K&P Engineering High Performance Stainless Steel Micronic Oil Filter

[ShocknAwe]

i have never had a issue with the cap oring.Tip,always lube the cap oring,change oring every oil change,clean the the old residue,turn slowly.i have been married to mine since day 1(2008).But that BCool oil cap does look cool,like the vents

Same here, lube the new rings properly and go slow installing the cap and it shouldn't ever leak.

Also, supposedly the #1 culprit for OFHG leaks is folks overtorquing their cap. So don't over-do it guys. Tight is good enough.

 

[fmorelli]

How does one over torque a thread that big?! It locks up pretty obviously when the cap seats. I've never had an issue with a BMW oil filter cap, or the o-ring, and I've never seen a crushed filter - probably owned 20 BMWs. Is that a turbo/N54 BMW issue?

Filippo

 

[NoQuarter]

I'm the first to lecture guys on how the oring seals the cap so no tourqing is necessary.

But I have had this happen a couple times times on my 5 series and on a 3 series.

The oring comes out looking flattened and hard and a new oring takes care of it.

 

[CaStylin]

Adding my 2 cents

I bought one from the ESC website a couple months backs after I keep on seeing post of people pulling out crushed filters out of their N54. If this prevents this issue with no other benefits while maintaining OE level function then IMO it is 200% worth it. Cleaning it obviously isn't as easy as pulling and throwing the old filter away but it not that hard

 

[Rob09msport]

With short change intervals I would think filtering isn't as important especially if the engine is healthy also if flow rate increases the oil is being cleaned moire often maybe less per pass bit hopefully close to same because of more passes.

 

[Torgus]

With short change intervals I would think filtering isn't as important especially if the engine is healthy also if flow rate increases the oil is being cleaned moire often maybe less per pass bit hopefully close to same because of more passes.

I agree, with low mileage change intervals I think the filter really does not matter that much. On 10k intervals it is alot more important. Oil is cheap, if you change at 3-4k who cares? I'm not saying cheap out and use a fram filter, but an OEM filter with decent oil at low oil change intervals should be just fine. If there is data to prove me wrong I would love to see it.

As for the break point of this paying for itself after 4 years...that is a long time People don't seem to keep N54s that long. Something Something maintenance something something turbos.

 

[Jeffman]

If the pressure differential across the stainless steel filter is substantially lower than the paper filter then oil flow should be faster and oil cooling improved, especially with the B-Cool finned billet oil cap. That’s worth $99 right there folks.

 

[Torgus]

If the pressure differential across the stainless steel filter is substantially lower than the paper filter then oil flow should be faster and oil cooling improved, especially with the B-Cool finned billet oil cap. That’s worth $99 right there folks.

Eh you really think it would matter at all? if you are worried about oil cooling this is the last place I would look...

Any science to back up your claim? Like on another platform where it made a proven difference?

I'm a bit skeptical of your conclusions assuming the 'pressure differential' is anything more than marginal.

Just for the record finned oil caps are like stickers, you may think you are gaining something when really it is all in your head.

 

[Rob09msport]

Yes now I can put dry ice on my oil cap at track

 

[Rob09msport]

Seriously though it's not gonna hurt anything as long as built well and doesn't fall apart and could help so if someone wants to buy why not

 

[fmorelli]

Any science to back up your claim? Like on another platform where it made a proven difference?

I agree, though it's not even science; more like engineering. So here's what K&P says:

"We have run static pressure tests between our filters and paper filters for an identical application. For the same sized filters, our stainless steel micronic filter consistently flowed over 7 times more oil for the same time period than did the paper filter (tests were run at 68 degree ambient temperature). How does this affect what is going on inside your engine? We installed pressure gauges on each side of the filter element on a pro stock drag race engine so we could measure differential pressures (the difference in pressure between the input side of the filter element and the output side of the element). During a full pass down the strip the differential pressure of the stock paper filter measured 20psi difference. Our filter measured less than 1psi difference. Less differential pressure means less chance of bypass operation, faster oil pressure at start up, less drag on the oil pump (potential horsepower gains) and higher flow through the engine, often helping to cool the oil and keep the crankcase cleaner."

So this is on a pro stock drag race engine. I'm not an engine builder so I can't speak to how applicable this information would be to a turbo BMW. I'm sure someone here could at least intelligently speculate. Second, while intuitive that inhibiting oil flow isn't helpful to lubrication and cooling, what's the actual effect of a 20psi delta (practically eliminating filter back pressure)?

Filippo

 

[Jeffman]

Engineering Science
Engineering heat and mass transfer 101

One can follow the equations found here, for example. https://ocw.mit.edu/courses/aeronau...l-energy-fall-2002/lecture-notes/10_part3.pdf

After spending a semester delving into such equations, solving numerous topics and problems on heat and mass transfer, engineering students become quite facile with the general principles of the science of heat and mass transfer. Two examples come to mind:

1. Fluid flows faster in a pipe or through filter media with fewer restrictions giving rise to lowering the pressure differential.

2. Convective heat transfer increases with higher fluid velocity adjacent to a metal surface, where there is a temperature differential between the metal and the fluid.

So the engineering science is well established that there should be some improvement in oil cooling using a finned oil filter cap and a faster-flowing filter. However I’m not aware of any test results in the N54. This would be an interesting area for future work.

 

[ShocknAwe]

if it can be shown that a finned cap and this filter drops oil temps and helps keep them in check under load, then this will be a winner.

how much does this thing weigh compared to a paper filter?

 

[Rob09msport]

I agree, though it's not even science; more like engineering. So here's what K&P says:

"We have run static pressure tests between our filters and paper filters for an identical application. For the same sized filters, our stainless steel micronic filter consistently flowed over 7 times more oil for the same time period than did the paper filter (tests were run at 68 degree ambient temperature). How does this affect what is going on inside your engine? We installed pressure gauges on each side of the filter element on a pro stock drag race engine so we could measure differential pressures (the difference in pressure between the input side of the filter element and the output side of the element). During a full pass down the strip the differential pressure of the stock paper filter measured 20psi difference. Our filter measured less than 1psi difference. Less differential pressure means less chance of bypass operation, faster oil pressure at start up, less drag on the oil pump (potential horsepower gains) and higher flow through the engine, often helping to cool the oil and keep the crankcase cleaner."

So this is on a pro stock drag race engine. I'm not an engine builder so I can't speak to how applicable this information would be to a turbo BMW. I'm sure someone here could at least intelligently speculate. Second, while intuitive that inhibiting oil flow isn't helpful to lubrication and cooling, what's the actual effect of a 20psi delta (practically eliminating filter back pressure)?

Filippo

Obviously that shows better flow and like jeffman said increasing velocity increases transfer cause it's equivalent to more surface area but top fuel runs insane oil pumps your talking at thousands of hp out of an engine that gets a full teardown after one pass

 

[fmorelli]

Engineering Science
Engineering heat and mass transfer 101

Yup ...

Sorry if I'm going to stick to high school level logic, because math equations and theory is not what I'm trying to get at. Where is THE DATA? So above I pointed out what K&P has on their web site. They measure a pressure drop of 20psi to 1psi on a drag motor - one fact. Good start. May I provide their next paragraph? K&P says the following:

"Less differential pressure means less chance of bypass operation, faster oil pressure at start up, less drag on the oil pump (potential horsepower gains) and higher flow through the engine, often helping to cool the oil and keep the crankcase cleaner.
Another thing that can affect the paper filter flow is moisture. Not everyone is aware that engines get condensation in them. When paper gets wet it swells and may pass even less oil."

Measurements to the above claims should be standard fare. Take one simple example in their statement: they make a claim for "potential horsepower increases." How difficult is horsepower difference to measure with two different products that easily install? Since easy to measure, isn't it odd that THE DATA is not present with the claim?

This can be an example of when engineers confuse math and the english language. Let me put it this way - the above quote is a formula with no input set or solution set. Actually better yet - it's science: a set of hypothesis with no tests to bear them out. "It's better" claims while introducing FUD (Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt) of one's paper filter carrying water condensate, one's pump having excessive oil drag, one's crankcase being ineffectively dirty, et cetera.

Let me put it this way, having been both a tech guy and a sales and marketing guy: if they backed up all the above statements they made with hard data, there'd be no discussion - most of us would run to buy and install this $100 filter. I'm not saying it doesn't work - I'm saying they haven't put the information forward that shows it works - just the theories and speculation.

Otherwise I'm buying a CTS Turbo Billet Aluminum Oil Cap to solve a problem I don't have, but it least it looks good and I can call it what it is.

Filippo

 

[Rob09msport]

All this talk made me order one and I have a brand new paper filter now I just have to figure out how I'm gonna test it

 

[BOosted 335i]

I agree, though it's not even science; more like engineering. So here's what K&P says:

"We have run static pressure tests between our filters and paper filters for an identical application. For the same sized filters, our stainless steel micronic filter consistently flowed over 7 times more oil for the same time period than did the paper filter (tests were run at 68 degree ambient temperature). How does this affect what is going on inside your engine? We installed pressure gauges on each side of the filter element on a pro stock drag race engine so we could measure differential pressures (the difference in pressure between the input side of the filter element and the output side of the element). During a full pass down the strip the differential pressure of the stock paper filter measured 20psi difference. Our filter measured less than 1psi difference. Less differential pressure means less chance of bypass operation, faster oil pressure at start up, less drag on the oil pump (potential horsepower gains) and higher flow through the engine, often helping to cool the oil and keep the crankcase cleaner."

So this is on a pro stock drag race engine. I'm not an engine builder so I can't speak to how applicable this information would be to a turbo BMW. I'm sure someone here could at least intelligently speculate. Second, while intuitive that inhibiting oil flow isn't helpful to lubrication and cooling, what's the actual effect of a 20psi delta (practically eliminating filter back pressure)?

Filippo

this is a race car so arent they rebuilding their engines often as us street cars are not.so if that makes sense what im trying to say.i am all in on less pressure to get oil circulating which in turn can be some extra HP.Then theres that "but"....

 

[Torgus]

Wouldn't you need an ultrasonic cleaner to actually clean one of these metal filters correctly? Have fun using your wife's jewelry cleaner. Also, with stainless filters, there is a chance of either a few drops of the cleaning solvent remaining (deadly to engine lube) or that small particles that do not wash out during cleaning can get dislodged and make a pass through the engine(this is not what you want and why the filter exists in the 1st place).

Everything I find shows even F1 cars (highest tolerances and abuse) using paper or synthetics.

Paper filters are vastly preferred by race teams because stainless filters do not capture water, but paper filters do catch water. Water is the number one engine lube problem and always condenses into the oil as it cools down and from storage. The issues with water vapor condensing are much harder on an engine. Paper filters should be changed at every oil change, not because of solid debris, but because of the collected water that they absorb.

Oil analysis of paper vs. metal filters would be interesting. But probably too many variables in a consumer driven car, unless you started with 2 brand new engines and kept the test very very controlled.

I feel like this is a solution to a problem that does not exist. It's like an oil cooler oil cap. Marketing BS no one needs.

If these really were better than paper, which as far as I know every automobile manufacturer uses from the factory, why wouldn't they change the a metal filter and advertise no filter changes. BMW loves the long oil change intervals this would feed into their marketing perfectly. You have to believe BMW and every auto manufacturer has already looked into these and I highly doubt the reason is to sell you one $5 oil filer a year.

i am all in on less pressure to get oil circulating which in turn can be some extra HP.

You should design and sell light weight crank pulleys for the N54. You know, free up some HP

HP is so easy to make on these engines no one should be looking for 5whp anywhere.

 

[matreyia]

Ok folks... I ordered the fancy pants filter as well as the cts billet finned oil housing cap. I will report on ANY difference in oil temperature and or power delivery after the next change.

Currently coolant temps are nominal 189°F to 199°F. Heavy driving in traffic or WOT yields 212°F maximum. If there are any improvements, we will all see in both situations. Stay tuned for end of month report.

 

[matreyia]

Wouldn't you need an ultrasonic cleaner to actually clean one of these metal filters correctly? Have fun using your wife's jewelry cleaner. Also, with stainless filters, there is a chance of either a few drops of the cleaning solvent remaining (deadly to engine lube) or that small particles that do not wash out during cleaning can get dislodged and make a pass through the engine(this is not what you want and why the filter exists in the 1st place).

Everything I find shows even F1 cars (highest tolerances and abuse) using paper or synthetics.

Paper filters are vastly preferred by race teams because stainless filters do not capture water, but paper filters do catch water. Water is the number one engine lube problem and always condenses into the oil as it cools down and from storage. The issues with water vapor condensing are much harder on an engine. Paper filters should be changed at every oil change, not because of solid debris, but because of the collected water that they absorb.

Oil analysis of paper vs. metal filters would be interesting. But probably too many variables in a consumer driven car, unless you started with 2 brand new engines and kept the test very very controlled.

I feel like this is a solution to a problem that does not exist. It's like an oil cooler oil cap. Marketing BS no one needs.

If these really were better than paper, which as far as I know every automobile manufacturer uses from the factory, why wouldn't they change the a metal filter and advertise no filter changes. BMW loves the long oil change intervals this would feed into their marketing perfectly. You have to believe BMW and every auto manufacturer has already looked into these and I highly doubt the reason is to sell you one $5 oil filer a year.





You should design and sell light weight crank pulleys for the N54. You know, free up some HP

HP is so easy to make on these engines no one should be looking for 5whp anywhere.

There were attempts at light pulleys by several companies including ECS Tuning...all failed and were recalled and discontinued because the engine did not balance properly and presented major danger when operating with the lighter pullys.