Typhoon Filters Collapsing

seanmorr370

I bought a '12 base 370z about 6 months ago with about 40k miles on it. The previous owner installed a K&N Typhoon intake system and a Meisterschaft exhaust system. I have no idea whether or not HFCs were also installed, I'll be able to take a closer look at that when I get the car in the air to change the brake pads soon.

Today, I noticed that the conical air intake filters on the Typhoon looked like this:





I don't know when this happened, I just noticed it when I had my oil changed yesterday.

I do know that these filters supposedly last a very long time, and that they can be cleaned. K&N says that they don't need cleaned until parts of the wire screen can't be seen, so they don't look like they need cleaned and at only 40k miles on this car, they are well within their advertised lifespan.

Can anyone shed some light on what may have caused this to happen? Is this robbing me of enough power to be concerned? Can these filters be straitened back out, or do I need to just go ahead and replace them? If so, should I just buy larger K&Ns or go with a different size/brand altogether to avoid a repeat?

Thanks in advance for your time.