So I'm prepping the car for vacation and was due for a new air filter. Picked it up from the dealership, OEM.
Got it out of the box at home and it is a conventional paper element with about a 3/8in sheet of foam (dry, non-oiled) on the intake side of the paper filter. It's tacked on very neatly with small spots of glue so it is not some piece of packing material. The fit into the air box is perfect and there is no warning on the packaging saying be sure to remove it. I called the parts dept back and asked them about this. They told me yes it stays on.
BTW, the previous stock filter that I removed had no such foam element.
Any other car makers going to such a design?
Seems like a very restrictive design but I suppose Volvo's development budget is much greater than mine.
Got it out of the box at home and it is a conventional paper element with about a 3/8in sheet of foam (dry, non-oiled) on the intake side of the paper filter. It's tacked on very neatly with small spots of glue so it is not some piece of packing material. The fit into the air box is perfect and there is no warning on the packaging saying be sure to remove it. I called the parts dept back and asked them about this. They told me yes it stays on.
BTW, the previous stock filter that I removed had no such foam element.
Any other car makers going to such a design?
Seems like a very restrictive design but I suppose Volvo's development budget is much greater than mine.