Shark Injector/CAI

[JCM3]

I am about to buy a shark injector.
Anyone tell me about their experinces with it? Good or Bad.
Or, should I buy another software upgrade?

I will also get a CAI ....what is my best choice? Someone on here recently posted a "build in yourself" homemade CAI....sounds interesting and inexpensive.


'98 M3/2

[Kevlar]

I had the Shark Injector and and ECIS Intake. Gains were good. The gains with the shark injector are variable on how good your engine is and what operating condition you typically are in. If both are favorable, you will see minimal gains without the intake, but huge gain after you put the intake on.

However, if you engine isn't running at top condition (for one reason or another), the Shark Injector may provide no gains for you.

Some people dyno the SI and a CAI and receive huge gains, other receive no gains, some actually lost power and MPG.

I since have changed from the SI to the AA chip. I noticed similar power levels but I gained an additional 7ft-lbs of torque. Mid range power seems to be a little bit better, but it's impossible to measure.

You may also want to scroll down to the bottom of this post on page one and see my response there...
http://www.bimmerforums.com/forum/sh...&threadid=1078

[gschomi]

Dont waste your money on the shark injector. Your 400.00 bucks is better spent on a shift kit or gauge kit. I dynoed my 98 M3 stock prior to getting the SI and had great numbers: 219HP and 225 torque. After i injected my HP did not change., 219hp but my torque droped to 217. I remeoved the program and HP stayed at 219 but my torque went back up to 222. Also the week after i had the injector my MPG droped bigtime., after i removed the program it went back up. I was lucky that i got to return it and get my 400.00 bucks back. If you decide to get it buy., buy it from Will Turner and ask if you can return it if not satisfied.

As far as a CAI goes, ECIS has the best bang for the buck. There are definite gains with a CAI plus it sounds great at WOT.

happy motoring

[corwyn]

I bought and installed the SI and the Conforti CAI at the same time, so I don't really know what caused what, but here's my experience. Throttle response is quicker (the reprogram apparently sets the pedal to be more sensitive, and thus provides more fuel with less pedal travel. This I can attest to, since I did turn the car on and rev it a few times to hear the CAI-improved engine sound before Shark Injecting) and more uniform. As comparison, a coworker of mine tried my car out, and noted that hard acceleration from low RPMs (or stop) would push our heads back into the headrests in my car, while his essentially identical, but unmodded, car needed to be at 3k RPM to have the same effect.

The slightly higher rev limiter (+200, now 7000RPM) is nice, and the removed speed governor was useful once (uh...on the...uh...track, yeah...) It's not supposed to, but the rev limiter also feels a bit more soft than the stock limiter. It may just be that I wasn't accelerating quite as hard that time, too...

The CAI does add a nice sound, which I think any CAI will do. I just happen to like the look of the Conforti better than the ECIS, especially since, IMHO, it looks more stock.

Oh, and my gas mileage went up 2 or 3 MPG. I was getting about 25MPG to and from work (combination local streets and local highways), but now I get about 27-28MPG.

But like Kevlar said, people's experiences vary, and people's needs/desires vary. One autocrosser told me that he didn't think it increased the performance of the car that much, but the higher rev limiter sometimes saves an extra shift, and then that much more time cut off his race times.

[Yackedy Sacks]

I just installed a shark injector yesterday on my otherwise stock '99 M3. I definitely feel an increase in power. The throttle is more responsive, and I get a bigger pull in the low-medium RPM ranges. First thing I noticed was that the engine sounded different (a little louder, deeper). According to all the posts I have read, a CAI helps alot so that would be my next move.

[gerry_miranda]

Dinan software I as as far as I know increases HP mostly on the upper end of the RPMs and none on the mid range.

LandShark increases HP on the Midramge mostly.

As far as my experiences.....

None with Dinan

When I had my car Sharked the very first time, the change in HP was incredible. I can feel the car is definately faster, but as time went on the change seemed to have gone away. I figured, i just got used to it. Then BMW had a software upgrade recall for rough idling which they applied to my car, thus erasing my Sharked programming. Guess what I could not even tell the difference between standard program and the Shark program except for the higher rev limit. I believe this is due to the M3 adoptation capabilities (OBD II). For more adoptation info see: http://ackthud.com/shawnfogg/mixture.htm So, I sent my DME back to eurosport and they reflashed the DME again. This time the change in HP was not as evident. In fact my DYNO shwed that the ol M3 was producing stock power after the second DME upgrade.

As far as the Injector, there are a mix of responses. I think , and this is ONLY my opinion, that a lot of the positive response might be from the original batch of Sharking. Based on my experience, matybe Jim C. changed some of the programming from original to make his product less effective.

If you ask me getting the Intake and exhaust gets you the most consistant bang for the buck. I would not waste $400 on any DME program that can be overwritten by your service department.