Hi, I'm getting ready to do the first oil change on the Mrs' 2006 Octavia VRS petrol and found myself looking at this aluminium oil filter housing on Awesome GTI's website:

 

https://www.awesomegti.com/shop-by-brand/ecs-tuning/ecs-tuning-billet-aluminum-oil-filter-housing-kit-2-0t/

 

They're claiming that the original plastic ones break. Is this the case as I've not had a BMW one break either on our E46's or a Mini I've worked on?

 

I'd be using a 36mm socket if that's what if takes, which I'm assuming it does, without having looked for the filter housing yet.

 

Many thanks. 

 

Kirkynut 

@kirkynut Any plastic will break when/if it gets cooked enough. Whether this is sufficient of an issue in this application to make a billet aluminium part worthwhile is a question for an experienced Master Technician like @Tech1e rather than my basic materials science.

Only seen them break if some meat head has over tightened them. 

£95? Pfffft.

 

The forum is hardly filled with tales of woe from people who've had their oil filters disintegrate in their hands 

 

Dunno about the petrol, but the socket size on my BKD oil filter is 32mm.

On 23/08/2019 at 06:31, Tech1e said:

meat head has over tightened them.

Thanks mate; materials science said "maybe, at least in theory", and common sense said "ask someone more experienced with the application".

On my 1.9 05 mk2 the insert that holds the filter to the filter housing had broken off at some point during a dealer service somewhere. I was landed with a bill for a replacement lid/cap, although I am sure there would be no issue leaving it so the filter needed to be lifted out by hand. 

Well I know ours was off coming up for 6k miles ago and was put back on by a Master Technician,  so if it's only down to being done up too tight, we ought to be ok. 

 

Cheers

 

Kirkynut