ill take pics of my filter to show you guys. i think it's pretty dirty...

 

here's the pics of my comptech filter:

 

Not even dirty enough to talk about... go drive.

 

lol, before you replied i went out and got some uni foam filter cleaner and oil and cleaned it out. i bought the cleaner at a local motorcycle/atv dealership. the cleaner was $8 and the oil was $6.
this is what it looks like:


here's the steps to clean it out:
1. take out foam filter
2. spray the filter with the cleaner covering all areas, outside and inside the filter
3. let it stand for about 5min
4. spray the filter down with water, in and out
5. if it's still dirty, clean it again using the same steps
6. let it air dry or use some paper towels to dry it off, make sure it's completely dry in and out
7. spray the filter with the oil covering all areas inside and out, the oil is a yellow color
8. install filter back in

that's about it. the filter looks brand new! here's some after pics (the yellow residue is the oil):

 

That filter was not dirty enough to cause any issue, although to some it may look it.

At least you bought the correct kit to service it

 

ok so cleaning it works....

but where do i get an AFE Filter??

 

i've searched everywhere online and all the links go to amazon lol

there's one site that might have them, but i didn't try to call. they have that part # listed on their list... here's a link: http://www.cyclonediesel.com/afe.htm

 

noone worries about this filter falling apart?

i was told on another car board that foam filters fall apart after a short while.....any truth to this?

 

The OTHER board probably cleaned it improperly. Maybe they used gas to clean it.

 

this could be the case if you are running 5 dollar ebay foam filter, who knows what kind of grade those things are.

check with the MFG before cleaning the foam, not all foam element is serviceable.
hks super mega uber hyper mucho el grande flow(AKA hks mushroom) element is not cleanable.(at least that's what hks recommends, but the whole insert was less than 20 buck)