I, too, have pulled a piece of crud out of the filter center spike -- in my case a strand of cotton fluff, about 3/4 inch long.

This might not ruin bearings, but it sure could get wadded up & clog a small passage. I just can't see sticking filters in the engine that I feel sure have dirt and grit in them, and am amazed that some guys shrug this off. I can't imagine that MB engineers think this is OK -- they must have no voice at this point, at least for these old vehicles.

I can never find the Fram/Turkey models, so I'll keep using Wix/NAPA until I can. The extra money is worth knowing that the filter will clean the oil, not add more dirt.