I had the same concern at one time, however, if you are changing your oil/filter regularly you will have no problem. Cut the OE filter open at your next change and see how it looks, I've not seen any cause for concern. Not sure what P/N you are using, but the D3 is what I use on my V8 and it is larger than what was on my Highlander, so I switched to the D3 on Highlander too.