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Good for you and your Mahle loyalty. Good luck finding anyone having problems with the higher end filters being crushed or having having any other problems. The reality is, it is a non issue. If I were not running my extended OCI's I would run the OEM filter.
Good for you and your Mahle loyalty. Good luck finding anyone having problems with the higher end filters being crushed or having having any other problems. The reality is, it is a non issue. If I were not running my extended OCI's I would run the OEM filter.
I'm happy for you! You have found some kind of nirvana relative to oil filters and oil. I hope it helps you to sleep easier at night.
For $8.50 NOBODY is gong to find a better made filter than the Mahle. Jump that to $11.50, and it still won't happen, but now your in the same league outside of Fram which is crap at any price. Bosch and Mobil 1 makes a great filter for around $11.50 provided the Bosch is the Distance Level tier. I've used the Bosch for several years but why pay more?
Mahle simply makes a great filter. No games, no multiple product lines to meet Kmart or Walmart's needs. ONE line of spin-on oil filters. That's it! And you WILL NOT see them advertising any time soon.
Most expensive hardly means finest engineered. If anything, German engineering has definitely fallen short compared to the long term reliability of Japanese makes. Even Hyundai and Kia are making models that are proving to be more reliable then German counterparts. I think there is a reason why you purchased your 430 Grunner over an A8, 7 series, or S class...
Just last night I was speaking with a Porsche mechanic about how unreliable their Boxer engines are vs the Subaru Boxer. Clearly something made Germany does not automatically equal quality. It has equaled over engineered, often unreliable, and consistently expensive repairs.
I would buy a 5+ year old Lexus (Japanese Car) over a German car any day. Why? Because German's are eco-fanatics and they want EVERYTHING to be made from recycled material. The result is that your rubber, plastic, fiber components begin to leak after 5 years BECAUSE they are not virgin but recycled.
Germans think nothing of retiring their car after 5 years. It is like breathing to them. 5 years and that is already too long. Time ot get a new one and live in a much, much, smaller home in order to do so.
The long term owner is the one who will be more meticulous in their choice of intervals and parts used. Other considerations for the owner/driver is the perceived life expectancy of driving the car. Typically the demographics of LS buyers will have these gone in 5 years 60K miles. A handful or so oil changes done at the dealership. After that their interest is gone in the car and it will be the next owner's responsibility/problem. Then the next /3'rd owner who has this depreciated a car may desire 3-5 years in it and so on. This typically drops with each succeeding owner.
Our 400 that came off lease at 57K miles. This one wasn't quite CPO spec due to some body work, it did have full dealership service history. The car turned 200K miles last week. The 90915-20004 Japan made filter has done well these last 150K miles with M1 oil used. I ceased UOA a bit back because it remained consistent with varying intervals.
The oil change shops used budget filters and this is where dad took his cars. The Japan made cars all went north of 250K miles with the highest at 320K. None of his had engine or drive line problems. ECU issues on the last three were the cause. Even the lousy Saturn SL2 made it to 180K before the ECU in that died. He used Fram because that is what that shop had for the $18 oil deal.
In the end, whatever makes the owner happy is Overall the Toyota product does well so long as they see regular fluid changes at the expected intervals. We see enough in the 400 section where fluid neglect shows up at the higher miles. If the owner doesn't have thought of 300K miles, it is academic. Some go south at 125K with neglect, many variables.
What makes the Mahle design best is the use of dual anti-drain back valves. Even the premium Amsoil EA filters do not incorporate this design. Add to that is a price that is half that of Amsoil's
Amsoil EA filter Is using Mahle's spring and valve bypass system.
Turns out, these Toyota 90915-20004 have been discontinued and are very rare. Looking around, I found this picture of the side-by-side comparison between the Toyota 90915-20004, the Toyota 90915-YZZD3, and the Denso. Wow, they are very different in design and in selection of materials.
AFAIK, they are still available direct from Japan.
So we know to look for motor oil that is > 3.5 HTHS.
What about viscosity?
The BMW 5W-30, LL-01, at 100 Celsius (212 Fahrenheit) = 12.2 cSt viscosity rating; (heavy weight = 10 - 12.5cSt@100c) (thin weight = < 10 cSt@ 100c)
Mobil 1 0W-40 = 14.3 cSt @100C
Their Mobil 1 5W-30 Extended Performance = 10.2 cSt @ 100C (A much lighter weight oil than 0W-40)
So, folks, I am telling you, that Mobil 1, 0W-40, at Walmart for $24.97, 5 quart jug, is highway robbery.
It might (slightly) rob you of some MPG's, but, come on! We're trying to save that $18,000 motor from unnecessary wear; aren't we?
The viscosity of a fluid is a measure of its resistance to gradual deformation by shear stress or tensile stress. For liquids, it corresponds to the informal notion of "thickness". For example, honey has a higher viscosity than water. wrong
I am in favor of engine bearing protection over MPG's.
With Mobil 1 0W-40, you have a lot of oil "thickness" between surfaces at high temp's.
I vote "yes" for that!
Stock up for ALL of your vehicles at this price. I certainly have!
Worried about Cold Starts? 0W-40 has a pour rating of -45 degrees celsius.
So you are covered on those cold Northern nights.
The viscosity is the "thickness" or flow rate of a liquid... it has nothing to do with any deformation of shear stress. Tensile stress?.. You have no clue to engineering, Tensile stress is the pounds per PSI in a steel beam due to a pull test or bending stress on the tensile cord.
The viscosity is the "thickness" or flow rate of a liquid... it has nothing to do with any deformation of shear stress. Tensile stress?.. You have no clue to engineering, Tensile stress is the pounds per PSI in a steel beam due to a pull test or bending stress on the tensile cord.
I don't think you want a 40 weight when a 30 weight is prescribed. 40 weight is thicker. It puts more stress on the engine as the engine fights to push the pistons. For a loose car with 150,000 miles sure.. but not on a new car.
I would buy a 5+ year old Lexus (Japanese Car) over a German car any day. Why? Because German's are eco-fanatics and they want EVERYTHING to be made from recycled material. The result is that your rubber, plastic, fiber components begin to leak after 5 years BECAUSE they are not virgin but recycled.
Germans think nothing of retiring their car after 5 years. It is like breathing to them. 5 years and that is already too long. Time ot get a new one and live in a much, much, smaller home in order to do so.
I agree,,, a Lexus or Acura will go for 400,000 miles... no way on a german car.
wading into this conversation:
it would be fair to compare apples to apples.
North American driving conditions are so much different from European driving.
I have had German cars for over 40 years. All were bought used and sold after having them on average 13 years. Some were 4 cyl, others 6 cyl cars.
None had less than 250k before they were sold. Never had any problems mechanical, always electrical. In the Prairies the oil was 10-30, in the lower mainland 20-50. Rust was the bigger problem
I wonder how the LS would do driving 30k a month at speeds in the 120mph range, compared to 10k / month, engine speeds seldom over 2000 rpm.
What kind of car would you drive when the cost of gas is 12/gal, super?
Small homes is by necessity only not because of choice.
Just move here to Vancouver, average house price today ca 1.5 million. Want a big house? there are quite a few here for 23 million
This thread is so funny. Here's my experience (can't help it):
I have an SC430 in Europe (FR then BE then FR). I once bought a Mahle filter because it's cheap on the internet (~10 EUR) while the OEM is over 20 EUR and needs to be ordered from the dealer (because they almost don't sell any V8 here). That is 90915-YZZD4. Once I got lucky and a Toyota dealer had a decade-old 90915-20004 on stock (so no ordering and picking up later).
I never installed the Mahle filter (Made in Austria, not the Mexican ones mentioned here), because it looks quite cheaply-made. The threads are much shallower (1/2); there are fewer and smaller holes for the oil going into the filter; and the gasket is very hard.
Personally, I don't think anything made in Germany is necessarily good. Many are very bad, junks I would say. If you go to Germany and stay for some days, you'll see it's in their culture:
1. Their houses are ugly and not well-kept and have lots of graffiti everywhere. It's much worse than France & Italy. There's no German superiority there.
2. Their food is horrible. Restaurants are cheaper than FR, IT, BE, etc., but the quality is bad.
3. Their clothes are horrible. People buy the cheapest from Lidl, Aldi, etc. This is also true for their cosmetics, household appliances...
4. Their grocery stores are the worst in Europe. You simply cannot find vegetables & meat & packaged food of lower quality elsewhere (maybe NL is a close second).
Yes, there are rich Germans, many old aristocrats and maybe some Nazists --- very rich indeed. They have castles and fancy cars. But the majority have I would say about the same standard of living as the Italians. Their average net income is 2270 EUR per month. Think about that for a second.
There's no fantasy "wonderful German engineering jobs, highly paid...". My observation is that only the old money & bankers are well paid. (Old money enjoy tax loopholes, too.)
The talk about Germans not changing their oils?
Yes, most of it is true. The same with many Europeans. Because people want to save money. The cars they drive (VW, Citroen, Peugeot, Opel, Fiat, etc.) rarely last very 200,000 km before the engine blows up anyway.
There's also no law against changing oils themselves or restrictions against changing oils before 30k miles. That's ridiculous.
I frequently buy oil from German websites because they're cheaper (but still 2x or more the US price).
People need to realize that because there once was a crazy guy named Hitler who claimed the Germans were superior doesn't make it true. Switzerland, which is mostly German, is very rich and enjoys high standard of living. Germany, on the other hand, was the sick man of Europe since its reunification until the financial crisis. By forcing austerity on other countries, Germany successfully enriched its big businesses --- but German workers had to endure a 10% pay cut.
Now, the new Mercedes S class is a great car, and so are some other German cars. But please stop the BS about German cars being better. Overall they aren't.
haha where did this thread come from? I used to use MANN as they are OEM to BMW, but when production went to Mexico, I simply prefered to use Hengst and Mahle Knecht. Hengst imho is very good quality.
People can be partial, impartial, etc. Our uncle who lives in Germany prefers American cars and he is a tech, feeling that parts are cheap and repairs aren't that involved. This summer he gave me some German plates, which oddly are still valid? I told my wife I hope these aren't stolen as I understand the penalty is severe for losing one's plates. (it's an interesting concept to be responsible for one's belongings, whereas here we blame the thief for all our troubles)
If this thread started out about oil and filters for the LS430, I use any 5W30 synth oil, with a WIX XP filter. Somewhere along the line I preferred WIX for Japanese and American cars. I think this was long ago when Nissan moved production to China. On my old forum there was a consensus to always use "9E" filters, kinda like with GM some folks avoid the "E" filters....
imho German cars feel sturdier. They can last with maintenance, but seem to have parts failures often sooner than one would expect (like a water pump at 48,000, or a ABS pump at 49,000, etc.). My cousin drove his M3 240,000 and has a M5 with 150,000 and plans to go the same. Just recently developed an oil leak on the S62 V8 due to the CCV....
edit p.s. my personal use of the MANN, Hengst, and Mahle Knecht, are on cartridge type filters, not the canister type of the LS430...
I remember there was a point with my Nissan where the filter shrunk big time....I guess I had no choice, this is OE/genuine....I believe they claimed the filter surface area did not shrink...the WIX LS filter is quite small, but I'm ok with it...
I'm just being stubborn I don't like FRAM because of the scandal, but that was long ago and I'm sure it's immaterial...
I remember there was a point with my Nissan where the filter shrunk big time....I guess I had no choice, this is OE/genuine....I believe they claimed the filter surface area did not shrink...the WIX LS filter is quite small, but I'm ok with it...
I'm just being stubborn I don't like FRAM because of the scandal, but that was long ago and I'm sure it's immaterial...
I think most Fram filters are poor choices especially the lower cost versions. The Fram Ultra model is the exception, based on some testing and specs it seems to be a well built very good filter that is great value for the price especially if you can get it on sale. I have a couple delivered to me via Amazon subscription every 6 months as they fit on all three of our cars.
12-20-15, 03:33 PM
Overall the Toyota product does well so long as they see regular fluid changes at the expected intervals. We see enough in the 400 section where fluid neglect shows up at the higher miles. If the owner doesn't have thought of 300K miles, it is academic. Some go south at 125K with neglect, many variables.
