i took it off today to clean it, and the front metal ring fell off... my question is... is it alright to leave it off? or should i attempt to crimp or glue it back on with some high temp stuff?

 

buy a new one

 

I would imagine it's just a decorative piece, so you could probably leave it off.

 

u can leave it off as long as its only the outside one. if the inside one comes off, it will get stuck in the intake near the MAF sensor, depriving the engine of air. use some epoxy

 

yea... i went through the same process.. the outter one fell off and then the inner one came off while i was driving and almost caused a very unsafe experience on the highway with an 18 wheeler that didn't expect my car to slow down like it did... Luckily i swerved to the break down lane, but it bogged like no tomorrow went from 80 to 50 when the rpm's just dropped. If you want a cheap replacement, the filter is small but it fits and there's a second hole that you need to plug up, but i found one on www.jegs.com under K&N filters... its just a universal one that has a 1/4 hole for a hose next to the intake inlet that i just plugged up and its running fine now. It only cost me about 34$ shipped. And i recieved it in like 3 days...