It would be nice to see that pipe not on the car if pics are available, so we can better see the difference if any with the bracket, pipe inlet end, etc. Seeing how clean that PVC connection is perhaps there was a change made. the nipple does still look long to me though, because of the way it's suppose to mate with the plastic connector, but if it works... it works.
IMO, cutting the inlet side was worth the trouble than not. It's just too long and extends way into the hose and way too tight even with lube. Cutting it also allows the OE induction hose to easily fit for full sleeper mode, which would be impossible without cutting the bead off and the extra length; a sign that it won't fit right without some mods. The pipe itself should fit with the OE induction hose and OE turbo inlet without having to mod anything if it was properly engineered. Since this crossover pipe was made for a EU model I'm willing to gave them a break for the slight mods I had to make to fit my USDM model. For some reason RAMAIR is the only mfg. that made it a bit long and with a hose bead on the end. ITG, Forge Motorsports and some others have it cut to length and no bead for easier OE fitment. The bead isn't necessary on that end since the hose fits so snug, it ain't going anywhere.
My current setup is with the OE induction hose, as I prefer the car to be a sleeper but deadly.