I've never used the M1 filter 1 because it is like 15 bucks here and 2 because I can never find them for my truck . That is strange about the lifter tick I find the nissan filter works the best on mine. I rarely get the lifter noise but it usually happened with the purolater filters the oil change place I went to. I want to try an M1 one if I can find one for the wd21.
Then again my pathy has so much mileage I'm not sure it even matters anymore (though I just completed a full tour of the usa in it and it didn't use a drop of oil, never does).