Oil filter STP or OEM Volkswagen

I changed out the factory fill today at 2,347 miles. I could not find any VW 502 oil in 0w30 locally, so I used Valvoline MST 5w40 which is certified for VW 502, so no warranty concerns. I also used an OEM VW filter which was 15 bucks delivered also on line, but I hope to find those locally for a bit less in the future. I could see small shiny specs of debris in the creases of the old filter, which is why I (and many folks) don't like to run factory fill oil very long.

I always recommend using a genuine VW oil filter.

I have used both on our 1.8T and my GTI without any issues.

I service mine @ a local vw tuning shop NGP. Pan drop, filter change @31000mile, the old fluid came out red`ish

Original owner of a mk6 R here :wave: my R has ~50k miles on the clock. lightly modded (see sig) and I have never had any issues other than normal wear stuff. plugs/oil/filters u know. car still feels very close to new.

I am running an STP filter on it.

I have purchased a new genuine plug, crush washer and oil filter and plan to change the oil and parts together

Das original VW öl bekommst du für 10€/l auf ebay und den ölfilter wahrscheinlich für um die 10€.

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?

I just changed the oil on my TDI at 15,000 miles and when I pulled the engine cover it looked factory fresh under the cover. Meaning there was no evidence that the dealer even made an attempt to change the cartridge filter. I was very, very careful not to spill oil on the engine components but still managed to get oil on the white mesh heat shield next to the filter housing. When I removed the cartridge filter it looked extremely dirty and gunky.