I have grown not to take what most people on the forums say as the "only way to go", just because I have seen so many failures of parts that were deemed "the only way to go" from so many forum members. I feel a lot more confident in my OEM RMS not leaking than I do with the iAbed RMS, but that's just only speaking for myself.
I had no idea that there was a different install tool. It must be that the new install tools diameter is a lot smaller to fit the new updated OEM RMS version, because the new OEM RMS's inner diameter wouldn't even fit over my install tools smallest diameter part. I think that's so stupid how the VW dealership didn't even let me know that there was a newer version install tool that went along with the new updated OEM RMS. Either way, I find it so odd that the new updated OEM RMS actually could fit onto the crank hub because it was so much smaller. That inner rubber lip would be stretched so far out that I don't now if I would've even felt confident with the new OEM RMS given how far it needed to stretch on the one rubber part that's supposed to prevent the leak. Maybe it does. I would need to see it installed in person to really grasp the idea behind it.
I have also come to not trust shops either. I am sure there are performance shops that know their stuff on this car, but I have yet to find one that really knows what they're talking about. The amount of things that I have had to figure out on my own with success, that these VW and European shops weren't able to with this car, is crazy! I don't know if it's a VW thing, because this never happened with my BMW's, but it seems like a lot of VW tech's have very small knowledge in this platform. I am glad you trust a shop enough to have them install the iAbed RMS and work on your car. For me, I take shops recommendations as low value. I hope your RMS doesn't leak, and if mine does, I will make sure I let you know.
I don't have any links. I just remember seeing a post or two a while back with it leaking. That's another reason why I just stick with OEM. That and the oil pan too. Too many people thinking a steel pan will be better, and then having leaks all the time...not worth the hassle.
I just don't understand why the slave? TOB's on this car are so bad! Why? Its not a piece that is hard to design and test. So why are we as the users having to buy these expensive kits, and having the most plain piece of the kit failing on us so often? It blows my mind, and is frustrating given the cost of these jobs! I hope our doesn't fail in the near future because I'm at my wits end with these clutch part failures with this car! The thought of selling my GTI has come across my mind so many times due to the clutch, but its hard to sell because its such a fun car to drive when its driving well! And to find anything else this fast, fun, ergonomic, practical, and economical, for cheaper, won't ever happen. I've put too much money into it to sell it for cheap, and even if I did sell it for 20k (prices on manual MK7 GTI's have gone up quite a bit in the last year)(not sure if you knew this or not), and bought a 10k car, I wouldn't be saving that much money in the long run, but then I'm stuck with a boring car to drive that gives me nothing buy A to B commute status.