An awful lot of talk about the Mann fleece filters being the only thing we should be using in these cars, and I'm finally starting to wonder why? It's not like these engines are flaking off chunks of metal that only that filter can catch, and it's not like there is some special bond between a fleece filter and a Mercedes engine. Don't get me wrong, I bought a pack of Mann fleece filters on ebay several years ago and, just like Max, I change my oil once a year right around the anniversary of my purchase date of the car. I only drive it about 4,000 miles a year and don't want to leave the oil in for more than 12 months at a time - that's not based on any scientific investigation but rather just my own piece of mind. Still, why shouldn't any reputable name brand filter be just as effective in this engine, with this oil, as the Mann fleece? Heck, with all the bad things you hear about Fram filters I've had three different cars that went 200,000 miles or more (1 Japanese, 1 German, 1 American, oddly enough) with Fram filters and various "standard" oils and none of the engines had any sort of issue. None of the filters ever failed either, and since I changed oil every 3000 miles back then, that's a lot of filters.

But I'm down to my last Mann filter (won't need another oil change until July 2013) but these Mobil 1 filters look pretty darn good. It's a trusted name and a quality piece, so what's the (potential) problem?

Oh, and Max, good luck with the pacemaker swap - I expect to see you hanging around these parts for a long time to come, buddy!