Quote:
Originally Posted by percychow
FWIW - I have the VRSF 5" HD IC and matching chargepipe - and I've been around German and Japanese import performance for a solid 20+ years. Build quality, even from the most respected brands can sometimes be iffy. It's REALLY hard to match OEM quality.
But my story is... the IC went in fine, mounted up fine. So ok VRSF IC for me.
BUT the VRSF chargepipe. I'd give it a 7/8 of 10 in build quality. It's a decent thickness aluminum and nice black/crinkle finish. But the inside of the pipe on mine was unfinished. NO polish or deburring, so there's going to be some turbulence in there.
As far as the install, if NOT connected to the IC, with an OEM o-ring, the CP when on/off with a good push. BUT once hooked up to the IC, it was a bear to get on. I ended up coating the (new) OEM BMW O-ring with synthetic oil, jiggling the connecting coupler to the IC, and finally muscled it on. The CP is pretty snug, not much play if any.
Just me 2-cents. I'd advise OK in the VRSF intercooler, but the CP... I'd have to look at a competing brand/unit to really say buy/don't buy.
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I have a highly modified 3000GT VR-4 (twin turbo) that i have owned for over 12 years so this is not my first time working on a turbo car either.
My VRSF IC came with a handful of bent fins out of the box (which seems about par for the course) in addition to some actual damage to one of the bars across the middle. My VRSF CP was the same as yours - inside was not cleaned up, and there was overspray from the black finish all over the inside of the pipe as well.
In terms of the fitment you describe, mine was nowhere near that. With stock Oring, you could literally move/rattle the CP-IC connection from side and side and essentially in all directions with free play, even after the clip was on. It required zero effort and simply slid/fell on with gravity. The 4mm Oring was better, but verified to still leak with my boost leak tester. It wasnt until i fit the slightly sanded 4.5mm Oring that it finally had a tight connection and sealed. And yes, i used motor oil to aid in getting the connections to slide on.
I am not bashing VRSF productions or anything, i guess i was just the unlucky one with a IC-CP connection thats way out of spec. It seems this is probably uncommon but not a one-off incident.