Quick background: I originally ordered the vehicle with the pack that included the RAI (reason being, concerned about moondust around here), then it was abruptly pulled off less than two weeks before delivery due to the RAI recall with no ETA to fix (the choice I was given is, drop it or wait for nobody knows how long). Well, I dropped it, now, 5900 miles later, let's see if it mattered.

Not much.

This vehicle has been around lots of dust, and some mud (interestingly enough, that one day trip contributed more crud than the rest combined). Yet, the intake after the filter looks pristine to me, despite all around it being unbelievably filthy (side note, how do you folks clean the engine compartment???) Below what it looks like, and my verdict is - I can replace the air filter about 40 times for the price of the ROI, so yeah, it looks like a good deal. Sure thing, getting it may be financially viable because the price of a pack is a fraction of the price of the parts combined (plus port install vs. dealer install), but not having it shouldn't be a reason to cry one's eyes out - this is my take, YMMV.








Not to get up twice - this is how the cabin filter looked like; I will replace them much more often in the future (though the cabin air quality degradation wasn't really noticeable). It's hilarious how mismatched the writings on the replacement filter are - I guess that's the price you pay for not having the JLR seal of approval. So far, so good.