Oil filter Hengst or STP

I do the oil every 5k on both and use liquid moly 5w40 and a hengst filter.

I use Liqui Moly Leichtlauf and Hengst filters from FCP Euro on my 1.8T Passat. Highly recommend.

I use liqui moly but I have my doubts about whether it actually is *the best* oil. I'm sure it's good, but any oil that meets the spec called out in your owners manual is "good". I place more weight on the filter than anything else. Hengst for me, get that Fram shit outta here.

Liqui Moly Oil change 5W-40 with Hengst Filter

Since I've owned it, I've performed all the work listed below with genuine VW parts when possible. I've also flushed the oil with Liqui-Moly engine flush, and performed a Seafoam cleaning. Afterwards, oil was changed to Liqui-Moly 5w40 Synthoil Premium and new Hengst oil filter.

Personally, I just use whatever is cheapest, as long as it is rated decently by the API. The way I see it, oil is really just oil. It's slick, it lubricates, it has whatever weight and viscosity it says on the bottle. The API makes sure it reaches those standards along with any claims on the bottle, so I'm comfortable saving money there. I've never had any issues in my many tens of thousands of miles of ownership and there's no sludge buildup or any worrying deposits inside the motor that I've seen when I've worked on it.

I ordered from ECS Tuning - Got 5 qts of Mobil 1 ESP, oil filter, fuel filter, air filter, DSG filter, magnetic oil drain plug for $100 shipped. All Hengst or Mann filters.

I am running an STP filter on it.

My son went to a local shop who used STP/Fram/K&N and collapsed the material inside the housing, and the motor gave him fits and lights.

Put some normal oil and an STP filter in it. Got it all back together, runs great. Ran around the block, noticed the oil light flashed when over 2500 RPM . Back in the drive way, let it cool down. This morning, put motor flush in, idle it for 5 minutes per instructions, and drained the oil and changed the filter. Looking at the filter, it seems collapsed. It doesn't seem horribly clogged - there is a bit of silt in the crevices, but that was expected. Is it just because of the cheap filter?