Dude, we've given you all the help we can give. It's really not supposed to be this difficult.

You shouldn't be having to force it at all. You should just be able to slide it down inside, and then just wiggle it around a little bit till it fits snuggly. (heh, that's what she said)

Are you putting it in backwards?

 

Hey all,

Ok I FINALLY figured it out and all it really took wasanice warm afternoon, a beer and some patience. The next time I do this I will add pics and post it on the Audi DIY site for all to see so no-one else runsinto the same problem I did. The trick to the whole thing, at least for me, is to remove the top half of the box competely off the bottom half so you can clearly see them separated. I wasn't doing thison my previous attempts so I couldn't seat the filter properly.With this method I managed to seat the filter seal onto the bottom half of the box and ensure a proper seal. Took it out for a test drive and no MAF warning (I made sure the filter had no excess oil on it before I put it in). Let's hope things stay that way. Thanks everyone for all your helpful hints. I guess I just had to do it when I was calm and patient as opposed to the first few attempts when I was pressed for time.

Where would I be without this forum?! Thanks again.

 

I did this last weekend , on my 3.0 was a bit of a PITA, slide the back in first and then at the top i had to shove it in with a little force, it didnt bend or anything so dont worry, just use a little authority