That bumper "accordian" thing

["P-O Selander (EUS)" <EUSPOS@am1.ericsson.se>]

Andrew wrote:

>A couple of weeks ago, someone started a discussion of a strange
>black plastic "accordian" looking thing inside their front bumper.

>I saw this yesterday on my '89 100Q, and am perplexed. It's
>about 8" long, and fits between the bumper and the frame of
>the car. It seems completely unattached to anything, and I
>can't see how it does ANYTHING funtional.

>Whatthehellisit?

Andrew,
I answered last time and was not contest so I assume I was correct.
Can't find my old mail but the thing is called a "gasket" on the fiche.
My take is that it helps forcing the air (when driving) into the offset
radiator and prevents the slight overpressure from disappearing out to
the right inside the bumper.
Since I actually did tear it out and scrapped it, (needed to get under
bumper to tighten nuts for driving lights) it is just a black accordion
chamber that is sealed and has hence no connections at all. I guess
Audis in this heat can need all the assist available to force air into
the offset radiator so I plugged the back of the bumper with some closed
cell foam. Worked fine for the last 10K miles.

Hope this helps /// P-O