Sorry if this is a repost. I have had a Purolator L14459 and Bosch 3312 sitting around for quite a while and only recently noticed that they seem to be nearly identical. With them being so alike I think the purolator wins due to the far lower price than the bosch goes for. Here's the pictures I took. Comments, thoughts are welcome.

same size


both made in the USA, both have a stamp begining with "F05"


same o-ring


same plate and stampings, different valves?


internals of the bosch


internals of the bosch


though I couldn't get a good photo, the internals of the purolator are exactly the same

Purolator is jointly owned by Bosch and some other companies I don't remember.

I bet the only differences between those two filters is that the Bosch has a silicon ADBV and the purolator has rubber. I bet it's the same media.

Similar construction does not mean they have similar filtering media. I don't know the answer, but I would guess there's more differences than meets the eye.

I know it's not well shown in the photo but from what I could see looking inside the filtering media appears to be the same. I'll have to cut them open eventually to be sure of course

Those are the build date codes.

Bosch was built: 5/19/2011 on line D on 2nd shift.

Purolator was built: 5/7/2010 on line D on 1st shift.

I'd like to know how many media pleats and surface area each one has.

Wasnt there a cut open comparison thread of bosch premium and P1? I wanna say bosch premium had media that was more like the P1 than the classic

great pics OP.

Yes, PL14459 is closer to a 3312. More like a clone than the classic compared to the Bosch Premium.

Same company, likely made in same plant in Fayetteville, NC. Classic is more of the value filter line, BP most likely a clone of the P1, at least that's what river_rat's filter testing indicates. Both here use the same coil spring bypass design, BP with silicone adbv, Classic nitrile.

BP indicated at 99.9% though vague about level, but likely same as P1. Classic 97.5% majority at 20um.

Price, Classic ~$3.27 at Wally, BP $6.99 at AZ and rarely if ever go on sale. Low priced Mann's now sold at RA likely a Classic clone.

Thanks for the pics.

Agreed, nice pictures.

Yes, general consensus is that the Bosch Premium is a PureOne minus the silicone O-ring and grippy paint. Or you could say it's a Classic with PureOne media and silicone ADBV.

Either way, it's its own animal right between the two. It's also the best looking of the three if that's important to you...

Yep ... the "F" in the manufacturing code means "Fayetteville" per the decoder.

+1 Yes excellent quality, very sharp. OT I know, but I'm curious what camera was used?

Also, thanks to ZO for his secret Purolator manufacturing decoder.

I use the older 24458 that's bigger than the 14459 on our Hondas.

I like Purolator for all my vehicles.

Still got your decoder? I didn't realize Bosch used the same manufacturing code, but since they are made right along side the Purolators it makes sense.

^^^^^I believe I have it saved somewhere, but I remembered that the year code was the toughest to decipher/decode. Letter standing for year, first year 09 corresponds to new P1 and Classic line year. Forgot about plant code. Also, didn't realize Bosch used the same codes.

At AAP today saw a small quantity of Mann's in the green and yellow box, they had the equivalents to the L14610, L14459, and a few others, $3.49. The ML10008 (L14610) can is now black instead of original white with stick-on label.

Here's the decoder in case anyone is interested. Let me know if the text is too small. It's a .jpg file ... guess I could resize it someday.