Air Filter Foam

[mktommo]

I was servicing my Z3 today and for the first time had more than a cursory glance at the air filter in my 1.9 Z3. Under the filter there was a plastic cage and some really poorly / deteriorated foam that crumbled the minute I touched it.

It looks like the foam has broken up and been slowly finding its was into the air intake (although the car has been running fine). Its not like anything I've seen before - its on the 'clean' side of the air filter.

Can anyone tell me what its for please? Do I need to replace or leave well alone - I hoovered out what was there and put it back together for now.

Thanks in advance for any help!

Paul

 

[t-tony]

Sounds like it's time to replace the filter Paul. Did you take any pictures by any chance?

Tony.

 

[Faheem]

Is this the foam padding inside the air filter box? If so mine was also starting to disintegrate and I had read that it's okay just to vacuum the foam padding out and remove it completely as it is only there for noise suppression.

Probably worth getting a second opinion though.

@t-tony I think he's talking about this, found on both the top and bottom of the airbox.

Or I might be completely wrong and you might in fact be talking about the air filter.

 

[t-tony]

Is this the foam padding inside the air filter box? If so mine was also starting to disintegrate and I had read that it's okay just to vacuum the foam padding out and remove it completely as it is only there for noise suppression.

Probably worth getting a second opinion though.

@t-tony I think he's talking about this, found on both the top and bottom of the airbox.

View attachment 62917

Or I might be completely wrong and you might in fact be talking about the air filter.

It's likely that Paul is talking about that sound insulation to which you refer Faheem, always easier to say if you see a picture like here.
Some air filters come with a 13mm thick piece of foam attached to the air filter itself, although that is much more common on diesel engine air filters, again, as induction noise suppression.

Tony.

 

[mktommo]

Sounds like it's time to replace the filter Paul. Did you take any pictures by any chance?

Tony.

Thanks Tony - the filter looks in really good condition and was replaced last service (4,000 miles ago). It looks like its underneath and a separate part to the filter. I've seen another post that says it might be an additional noise suppressant which make sense looking at it. It might be a quirk of the early 4 cylinder engines?

 

[mktommo]

It's likely that Paul is talking about that sound insulation to which you refer Faheem, always easier to say if you see a picture like here.
Some air filters come with a 13mm thick piece of foam attached to the air filter itself, although that is much more common on diesel engine air filters, again, as induction noise suppression.

Tony.

Sorry @t-tony - I should have read on. I think this is it. I'll run it without the foam for a while and see if it makes any difference to running and / or noise.

I'll post photos next time as its clearly to see what on earth I'm rambling on about!

 

[mktommo]

Is this the foam padding inside the air filter box? If so mine was also starting to disintegrate and I had read that it's okay just to vacuum the foam padding out and remove it completely as it is only there for noise suppression.

Probably worth getting a second opinion though.

@t-tony I think he's talking about this, found on both the top and bottom of the airbox.

View attachment 62917

Or I might be completely wrong and you might in fact be talking about the air filter.

Thanks @Faheem - that's exactly it (although mine looked a whole lot worse than that)! Cheers. for the photo......

 

[ZTec]

The foam in mine was completely disintegrated, just vacumned it up and replaced the filter.