Fram oil filters, junk or not? - PeachParts Mercedes-Benz Forum

t walgamuth · #1 12-10-2005, 07:43 PM

i bet ferraris had frams from the factory. and back then they were good (presumably).

i have often looked for frams for my mb thinking that they were good. i always liked the look of the orange filters. prob from seeing them on ferraris. i have never found a fram for mb.

sooooo how 'bout stp? they any good? i have one on my 350sdl right now.

tom w

moparmike · #2 12-10-2005, 10:34 PM

You probably wont find a Fram for an MB. MB's use element filters that go inside of a housing, not a screw-on type.

oliverb · #3 12-10-2005, 10:51 PM

moparmike;
Some do, some don't. My 1990 300E M103 uses spin-on, always has. So do other models.

davestlouis · #4 12-11-2005, 12:44 AM

I can get a WIX filter @ O'Reilly's Auto Parts for $8.99, STP @ the other chain is $13.99 and I always thought STP was their cheap brand. To be fair, I wonder who really makes this stuff, perhaps they all come from the same factory, just different packaging. I do like WIX though, they used to make NAPA Gold high-line store brand products, maybe still do.

moparmike · #5 12-11-2005, 05:29 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by oliverb

moparmike;
Some do, some don't. My 1990 300E M103 uses spin-on, always has. So do other models.

I stand corrected. Wouldn't have thought an MB would do that before the accountants took over though...

Ethan · #6 12-11-2005, 11:11 AM

[QUOTE=t walgamuth]i bet ferraris had frams from the factory. and back then they were good (presumably).

i have often looked for frams for my mb thinking that they were good. i always liked the look of the orange filters. prob from seeing them on ferraris. i have never found a fram for mb.

sooooo how 'bout stp? they any good? i have one on my 350sdl right now.

tom w[/QUOTE

Ferrari with a Fram or a FIAMM?
I don't know of any Ferrari that came from the factory with a Fram, I could be wrong, but I think FIAMM is what is being mistaken with Fram.

t walgamuth · #7 12-11-2005, 11:24 AM

the older ferraris with two standing up proud above the front of the motor. fiamm makes filters?

i am thinking that ferrari had a deal with fram for money paid to them if they used fram filters. they had such a deal with goodyear(?) i think on the tires. may have been another brand. i am thinking sixties and perhaps seventies.

i remember reading about some ferrari guys losing races cause the factory had a deal for the tires and were obligated to run such and such a brand cause the old man was getting money to put them on the cars.

i think maybe they also used die hard batterys for a while too. not sure.

tom w

engatwork · #8 12-11-2005, 11:29 AM

I have always used Fram filters for our Honda cars but run OEM in all the Benz and the Honda 450R (which gets changed about every 15 hours with Shell Rotella synthetic). The CRV is at 180k miles and I don't see where the Fram filter has caused it any harm but I have not been in the engine yet either

.

rickjordan · #9 12-11-2005, 12:12 PM

I think if you see a Ferrari engine with a White filter, it is a FIAMM. However, I see alot of V-12 Ferrari engines on E-bay with 2 distinctive orange filters sitting upfront of the engine. I just looked through some books I have on Ferrari. They show the building of the mid 80's Testarossa, the 512TR, and the F40. The Testarossa had a Black filter (possibly Mahle), the 512TR had a white filter and F40 had a blue filter.
I just know this, OEM filters are beefier than Frams, so I will stick with what the manufacturer used from the get-go.
When I bought my 911, the oil filter was OEM, it said Porsche on it. However, it also said made in the USA. I replaced that with a Mahle, made in Austria.

t walgamuth · #10 12-11-2005, 12:31 PM

drivers document that was written by james a riff with maintenance tips that appears to be from maybe around 1970. he states that the factory supplied fram filters but sears offered a good filter that worked for less money. and suggested painting the sears filter flat black if you dont want people making fun of you for using off brand products.

the information available for early ferraris is pretty sketchy, back then and now. much of the very simple things just arent available.

for example, head bold torque. not available. back in the fifties all the italian mechanics just trusted their arms. a ferrari 250 head even has head bolts that can't be reached with a torque wrench.

tom w

page62 · #11 12-11-2005, 01:27 PM

I looked at the Fram cartridge-type filter for my 450SL at the auto store the other day. It is made in India, and it has some sort of paper(?) wrap around the element, and it is SEWN together!!!

The Carquest (Wix) filter I previously purchased has a steel wrap around the filter element. I didn't look for a manufacturer's mark, but I wouldn't be surprised if it was made by Mann or similar.

Go figure...

86560SEL · #12 12-14-2005, 11:59 PM

Approximately how much do the OE MB filters cost from the dealer? If I went with something other than an MB filter, what should I go with? I need to change the oil in my car ASAP, but cannot get to the dealer until next Tuesday! Anything I can use until next change when I get a MB filter?

The car is a 1985 380SE and really unsure about what brand of filter would be best for this automobile, with 263K. I have heard a lot of different suggestions for oil brand/weight, so still in the dark about that as well. Also, how many quarts of oil does this car take? I do not have a manual yet (on the way), so as you can see, I am "dumb" about all of this for this car.

Thanks