i think the side of the intake filter is touching the hood. can this disturb or hurt the maf?

ive been getting bad idling nowadays and sometimes car feels like its goin to die out. only happens when i stop at a stop light or a turn. once in a while though.

 

if you put an ebay filter on it its probabley idling ruff because you took out one of the sensors the one in the stock airbox but it shouldnt hurt anything and the filter touching the hood if it hasnt done any damage by now then it shouldnt either.

 

filter touching the hood doesn't affect the mafs. It just scratches up the filter and/or hood.

As for the idle, it might be the IAT sensor (mounted i the stock airbox) if you left it out of the install... check for a loose MAFS connector. Also, try a simple ECU reset since you changed to a free flowing filter