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      01-15-2014, 09:17 PM   #1
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Unhappy Need Help Please- Oiled vs Dry Intake (Story included)

Hello F30ers, I have recently purchased an intake from one of the vendor in this forum. I will only expose the vendor’s name unless I found myself at fault or the vendor is not willing to resolve the problem for me.

When I was dealing with this vendor, I have told the vendor that I am very new to intake & I am not a car-tech, I will want an intake that is most reliable and easy to maintain for a noob like me. At the end of the day, he suggested the AFE Intake for my 335. (Keep in mind, I have expressed to the vendor that I will want something easy to 0 maintenance required because I am very lazy and don't like to do extra work)

However, today I just received the intake via Fedex, the shipping was fast, product was packed nicely, everything is perfect except I found that my AFE intake is an oiled version. I have researched a bit online/forum and I found out Dry is much easier to maintain while the oiled version will get messy or may damage the engine if you don’t know what you are doing. I have no idea there are two versions of AFE intake.

I quickly expressed my concerns with the vendor because I think he should have told me there were two different versions, and he should have sold me the Dry version since I did express I want something easy to maintain. Shouldn't the vendor tell me there were two versions of intake to choose from instead of picking one for me? So far, I got two replies from the vendor :

“it does not need you to be an expert to use oil filter since the intake comes with oil aleardy all you have to do is install it. you wont need more oil until 20 000 miles from now . even then it is a simple procedure.”

“What im trying to tell you is that, it does not need maintenance.
You can just leave it as it is, in 2 years the oil will be gone and you will end up with a dry intake LOL”


Two points the vendor addressed :
#1) You only have to re-oil until 20,000 miles.
#2) If you don’t re-oil an oiled intake, it will become a dry intake.

I will definitely need some help from this community to help me, are the two points he addressed valid & true? At this point, I don't think he has sold me on the right product... and he is trying to be funny...which i think it's kind of serious to me. If the above two points are true, I won't mind keeping the oiled intake.

I will continue to update this thread as long as I seek a solution.

Thanks everyone!

Last edited by wayway409; 01-15-2014 at 09:31 PM..
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      01-15-2014, 10:23 PM   #2
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Minor update :

My friend (car-tech) told me that AFE oiled & dry intake are very different. If I don't re-oil an intake, it won't become a dry intake by itself because they are two different filter design. In result, the oiled filter (without oil) will not function right and will lose performance or damage engine.

Correct me if this information is wrong.
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      01-16-2014, 03:29 AM   #3
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Quote:
Originally Posted by wayway409 View Post
Minor update :

My friend (car-tech) told me that AFE oiled & dry intake are very different. If I don't re-oil an intake, it won't become a dry intake by itself because they are two different filter design. In result, the oiled filter (without oil) will not function right and will lose performance or damage engine.

Correct me if this information is wrong.
His "it will become dry" statement was a joke meaning it will be "dry" if you don't oil it. It'll become clogged with crap and then will be less effective (and more restrictive).

There are hundreds of threads on various forums on Google about this. Dry are easier IMO, if it wasn't already free from BMW, I'd just throw it away and put in a new one.

I'm however going to side with the vendor. I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt that they used all the information they were given to give you the one that better fit with your application. You said easy maintenance, and an oiled filter is easy maintenance. After you did your research it seems like you have buyers remorse and want a dry filter.

Just a side note - I don't think the vendor was wrong in sending you the oiled filter, but I do think a little more transparency would've prevented this whole situation
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      01-16-2014, 08:16 AM   #4
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AFE and K&N are two manufacturers of oiled-cotton intakes. I've had good luck with these on normally-aspirated engines, but on my E92 335i, I noticed that the oil quickly dried out and the filter became dirty with the increased airflow coming into the turbo engine. I had a dual-filter setup (N54 engine), and within a month of cleaning the filters, they were black/grey instead of blue (oil color is blue on AFE). Their dry filters are more of a paper-type construction, not cotton mesh cloth sandwiched between wire mesh, and their flow rating is less than that of the oiled cotton. I can't speak for single-turbo N55 intakes, but my experience with the AFE was one of more frequent maintenance, particularly since I had the "open" dual-cone intake. It may be different if you've got an enclosed intake, but mine seemed to dry out and get dirty very quickly. They never clogged, but when the oil dries out, it no longer catches dust/dirt, etc.

As for cleaning and re-oiling, there are very specific instructions to follow - they supply a cleaner that needs to be applied and allowed to sit for 15 minutes or so, followed by a thorough rinse, after which the filter element has to dry out, which can take up to an hour. Following that, the oiling process has to be done very carefully, and depending on whether you get a spray can or the "dribble" bottle, you have to carefully apply only a small amount and let it soak into the cotton for another 30 minutes or so. Only then can you re-install the filter element(s). Too much oil could cause problems downstream, particularly in the MAF sensor.

After all that, other than maybe an increase in flow due to larger inlets or fewer bends, I didn't really see any advantage to the intake other than sound. No gas mileage increase, no discernible increase in power. That said, dropping in a fresh paper element into the stock airbox every 15K is less trouble and probably less expensive in the long run. You may want to return what you got for the correct "dry" filter element, which should be slightly better than stock.
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Last edited by RoundelM3; 01-17-2014 at 08:35 AM..
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      01-16-2014, 09:46 AM   #5
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He is definitely playing you especially if they carry both intakes! You asked for as little maintenance as possible, anyway you look at it the oiled filter is more maintenance, and I have heard the same from a friend with an oiled intake that its a pain in the ass. Just exchange it if it hasn't been installed yet.
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      01-16-2014, 01:32 PM   #6
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thanks everyone... i do agree the vendor should be more transparent and I should be more careful when picking products (like should know everything beforehand instead of waiting the vendor to educate me)

Minor update :
The vendor has agreed to send the new intake (dry) with free shipping to me again until I send back the AFE oiled intake back at my own cost. We are waiting for the arrangement.
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      01-16-2014, 08:49 PM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by wayway409
thanks everyone... i do agree the vendor should be more transparent and I should be more careful when picking products (like should know everything beforehand instead of waiting the vendor to educate me)

Minor update :
The vendor has agreed to send the new intake (dry) with free shipping to me again until I send back the AFE oiled intake back at my own cost. We are waiting for the arrangement.
Did you buy the air scoop for the I stake from the Said vendor?
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      01-17-2014, 04:04 AM   #8
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nope, it's the AFE oiled intake, and that's it.

Quote:
Originally Posted by shivaswrath View Post
Did you buy the air scoop for the I stake from the Said vendor?
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      01-17-2014, 09:04 AM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by wayway409
thanks everyone... i do agree the vendor should be more transparent and I should be more careful when picking products (like should know everything beforehand instead of waiting the vendor to educate me)

Minor update :
The vendor has agreed to send the new intake (dry) with free shipping to me again until I send back the AFE oiled intake back at my own cost. We are waiting for the arrangement.
Does the filter come with a cleaner too? I didn't mind cleaning and reoiling in a prior life,
I'm bored I might buy this and the aFe air scoop today....
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      01-18-2014, 04:20 AM   #10
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Nope, I don't see anything else like cleaner or extra oil... i am scheduling to have it return and exchange..

Quote:
Originally Posted by shivaswrath View Post
Does the filter come with a cleaner too? I didn't mind cleaning and reoiling in a prior life,
I'm bored I might buy this and the aFe air scoop today....
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