personally, i think these "front mount intakes" are wannabe intercoolers. kinda ricey, but hey its your car, your money.

performance-wise, i would think that they are a lil better than traditional cold air intakes because of the filter location. but again, there is the risk of water getting into it like you said. covering the filter with pexiglass would kinda defeat the purpose of getting one because it would cover the filter...

if i were, just get a regular CAI, no need to get one of these.