Quote:
Originally Posted by Effduration
Replace Heater pipes - You can use Non- OE heater pipes, but the o-rings often don't seal. I bought the proper sized o-ring from FCP Euro
Victor Reinz 11531435808 - I bought 8 or 10 at $0.50 ea.
Use these o-rings with any of the aftermarket pipes from FCP (Like Rein) and you will be fine. Since you asked about under the intake, I have had good luck with aftermarket intake gaskets, throttle body gaskets, Oil filter housing gaskets, and coolant hoses. I buy the cold-weather version of the Genuine BMW CCV (which is strangely discounted) and usually take off the foam cover. I will also buy the cheapest CCV aftermarket pipes I can find.
BTW - when I do heater pipes and BEFORE i re-install intake, I hook up all pipes and hoses after install, fill with distilled, install a gutted thermostat housing, and pressurize to <20 psi to check for leaks where heater pipes enter block....This has saved me a ton of headaches having to remove/replace intake 2 or 3x, etc.
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Exactly what I would say too.
I got burned by
bad o-rings on those heater pipes. They look great, and install great, leak free. But a year later, they will have melted and be leaking. Difficulty in determining the quality of new rubber parts appears to be an especially lucrative area for the cheap parts makers. So that is an area where (from now on) I will only get genuine or OEM/OES parts. BMW, Reinz, etc. would be fine here. It's not especially hard to get right, it is just so easy to cheat at, so the brandless vendors will do that.
So I guess a slight update from
Effduration's advice is that even if they pressure test fine when first installed, the defective material may result in a problem later.
Also, general advice on those pipes is that if they are original and you remove them, pretty much 100% likely they will be destroyed and need replacement. So if you don't plan to replace them, leave them in place.