How to gain up to 6hp free.

[mikiejack]

How to gain up to 6hp free.

On this website http://home.earthlink.net/~r_tech/cars/firstmods.html it says that you can gain 6hp just by removing the airbox baffle. Can someone tell me how to do it on a 1998 e36 323 euro engine and secondly if there is a downside.

One thing I have heard is that behind the grill is a metal protector to stop water getting in there. Apparently if you remove it air will go straight into the air box therefore giving more power. Be warned, avoid big puddles etc as you won't have any protection from water soaking the airbox (will be fine with rain though).

[FLiPModE]

be careful wih baffle removal, because some people have lost power by removing too much of it or the wrong bafle. The plate you are talking about is actually plastic, many of us here have removed the water ingestion flap without any problems. Seems to keep the intake area cooler.

[daddycam]

i took the airbox baffle out a couple of weeks ago, and it seems to help a little. it does growl a little louder, so that is worth it in itself. the baffle is inside the airbox right where the air is funneled in from the from the grill. you will notice that it restricts the opening into the airbox a bit, so that is why you might gain a little flow and hp by removing it. to get it out i had to unbolt the airbox to get to the bottom of it where the tab that holds the baffle is located. just push the tab in and slide the baffle out.

[mikiejack]

Thanks for the help. I would really like to remove my baffle now. Better engine growl, that sounds good to me. I bought my bmw 80% because of the noise the engine makes. Once it is removed can I add it back on again in the future?
I would really appreciate it if you could give more detail on how you removed the baffle.

Many Thanks

[daddycam]

yeah, i love the sound, too. i think someone had written this up with some pretty pics and all somewhere, but i can't find it. i'll keep looking... anyway, take the top cover off of the airbox like you would if you were changing the filter. the baffle is on the right side of the airbox where the air comes into the box. the baffle is just held in by a plastic tab. to get to the back side of the tab on the outside of the box, i had to unbolt the box so that i could get my hand under it. i didn't totally remove the airbox--i just unbolted it so that i could get to the tab. push the tab in really hard and slide the baffle out. that's about it. if i find any pics, i'll post them.

[540Rob]

I did it to mine.... it didn't really make much of a difference.... then I got a intake. I suggest just getting the intake.

[UD///M]

The particular baffle noted on the page is referring to the one on the front of the air box. If you remove the tube leading fromt the gril you will see it.
Your car will be no more suceptible to water ingestion that if the was still there. Don't leave the external tube off or you will just draw alot of hot air into the box.

[UD///M]

Originally posted by mikiejack
Thanks for the help. I would really like to remove my baffle now. Better engine growl, that sounds good to me. I bought my bmw 80% because of the noise the engine makes. Once it is removed can I add it back on again in the future?
I would really appreciate it if you could give more detail on how you removed the baffle.

Many Thanks

Yes you can put the baffle back if you want too. I threw mine out because I knew I would never want to replace it.
Remove the airbox via the two 10mm nuts. Then as someone has already mentioned, press the clip and slide it right out. The 6hp claim is noted on a dyno sheet on active autowerkes website. I noticed a very small improvement. 6hp is not much to notice with a butt dyno.

[phammd]

here it is: http://www.bmw-m.net/TechProc/h2oprotection.htm

i'm gonna try and do it this weekend...unless...does the shawn fogg forced air intake work better than this?

[daddycam]

look, they are having the same discussion on dtmpower...
http://www.dtmpower.net/forum/showth...&threadid=2339

[mikiejack]

I appreciate everyone's help on this. I will try it this weekend. Even if I don't notice the difference at least I will get a slightly better sound which is worth it anyway.

Thanks.

[Stylin]

I would not remove the water ingestion flap with a stock airbox. Only remove it with an intake setup.