BRM air cleaners.

Hey fellas. Every BRM Jetta made for North America was equipped with the 3C0-129-607-BE air cleaner assembly with the cold weather equipment. It has the connection under the MAF for the hose from the shroud around the exhaust to allow heat past a thermostatic valve to allow the engine to breath some warm air during warm up in cold weather.

I had to order as new air cleaner assembly as the one on my new project BRM was all busted up. I ordered a lot of parts, including the air cleaner, from the parts catalog of a dealer that I get my parts from when I mail order. The air cleaner that was listed for the 2006 TDI Jetta was 3C0-129-607-BD, so that is what I ordered. The BD part differs from the original BE box in that it does not have the cold weather provisions. There is no where for that lower heat hose to connect. It’s blocked off flush.

The dealer said they would swap it for me if I sent it back as they are both the same price. I’m thinking about just keeping this one. That thermostatic flap is always broken open so there is always some hot air entering the air cleaner. By using the BD box I could delete that function and ensure only cool outside air entered the box. You still have to have the shroud installed as it is a mounting location for the hot side CAC tube.

What would y’all do?

Your in florida? Id just keep the air box ya got and move forward.

I might have looked in a salvage yard first for something like that at a fraction of the price although, I find a lot of the air box cover mount screw holes stripped due to overzealous mechanics using a 1/2" drive impact wrench to install them.
But under the circumstances, you might keep the one that deletes the the preheat port. It should not be an issue for a Floridian...well, maybe a couple of days per year.

You rarely see TDI's of any kind in salvage yards near me. And, like you said, if you could find one it would likely be damaged. $175 for a brand new box from VW is worth it to me. It even comes with a new filter installed. I may just keep the box I have for the reason you stated. I've had plenty of diesel powered equipment and vehicles, and besides another TDI, none have that sort of heat intake on the aircleaner and do just fine.