Wanted to follow up on my findings to-date: Took "Indian" oil filter to the dealer yesterday. Other than the hologram and source being indicated as Austria on the dealer part, the outside looked identical.
We compared the actual filters and found a few differences: 1.) Dealer part had "Made in Austria" stamped on it, along with a time/date stamp indicating when it was made. Non-dealer part had "Made in India by Kriloskar" and no time/date stamp 2.) Heavy paper "webbing" that wraps around the outside of the filter pleats on the dealer filter came to within 1/2' of the metal filter ends. Non-dealer part "webbing" was 1" from metal filter ends 3.) Dealer filter had an interior metal tube with a few holes in it. Non-dealer filter had metal tube with many holes in it. 4.) Dealer filter had no visible materials inside of the filter Non-dealer filter had glob of glue at top of filter inside where the pleat material met the top end cap. 5.) Pleats of filter material had the same count for both filters. Based on the comparison I'm not putting any of these filters in my cars until I know more. I contacted MBUSA since the dealer wasn't really interested in getting involved, which I can understand. MBUSA has asked for one of the filters for inspection, which I will be sending them on Monday. Suffice to say at this point I would not be putting any Indian made MB filters in my cars. It's simply not worth save a couple of bucks to take the risk. More as I know it, Dan _______________________________________ http://www.okiebenz.com To search list archives http://www.okiebenz.com/archive/ To Unsubscribe or change delivery options go to: http://mail.okiebenz.com/mailman/listinfo/mercedes_okiebenz.com All posts are the result of individual contributors and as such, those individuals are responsible for the content of the post. The list owner has no control over the content of the messages of each contributor.
