEM then that.

 

For the plastic edge filter, slide in till it stops, reach up to the top with your hand, stick two fingers in the last pleat and push the leading edge home. Try that instead of trimming. The paper side filter fits without gaps.