[Pinscher]

Hi Guys,

I just took off my tranny to change my clutch, and after I got the clutch off, I see there is some damage developing on my pretty new silicone inlets.

These are VRFS inlets.

Also, I've attached two pictures. One is showing what looks to be a crack or a cut, and the other is showing how crazy squished this inlet is.

I wanted to know if these cracks are common, and if applying glue would suffice to fix it, also what kind of glue I should use for the repair.

Lastly, look at how squished that inlet tube is between the car body and the engine/transmission. I know it's a tight fit there, but is that amount normal?

Thanks for your input!

[Bimmer_Engineer]

Everybody knows there are no issues with any VRSF parts. This is clearly a case of installer error. Sorry I can’t be any more helpful OP...but this is the way...

[ragingpanda]

Chalk it up to another poor quality chinese product in the market. Get either rb or bms inlets and call it a day.

[_N54]

Well it's the easiest time to replace them now.

[mweisdorfer]

When you installed them, did you lather rear inlet up with soap or synthetic grease? Also, you can create some room back there by taking off the OEM inlet bracket. Some of the edges back there are sharp; you could tape the new one up with gorilla tape in areas you think the inlet might contact, that are sharp. You could also file down edges that are sharp & round them off.

[Pinscher]

Originally Posted by Bimmer_Engineer

Everybody knows there are no issues with any VRSF parts. This is clearly a case of installer error. Sorry I can’t be any more helpful OP...but this is the way...

I think you may be being sarcastic. Lol.

Installed by a well knowing bmw specialist mechanic too.

[Pinscher]

Originally Posted by mweisdorfer

When you installed them, did you lather rear inlet up with soap or synthetic grease? Also, you can create some room back there by taking off the OEM inlet bracket. Some of the edges back there are sharp; you could tape the new one up with gorilla tape in areas you think the inlet might contact, that are sharp. You could also file down edges that are sharp & round them off.

It was installed by a shop.

[Pinscher]

Originally Posted by ///S58

Well it's the easiest time to replace them now.

So your vote is replace vs Sil-poxy?

[Bimmer_Engineer]

I was totally being sarcastic...and FWIW if it were me I would totally replace them now as it's way easier with the car in the current state. I can't make a recommendation on what to replace with, but there have been a fair number of posts on here regarding collapsed VRSF silicone inlets...

[Jeff@TopGearSolutions]

If they rub anywhere, anytime that engine flexes(which is often) it will wear through. A lot of the damage on that looks to be during install.

[Tyc0]

I have installed RB inlets on two cars, one car I left the stock inlet bracket on, the other one I took off. The car with the inlet bracket still on was a much tighter fit, I would suggest taking it off before you reinstall a new inlet. Also make sure to lube inlet before install to insure it doesn't catch on something sharp.

[_N54]

Originally Posted by Pinscher

So your vote is replace vs Sil-poxy?

Yup replace them. I would get the RB's if I had to do it all over again.

[Rube]

Originally Posted by Jeff@TopGearSolutions

If they rub anywhere, anytime that engine flexes(which is often) it will wear through. A lot of the damage on that looks to be during install.

Yup, looks like damage on install. Put a couple layers of rubber tape over it and call it good.

[Smgs1992]

Suggest using hairspray to install the new inlet. Trick i used to do years ago with bike grips. Slides on with ease and within 24hrs itll dry unlike grease or anything