What PANEL Air Filter to Use?

[TURBS]

Quote: Originally Posted by j1auto (original)

A dirty filter means its doing its job.

If I had a clean filter at the time of replacement, I would be very worried - this means all the **** has gone into the engine!!!

Paper filters are about 99.8% efficient - 0.2% of all dirt gets into the engine.
Cotton filters are between 92-97% efficient.
Foam filters are between 30-70% efficient - thats a lot of dirt getting into the engine - who knows what its doing?

Read what i just said. The dirt is on the intake side......... as in after the filter not on it or before it. Im not an idiot. I am telling you any time i have changed a paper filter over there has been dirt after the air filter which means its in my engine. When i had my pipercross there was nothing what so ever. K&N style filter are terrible for filtration but great for breathability. how is a K&N better at filtering than a Pipercross that has 3 different sections to trap dirt as apposed to one tiny layer of metal and cotton?

[j1auto]

Sorry TURBS, somethimes I just read too quick!

Not sure why you see dirt on the cleanside on a cotton filter and not a Foam. I'm only quoting form test data I've conducted over the years. Foam filters are less efficieny - which means they let more dirt (and air) into the engine. Oil impregnated cotton has a much better efficiency, but are slightly more restrictive than the foam filters.

My point was: if you want good performance and are prepared to take the risk of excessive engine wear, then go with Foam. If you want to play it safe, stick with the paper, if you want a good compromise, then cotton is your answer.

[TURBS]

Maybe but i have always learned that leading brands of foam filter such as pipercross etc are far more efficiant in filtering dirt and breathing due to the maze of holes the dirt would have to get through to reach clean side. Oiled foam cant be worse than a cotton gauze. Check out this thread Internet BMW Riders - Air Filter FAQ/Info.
I actually got told by a guy from K&N once (off the record) that they dont filtrate as good but do breath alot better.

This is from a 4X4 forum:
"On a dirt modified keeping dirt/dust out of your motor is extemely hard. We run o ringed sure seal housings greased top and bottom halves to absolutely let no dust bypasss the element. surrounded by an outerwear for added protection. I also put a rubber washer underneath a regular washer to seal under the wing nut then seal everything off by duct tape. I would say this is going to the extreme. After starting out using K&N filters you can pull the air cleaner off and there is dust residue coating the air horns and all over the 4 corner idle circuits. due to dust & dirt I switched through After shortening the ring life of 2 motors different paper elements. There is nothing that beats a WIX filter. While it may be true a K&N will flow more air, they do not do there job."

[j1auto]

Well there's only thing to do. My filters should be ready in a week or so's time (oil sprayed 4 ply cotton media), I'll purchase an ITG (Foam) filter, and any other filter I can find for the R53 JCW air box (I think I have a GTT one somewhere!) and I'll do a back to back flow test on our flow rig. I'll evaluate flow - in terms of restriction, Efficiency - in terms of percentage dust capture, and Dust Holding Capacity - thats how much dust it holds before the sytem restriction increases to 2kPa - and I'll issue the results. They will all be flowed at the maximum engine flow rate (560 Kg/hr) and to the ISO 5011 test procedure. Any suggestions on other filter manufacturer's - let me know.

[TURBS]

Cool. That would be a good idea. At-least that way it will show the best one. That way we can get it right the first time. I cant think of any others apart from Pipercross.