I read a post on here from years back about losing boost pressure and the quick fix was to replace the seals so I did this in the week. Two things I noticed, a lot less oil in the intercooler and hoses than I was expecting and the hoses themselves slid out all too easily without needing any real effort.
I wanted to replace three seals, the two on hose connecting to the inlet of the intercooler and the one from the intercooler to the throttle body but the final one is a different seal to the first two so I left it. But although I replaced them and there was an improvement, they still didn't feel really snug and were still relatively easy to pull out. I did remember in the post
@Pudding mentioning the inside of female end of the fittings wear through engine rocking and mine has had many, many miles with weak engine mounts.
After giving it a lot of thought, the best solution is to replace the hoses and the relevant pipe they connect to but being a cheapskate and looking for a temporary solution, I removed and cleaned the bayonet metal parts of the hoses and were they seat. I then used a thin strip of duck tape to 'pad' out the groove that the seal sits in, then applied a small amount of clean oil to help it ease without damaging the seal. This solution was so much better and allowed just enough resistance when sliding back in. This time it was a good snug fit and needed a little force to have it seat fully before replacing the clips. I also noticed how soft the hoses are too which reinforced the need to replace at some point.
Although there was a slight improvement in pick up before, I'm expecting a bigger difference this time. I will revisit this at some point in the future with the view to replacing but will need to wait a few months for business to be able to justify the spend. No pics this time as it is as simple as jacking up the car, putting axle stands in place and using a flat blade screwdriver to prise out the clip. Either take a photo or make a note of how the clips are located to make putting back easier. 30 mins in total if you take your time, use engine cleaner or carburettor cleaner to clean the hoses and the metal parts before replacing.
I think long term I'll look to replace the intercooler with an S3 option and then replace the hoses without the metal clips but with jubilee ones instead.