What airfilter to buy for 2006 M35x

[xxxalpinexxx80]

http://www.familycar.com/autop....html

Ive seen square filters and then the one that are round. What is the best filter for the stock air intake, and I am changing it to hopefully get bettter mpg. A url with the best air filter that will work on my stock car would be great

[szh]

Well ... I would certainly NOT get the oiled one. For a variety of reasons that we have experienced here with Nissan / Infiniti engines - the MAF gets coated over time with micro-droplets of oil that go into the air-stream and leads to drivability issues.

So, one of the others is better. Best approach is to use the OEM air filter (also available for less than you might expect from http://www.everythinginfiniti.com) and change it often enough that whether it is "washable" (link above) or not is simply never an issue!

Z

[alexzf6]

It is impossible for oil to come off and interfere with your MAF. The amount of oil onit is very small (usually less than 2 ounces). Once the oil is properly and evenly absorbed through the cotton, no oil will come off, even under extreme driving conditions. It is ridiculous, because no dealership or service provider has ever been able to provide any evidence to support this "myth". I guess its just the "anti-aftermarket" crowd that keeps throwing that out there.

[szh]

It is impossible for oil to come off and interfere with your MAF. The amount of oil onit is very small (usually less than 2 ounces). Once the oil is properly and evenly absorbed through the cotton, no oil will come off, even under extreme driving conditions. It is ridiculous, because no dealership or service provider has ever been able to provide any evidence to support this "myth". I guess its just the "anti-aftermarket" crowd that keeps throwing that out there.

Just keep in mind that many of us here have years of experience owning Infiniti and Nissan cars of some sort (21+ years in my case), and the actual results with a number of people posting here over the years, has been quite negative on K&N oiled filters. In most cases, cleaning/replacing the MAF and going back to OEM (non-oiled) filters has been the cure for engine drivability issues.

And, of course, the horsepower "gain" from these filters is imperceptible, at best, and given the potential for problems, it seems somewhat silly to take the risk, no?

Regardless of which, you are indeed free to believe and do what you want.

Z

[maxnix]

It is impossible for oil to come off and interfere with your MAF.

It is entirely possible and does indeed occur, even on just excessively dirty OEM filters. It is just dumber than dumb to install an oiled filter in front of a hot wire MAF sensor, or not to change the stock filter annually. Also, the OEM filter will filter better than a K&N and better than 99% of aftermarket filters. Pressure drop across the filter only costs you less than 3 HP vs. no filter, virtually unnoticeable.

But the big chunks of dirt will cost you 75% of your engine life. Your choice.

After market filters and CAI kits, especially "pop chargers", are plainly a waste of money unless you think speed racer is a real person. Then you have greater problems than we can solve here.

[tigerclaws1318]

I have used K&N air filters on both my toyotas and it did more bad then good. On my my corolla my gas mileage was suffering a lot and when I took a look at the MAF sensor it was completely covered with the oil from the filter. Replaced the sensor and everything was back to normal. On my sienna the problem was even worse. Check engine light came on and the codes were lean condition detected on bank 1 and 2 and something else about the catalytic converter. Gas mileage was also terrible. My dad was gonna go to a shop to get the catalytic converter replaced but before that I checked the MAF sensor it was completely covered up in oil. Brought another sensor and it fixed everything. These sensors arent cheap at all too. So yeah, try your best to avoid these K&N air filters.

[rsg123]

Check out this page on K&N's website. http://www.knfilters.com/MAF/massair.htmWe have used K&N filters on several of our cars. One has been running with one for 150,000 miles and not one MAF issue.

[antzrus]

Check out this page on K&N's website. http://www.knfilters.com/MAF/massair.htmWe have used K&N filters on several of our cars. One has been running with one for 150,000 miles and not one MAF issue.

The originator of this thread asked about the best filter for an '06 M35x. Interestingly K & N does not list an air filter for this model. The issue of a K & N oil impregnated air filter for his M is a moot point...

[rsg123]

The originator of this thread asked about the best filter for an '06 M35x. Interestingly K & N does not list an air filter for this model. The issue of a K & N oil impregnated air filter for his M is a moot point...

Well since the issue of K&N air filters ruining MAF sensors came up, I decided to do a search and present what I found. Sounds like there are a lot of uninformed people out there.

[maxnix]

Well since the issue of K&N air filters ruining MAF sensors came up, I decided to do a search and present what I found. Sounds like there are a lot of uninformed people out there.

Yes there are. Basically, there are owners who understand some physics and material processes, then there are those who have to rely on advertising.

A K&N won't hurt a carbureted car, except for the larger particle contaminants.

[rsg123]

Yes there are. Basically, there are owners who understand some physics and material processes, then there are those who have to rely on advertising.

A K&N won't hurt a carbureted car, except for the larger particle contaminants.

Did you actually go to the website I cited? I assume that you didn't, so I will give you a summary. K&N received lots of bad MAF sensors that dealerships or repair shops blamed on K&N filters. They found that out of 87 bad sensors, only one had a trace oil contamination. The contamination was so small that they could not determine if it was oil from the filter or from elsewhere. Unless K&N is faking the data, which would be a huge scandal, I will continue to be comfortable putting K&N filters in all of my cars. Sorry OP, but maybe they will start making filters for your car soon.

[alexzf6]

Ive been running an Injen cold air intake with an OILED filter for about 4000 mi. now. I took it apart yesterday to adjust the filter and guess what.....The inside of the pipe was COMPLETELY dry. I think the people who are having MAF issues are soaking their filters with so much oil that some just has to come off.

[fiveliterbeater]

Z

ok szhosain, i hate to be the bearer of bad news but i'm going to side with alexzf6 on this one and your argument is valid but without any proof whatsoever.......

Just keep in mind that many of us here have years of experience owning Infiniti and Nissan cars of some sort (21+ years in my case) .....this statement doesn't really tell us much because manufacturers are constantly updating and improving engine driveability, so unless you are a certified "Nissan tech" who is paid to be trained and certified to work on new vehicles, you know as much as any Infiniti/Nissan owner who has owned that brand for 21+years (unless you are a tech then i stand corrected)

the actual results with a number of people posting here over the years, has been quite negative on K&N oiled filters. i would actually extend that statement and say that pretty much any mod whatsoever has been quite negative over the past few months, so no new discoveries here

In most cases, cleaning/replacing the MAF and going back to OEM (non-oiled) filters has been the cure for engine drivability issues. ...i don't know what to say to this one, never heard of a FILTER causing engine driveability unless the filter is CLOGGED. i mean, c'mon.....do you really believe that yourself? you dont sound very convinced yourself when making that statement......but ok
Modified by fiveliterbeater at 12:08 PM 5/21/2009

[fiveliterbeater]

Well since the issue of K&N air filters ruining MAF sensors came up, I decided to do a search and present what I found. Sounds like there are a lot of uninformed people out there.

.........as there always is. if there is one "myth" that people are really gullible and like to think that is true is the famous "K&N filter debacle". the reason this myth stands is because over the years, you will have a few oddball warranty cases where you hear about a dealership that voids a warranty due to blaming a poor innocent soul that decided to add a K&N filter to his car to be cool when the "check engine" light comes on.that poor guy then goes online and starts ranting and telling the world about how bad K&N is and how he will never ever use aftermarket filters and blah blah blah........and on top of all that, you have SHEEP on every website that like to gossip and spout out claims such as "i heard from this guy that his engine had problems and was denied warranty work" and you get the rest......

[fiveliterbeater]

Ive been running an Injen cold air intake with an OILED filter for about 4000 mi. now. I took it apart yesterday to adjust the filter and guess what.....The inside of the pipe was COMPLETELY dry. I think the people who are having MAF issues are soaking their filters with so much oil that some just has to come off.

.........that is very true and one point i forgot to include in some of my other posts. some people go overboard with the filter-charger kit and...well....you pretty much covered the rest and blah blah blah...........

[ken in az]

I've had trouble with K&N brand new out of the box filters killing the MAF on my silverado. Lucky for me I had a spare MAF off the LQ9 sitting in my 300zx project to confirm the bad MAF - killed by the K&N? Who knows, but I am a firm beleiver in Occums Razor - the simplest answer seems to be true - so the simplest answer that the K&N killed it works for me. Also I switched to a non oiled type filter and it works briliantly and is easier to clean.

Do others have good luck with K&N? Absoloutely! But I won't ever take that risk - not now with other dry type filter elements readily available.

[fiveliterbeater]

I've had trouble with K&N brand new out of the box filters killing the MAF on my silverado.

.....wish i could side with you, but i've had the opposite side of the coin results, when adding a K&N filter to my LS1, 5.0, 240sx, maxima etc. etc. never encountered a single problem to my MAF on any of my old cars but what can i say, i guess i got lucky.performance wise though, i have to say that i've never noticed a difference between stock vs. aftermarket filters.

[szh]

performance wise though, i have to say that i've never noticed a difference between stock vs. aftermarket filters.

Ultimately, this is what makes me feel that the effort to do the oiled filter is simply not worth it.

Just change the regular dry air-filter often enough, and it will do just fine. Inexpensive at http://www.everythinginfiniti.com and far less concern about any possibility of the oil getting into the air-stream.

Z

[szh]

ok szhosain, i hate to be the bearer of bad news but i'm going to side with alexzf6 on this one and your argument is valid but without any proof whatsoever.......

I agree that I have no personal experience with it. That is true ... luckily!

Just keep in mind that many of us here have years of experience owning Infiniti and Nissan cars of some sort (21+ years in my case) .....this statement doesn't really tell us much because manufacturers are constantly updating and improving engine driveability, so unless you are a certified "Nissan tech" who is paid to be trained and certified to work on new vehicles, you know as much as any Infiniti/Nissan owner who has owned that brand for 21+years (unless you are a tech then i stand corrected)

Nope, I am not a Nissan tech.

But, I know physics way well enough to say that micro-droplets of oil ARE going to get into the air-stream, no matter how "dry" people think that they have kept the oiled filter. This means that these oil particles are going to impact the hot-wire MAF used in Nissan and Infiniti engines and is going to cause problems with it over time.

To this, this is a rational and good explanation - that I can accept and understand and appreciate. And, to me, it is another good reason (other than the fact that it isn't going to make a darn bit of difference to the performance anyway) to stay away from the K&N!

the actual results with a number of people posting here over the years, has been quite negative on K&N oiled filters. i would actually extend that statement and say that pretty much any mod whatsoever has been quite negative over the past few months, so no new discoveries here

The difference is that people here at NICO over the years have done this "mod" and we have heard their reports on the problems that they caused.

In most cases, cleaning/replacing the MAF and going back to OEM (non-oiled) filters has been the cure for engine drivability issues. ...i don't know what to say to this one, never heard of a FILTER causing engine driveability unless the filter is CLOGGED. i mean, c'mon.....do you really believe that yourself? you dont sound very convinced yourself when making that statement......but ok

I am not the kind of person who jumps up and down and yells a lot (well, certainly not often ). So while it may come across like I am not being emphatic here, I would MOST certainly not use the K&N filter on my Indiniti and MOST certainly never buy a used car on which they had been used, and MOST certainly never recommend them.

Hope that convinces you that I am convinced about the topic.

Z

[fiveliterbeater]

Hope that convinces you that I am convinced about the topic. Z

convinced!

[BigHeadDennis]

FWIW, it's not just Infiniti/Nissan cars. Over in the Porsche world, 911 (996) owners stumbled on this problem with K&N filters and failed MAF sensors a few years back. A bunch of 996 owners reported MAF failures, and every single one of them had an oiled after-market filter. I found this out because I was a victim; I bought my wife's 996 used, and the prior owner had a K&N installed. That car's setup has the MAF sensor immediately downwind of the filter. Tried cleaning the sensor wire, worked for a while, but it tripped the OBD-II system again, so replaced the K&N with a stock element, and it's been fine for the last 30k miles.

vty,

--Dennis

[infinitiandbeyond]

You're seriously kidding me. Wanting to change an air filter to get better MPG? Even if a K&N existed, by the time you buy the filter, the oil, the cleaner it is cost NEGLIGIBLE. Then you keep buying oil, and cleaner.

You bought the wrong car.