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Owned my g37 for roughly 5 years, and had an r2c CI intake for a majority of that. Purchased the intake from a vendor on myg37.com. Overall the intake looked great when I installed it, and the pipes have held up. However Ive been very disappointed with the longevity and condition of the filter boxes and filters themselves even after a short period of time. After about one year on the vehicle, the black metal boxes had completely rusted out. This was surprising considering the vehicle is kept in a garage and it does not snow in the DC area, and even if it did the RWD g37 isn't making it very far. Well r2c was kind enough to replace the boxes after a handful of back and forth. Well fast forward about 2.5-3 years while cleaning out my G I noticed that the filters were cracking and falling apart. Contacted r2c and was able to order another set of filters no problem. While installing these new filters I was very disappointed as to the condition of the overall system. The filters themselves were literally falling apart, which is alarming considering these plastic pieces could end up in my engine. The boxes were back to being rusted out on the sides and on the inside. Overall it seems like these products were not built to last, and I'm fairly disappointed with the quality of R2Cs product. I raised these concerns via email to the company, however they aren't very responsive via email. Anyways, just thought I'd share this story considering I know this is a popular system on these forums.
I remember them getting pretty terrible reviews for their customer service. Im not even sure that they are in business anymore. I actually tried to order the same intakes a while ago. Never shipped or got a response from R2C, so the 3rd party vendor refunded me. Didnt know the quality of their material was so shotty. Thanks for the write up.
wow, those filters are disaster...I've had the same K&N drop ins in my g for over 7 years and they still look brand new, so I'd never expect this...those look like they caught on fire or something, thats pretty bad if its just wear and tear....the rust in the boxes also look like they are heat/fire damaged...thanks for the post, good to know for others, its probably a good idea to spray the boxes with some high temp paint when you get them the way some people do to their aftermarket exhausts to keep them rusting out...
I have a pretty similar experience with my R2C also, I got the filters replaced (that was a hassle...) before they got that bad though. The nickle finish is starting to come off mine too
Yeah **** R2C. I waited 2 months on intakes from them in Spring of 2017...never got them and ended up getting a refund through the 3rd party vendor that I ordered from. They would ignore phone call after phone call or tell you that it was going to be "shipped out the next day". Terrible customer service and it looks like it actually hurt them. I don't believe they're in business anymore.
I've had my R2C inrake kit for almost five years now, and it's fine. There's a little bit of peel of the black chrome plating at the brackets against the heat shields, and every year or so I touch up the little bit of surface rust on the heat shields. As for the filters themselves, I'm on my second set, but didn't really need to, just wanted to get the Black Hex filters.
Yours, however... oh my god, that's insane. Looks like The Thing from the Fastastic Four. Actually, looks like serious heat damage.
Anyway, I don't think your experience is typical at all, but it sure would freak me out too. And I didn't know R2C was slipping as a business. Bummer, but few things are forever.
I ordered drop in filters which arrived in a timely manor. My last set I had about 6 months and looked brand new. This though has me worried and I will definitely monitor them closely. The drop in filters have different rubber surround though so maybe their QC is higher.
I'll be removing everything again this winter, for cleaning and fitment. So if there's anything untoward since the last time I did this, I'll surely say something. Heck I'll probably say something and take pics anyway, just because. Something to do over a snowy weekend.
[edit]
No pics, nothing to report except that the pipes and filters are still fine.
Just to clarify, they went out of business last year. I also had one on order last spring, it was on backorder for like 3 months before I canceled it. They were having problems with their supplier. Next time I called back, they were out of business. You can still order the black hex filters from ImportPartsPro and a few other places - they are pretty much the same price as the stock air filters. I'm getting my setup in the mail from beancounter10 today!. Excited to get these on, I've been waiting for years!
Those pics look like an aftermath in a wildfire. My guess is R2C is one of those Chinese companies that uses low grade materials. Not surprising that they are out of business.
10-29-2018, 06:41 PM
