vs
Oil filter OEM BMW or K&N
Oil changes every 7-7.5k miles MAX with the correct oil and a good quality oil filter.
Pros: good quality
Vehicle:
BMW
Personally I like K&N filters, they come with a nut welded to them so you can use a normal wrench instead of a filter wrench. Gotta be careful not to over tighten them though
Pros: nut welded to them
Cons: careful not over tighten
Vehicle:
Subaru
I have a kn 1 on my truck and winter is about every 1k miles I empty it. Its the 6oz canister and usually about half full. From may till like October I dont even have to look in it because it doesnt get more than an oz of oil build up in it. But man winter time with the condensation sucks.
Pros: little oil build up
Cons: condensation sucks
Mileage: 1000 km
Garage was 100% right in changing the filter, if they don't, your just putting old shit in new oil.
Pros: garage was right
Cons: putting old shit
Vehicle:
BMW
Always use BMW genuine oil or Liqui Moly, along with BMW OEM M oil filters, which are made in Austria and feature an ultra-fine mesh for superior filtering.
Pros: superior filtering
That won’t happen if you were using a K&N oil filter. All these cheap brand filters are not sturdy and will collapse when you’re trying to take them off when stuck… either The Black K&N select filter or the white Premium filter will avoid this problem from happening…
Pros: sturdy, avoids collapsing
Cons: cheap filters collapse
K&N is good but sacrifices filtration for flow for better performance.
Pros: good performance, better flow
Cons: sacrifices filtration
Vehicle:
Acura TLX
Not sure about mobil1 filters, but stay away from K&N oil filters. I've just used one for an oil flush after extensive maintenance work, and after just 100 km it had collapsed.
Cons: collapsed after 100km
Mileage: 100 km
Something is wrong with this model. I hate dealership workshops because you get gouged.
K&N filters are some of the worst quality filters on the market.
Cons: worst quality
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Which oil filter to choose — OEM BMW or K&N?
If choosing oil filter across many manufacturers, check the part ranking. If your choice is down to two brands, the PartReview part comparisons help.
We compare oil filter across these categories:
- PR Score.
- Overall ranking.
- Vote balance.
- Average rating.
- Number of reviews.
- Feature ratings.
- Car owners’ choice.
Which oil filter are better — K&N or OEM BMW?
In March 2026 on PartReview, oil filter K&N were overall better than OEM BMW.
- OEM BMW received a PR Score of 66 out of 100, and K&N scored 70 points.
- OEM BMW ranked 21 in the overall ranking, and K&N ranked 9.
- The average rating is higher for K&N (3.6) than for OEM BMW (3.5).
-
Oil filter K&N have better feature ratings than OEM BMW:
- Warning light - owners believe, that this property for K&N is better than OEM BMW.
- Leaks - drivers claim, that this property for K&N is outperforms OEM BMW.
- Smell/smoke - reviews suggest, that this property for K&N is preferred to OEM BMW.
Which oil filter are more popular — OEM BMW or K&N?
In March 2026 on PartReview, oil filter K&N were overall more popular than OEM BMW.
By vote balance, oil filter K&N surpassed OEM BMW:
- For OEM BMW, the ratio of positive (24) to negative (12) votes is 12 votes.
- For K&N, the ratio of positive (214) to negative (91) votes is 123 votes.
By number of reviews, oil filter K&N surpassed OEM BMW:
- For oil filter OEM BMW there are 12 reviews: 8 positive, 0 neutral, 4 negative.
- For oil filter K&N there are 99 reviews: 66 positive, 8 neutral, 25 negative.
Which oil filter do car owners prefer — OEM BMW or K&N?
In March 2026, according to PartReview, oil filter OEM BMW and K&N have not taken top places in car-specific ratings. You can help by adding your review about these manufacturers.
Other comparisons of oil filter
If this comparison didn’t fully answer your question, there are many others on PartReview.
For example, comparisons of oil filter OEM BMW with: Fram, Mann, Wix, Mobil, Bosch, OEM Toyota, Motorcraft, OEM Volkswagen, OEM Honda, AMSOIL.
Also available: comparisons of oil filter K&N with: Fram, Mann, Wix, Mobil, Bosch, OEM Toyota, Motorcraft, OEM Volkswagen, OEM Honda, AMSOIL.
You can also see who is better among other oil filter manufacturers: Fram or Mann, Fram or Wix, Fram or Mobil, Fram or K&N, Mann or Wix.