Why do these kink?

[autokunst]

Here's my silly, but kind of serious question of the day: why do the rubber fuel funnels kink on just about all of our cars? It appears the part has a propensity designed into it to fold right in the same spot. But it is a molded part, so I would think that they could have been molded in such a way as to not fold in this way. I have had mine in a little jig (okay, I leaned a pipe on the kink) for about 2 months. So it is straighter than it was, but in the 5 minutes I had the pipe off of it, I could see it begin to sag/fold again.

The first pic is not my car - something I found on the internet. Sorry if it is yours.

 

[adawil2002]

It's a pretty thin rubber cover, they all do that.

 

[Stevehose]

Have a glass of wine and move on to the next 1st world problem!

 

[bluecoupe30!]

It's a pretty thin rubber cover, they all do that.

BMW Service Manager Training, 101, "They all do that" Well done!

 

[dang]

My guess is that function won out over form. They probably made them and saw that they sag and decided it was in the trunk and worked fine so they didn't spend anymore time($) on it. Kinda like modern cars that have springs attached to the trunk hinges. To keep the springs from vibrating and making noise they shove a piece of foam in the center of the spring. Looks dumb but works great.

 

[autokunst]

Thanks for the replies. I was hoping that someone had a magic solution - spray some witch hazel on the rubber and chant this phrase until midnight...
It seems BMW didn't hold their vendor/provider of this part to a standard. But at least when I look at the sagging rubber kink in the trunk I can state "it's original".

Related topic. The funnel I have is not originally from my car. And I can see that, where ever it came from, it had been siliconed to the metal opening of the quarter panel. Is this a common thing that coupe owners do? Or was this a rogue example? I appreciate the efforts that are taken to keep water out of our cars, but I'm not sure that bedding this thing in RTV seems right. Curious if this is "always done", or this was a rare case.

 

[deQuincey]

mine does not kink,
okay, there is a little trick,
just take a small towel and place it inside on the other side, just avobe the fuel cap,
it is unobtrusive, you can refill without touching it
it will keep the rubber up in place

 

[kouzina]

Its probably got to with petrol/benzene being splashed on it, this will affect the composition of the rubber

 

[autokunst]

Its probably got to with petrol/benzene being splashed on it, this will affect the composition of the rubber

I am about to try soaking this piece in a mix of wintergreen oil and alcohol. Mine is reasonably supple, but I suspect this soak will renew it further. I will be curious to see if it also returns to its original shape, or if the "kink" will remain.