Air duct install - Help

[JimG]

Some how during my r&R of thew dash, the drivers side footwell air duct came dislodged. I have been unable to reseat it! Has anyone had any experience in reinstalling this?
@993 X5 E53 3.0

[JimG]

With a little help from a "JustAnswer" mechanic I was ble to determine that the duct piece had expanded from heat over the years. I then wrapped the edges of it with duct tape,which enabled it to fit snuggly in place.

[X5chemist]

Interesting. I may need to do that to my intake hose connection. The ram air connection fits a little loose.

[workingonit]

Originally Posted by X5chemist

Interesting. I may need to do that to my intake hose connection. The ram air connection fits a little loose.

I bought a cheap (about $25 from Amazon) "Air Intake Hose Tube" (intermediate between the air cleaner and scoop atop the radiator) and used a heat gun to reshape it to fit OK.

Now, three years later, it seems to have resumed the wrong shape again, and I have resorted to using Gorilla Tape to make a semi-sealed connection. I previously tried using "Industrial Black Mini Stretch Wrap Roll" (used for wrapping around loaded pallets and such), but I had to constantly remove it while experimenting with the MAF.

The previous owner lost the original tube (along with the MID, radio, CD changer, etc...which I could've used), so I don't know if the OEM part would've fit any better, and I'm not going to spend the $66 (+ tax and shipping) to buy a BMW part from FCP Euro, to find out.

At 23 years old, my X's plastic parts are all starting to warp, crack, or otherwise deteriorate...matching the state of my own self at 74.

[Henn28]

That drivers side duct can be a huge PITA I’ve found too. I ended up taping it in with RV tape after the plastic broke on one of the tab lock cutouts. I was just under the pax side and that one is of a much better design. It easily snaps into place and is held at the other end by a clip to a dash framing member. And you can see it without turning into a pretzel