To reproduce: 
-add RadGridView with 2 columns - ID and Name; 
-add RadButton and use the following code:
public Form1() { InitializeComponent(); AddSelfReferencingColumns(grid, "Id", "Parent.Id"); this.grid.DataSource = TestDataGenerator.GenerateTestData(); } public void AddSelfReferencingColumns(RadGridView grid, string childKey, string parentKey) { GridViewTextBoxColumn col1 = new GridViewTextBoxColumn("hiddenColumnId", childKey); GridViewTextBoxColumn col2 = new GridViewTextBoxColumn("hiddenColumnParentId", parentKey); grid.MasterTemplate.Columns.Add(col1); grid.MasterTemplate.Columns.Add(col2); grid.Columns["hiddenColumnId"].IsVisible = false; grid.Columns["hiddenColumnParentId"].IsVisible = false; grid.Relations.AddSelfReference(grid.MasterTemplate, "hiddenColumnId", "hiddenColumnParentId"); } void refreshButton_Click(object sender, System.EventArgs e) { this.grid.DataSource = TestDataGenerator.GenerateTestData(); } class TestDataGenerator { public static IList<TestObject> GenerateTestData() { IList<TestObject> result = new List<TestObject>(); TestObject top = new TestObject { Id = 1, Name = "Top" }; result.Add(top); for (int i = 1; i < 4; i++) { TestObject firstChild = new TestObject() { Id = 10 * i, Name = string.Format("First level child {0}", i), Parent = top }; result.Add(firstChild); for (int j = 1; j < 10; j++) { TestObject secondChild = new TestObject() { Id = 10 * i + j, Name = string.Format("Second level child {0}", j), Parent = firstChild }; result.Add(secondChild); } } return result; } } class TestObject { public long Id { get; set; } public string Name { get; set; } public TestObject Parent { get; set; } }

Steps to reproduce: 1.Type in Name column filter i.e. "F" 2.Press refresh button. The grid is empty, even though the new list contains the same data (different objects).

Workaround: void refreshButton_Click(object sender, System.EventArgs e) { FilterDescriptorCollection filters = new FilterDescriptorCollection(); foreach (FilterDescriptor filterItem in this.grid.FilterDescriptors) { filters.Add(filterItem); } this.grid.DataSource = TestDataGenerator.GenerateTestData(); this.grid.FilterDescriptors.Clear(); foreach (FilterDescriptor filter in filters) { this.grid.FilterDescriptors.Add(filter); } }