I recently purchased a 2006 C4S Cab and had the local Porsche dealership do a PPI. Long story short I bought the car as the PPI came out great. About a week later I decided to check the cabin filter and realized it was somewhat dirty. Based on this I decided to check the Air Filter as well. A picture is attached. I consider these dirty and not passing the PPI as clean. Would everyone else consider these dirty and should I worry about the PPI I received on the car?

 

The last PPI I had done by a Porsche dealership didn't even have the cabin air filter as an item to be checked. Did yours? The filter on the right doesn't look anything like the two I have on my car and it's black so kind of hard to tell if it's dirty or not. Two ways of looking at this. Minor items in the big scheme of things but could also put into question how thorough the PPI was.

 

Sandwedge, the PPI just lists “air filters”, so possible that would only cover the air intake filter on the right. I’m not as concerned with the cabin filter on the left, as it’s dirty but I assume nothing out of normal. Your correct, it’s black and is a K&N filter from the previous owner. They are originally a light red color. I’ve always let the dealer change filters on previous Porsche’s I’ve owned as they were under warranty. Other cars that I’ve replaced filters on have never been close to dirty when replaced, even after long time periods. Is it normal for the air filter to be this dirty on Porsche’s. I also agree a minor item, but if something this simple was missed, it brings everything into question for me.

 

I would not be concerned with the cabin filter at all. I would simply replace it. The engine filter ( as previously indicated ) is not OEM. I recently replaced the air filter on my 2008 S at 30K miles and it was nowhere near as dirty as that one. Actually it only had some debris and was a little bit dirty. That fact that the filter media is black would concern me. It looks like a lot of soot? Do you know what environment the car was driven in? In the end, if the filter media was not crushed or breached in any way, the downside is that the engine would have less airflow and therefore less power until a new filter is installed.

 

The K&N looks like it has about 30,000 miles on it by the color. Time to wash, dry, reoil and reinstall or just replace with a paper OEM one. If you reuse it, don't over oil it as you can damage the MAF.

That reminds me, probably time to wash and reoil the ones on my 997 intakes.

 

Petza914, based on previous records, it looks like about 22,000 miles. I'm thinking the OEM is the way to go. In the end, I'm not overly concerned about the filters, they can be replaced. It was more about the quality of the PPI I paid for at the Porsche dealership, if they stated that the air filter was clean. You would think they want to sell an air filter.

Fahrer, I have learned that the Air-Oil Separator was replaced about 1,000 miles ago. I assume that has something to do with the look of the filter.

 

I don't believe the air-oil separator would cause that as the crankcase ventilation hose does not go into the air box.