Being a long time dirt biker, including in sandy desert, I have seen many bikers run the K&N to get a little better air flow and performance. I personally did not run K&N but had nothing against the product.

It is very common to see posts like this: What is better in the sand? Foam filter or K&N ? - ATVConnection.com ATV Enthusiast Community see post #3.

which indicate more silica in the oil.

Your experience does not match up with these. Unless the oil was also tested after using paper filters and the data compared it may not be possible to say if one allows more particles into the engine than the other.

The bottom line for you is that it does not matter since the silica readings are clearly not a issue.

 

Here is another post: Threw away K&N's due to high silicon in UOA's | Engine Air Filters | Bob Is The Oil Guy

I am still not against using the K&N air filter but I would do a lot of investigating and run UOA to be safe.

 

Lol old thread. But not BS. I sent my oil to Blackstone labs with a k&n air intake filter in my TL. I had high silica content in my oil... They recommended checking my air filter as it was probably allowing dirt through. I switched to a standard air filter for the next 5k miles... And welp guess what... Next oil change silica levels are now normal. Don't be a moron without any evidence. And I live basically as far as possible from a dirt road for the 7 years of owning the car. Your comment is BS and you are full of S, way to be a fanboy for a company that gives you LITERALLY nothing in return. Between buying their cleaning and oil kits, plus time to clean the filter and it to dry the cost averages out for paper filters. Good job jerking k&n off though!