Nothing wrong with those fittings, I used them years ago to good effect when a pipe wasn't available off the shelf. They are supplied to VWR from here I suspect -
http://www.revotec.com/acatalog/Self-Sealing-Fittings-with-Threaded-Fitting.htmlWhether or not you should have to do that to a £440 intake....hmmmm.... personally I feel it is a bit of a hack job, but I understand why from a business sense they did it that way. It's cheaper to make a generic turbo inlet hose for the K03, and then just bung a fitting in the box for a KO4 people. It does the job though, so no harm done really, just not 'premium' as VWR make themselves out to be.
That's the least of your worries. Issue no.2 is the fact it can snap off the coolant elbow just by the engine cover, and issue no.3 is there is no fricking flex coupling to soak up engine movement. What is it with intake makers and overlooking that most obvious of obvious requirements??!
Still, I was about to buy one of these and address these issues myself, because aside from those issues, it is a good intake. Obviously a resprayed ITG kit, but very good none the less.
If you stick with it, let me know what it's like from a noise/performance perspective.
If you're thinking of offering VWR some feedback, don't bother. You won't get a response or even 1 sh*t given.
