Ram air as to stock intake

[Khan850i]

only asking because i seen a picture of a nice 8 with ram air and was wonduring if it did it any good

[Ahmed303]

only asking because i seen a picture of a nice 8 with ram air and was wonduring if it did it any good

Post a picture please. From an engineering perspective, the E31 has ram air as stock.

[Khan850i]

[QUOTE=Ahmed303;27198160]Post a picture please. From an engineering perspective, the E31 has ram air as stock.[/QUOTE this the one

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this could be more direct. I feel like the air has to go through maze just to get to the engine

[chinito03]

i think the stock air box is way better and i dont think theres any good benefit from that kind of setup.

[Ahmed303]

this could be more direct. I feel like the air has to go through maze just to get to the engine

Hmm!!

I had that setup once on the 860 with the bored out TB and larger MAF. But I think it is too hot under the hood to benefit from that setup. I created a custom shield around it but was still disappointed. Then I ended up doing a different Ram Air using a high volume CDA.

[merlin840]

Ram air definitely works ask any Kawasaki owner, the BMW ram air system if you can call it that is very small and hardly worth bothering about what it needs to be effective is the whole grill area or even more to be funnelled into the air box which also would need to be to be at least twice the volume it is currently the perhaps you may get 5-10hp gain at 200kmh+
its sort of like passive super charging

[rockytt]

Sure - a ram air system works great - but a couple of cone filters stuffed into a hot engine bay ain't ram air-

[Khan850i]

Sure - a ram air system works great - but a couple of cone filters stuffed into a hot engine bay ain't ram air-

its sure isn't a cold air

[wokke]

threads like this just make me smile.
BMW has spent several millions on the development of this car and you think you can come up with a better air intake system????

[TxGR8White]

The stock airboxes work very well, provided they are complete, and the upper section is still attached to the lower section.
The problem is that most of the lower airboxes will have either been ripped off completely, or scraped so many times that there are sections worn through and missing. This is when they don't work worth a shit and a half. The intake opening is relatively small, but opens to a larger volume lower collector, where it then narrows down again as you get to the air filter, and narrows again at the MAF. You are basically increasing the volume and speed of the intake air (which is still COLD, since it was taken from the front of the car, not the engine bay), and this is what makes this a true cold air induction system with a ram air effect to it.

The PONTIAC WS6 RamAir that I once owned worked basically the same: small intake opening, larger chamber, narrowing to the MAF and throttlebody - worked great.
As a side note: My car actually "feels" more responsive when it is very cold out (night time and of course the winter) which tells me that the airboxes are working as they were designed to. If they didn't work, the car would "feel" the same no matter what the temp outside.

WOKKE is very much on the money with his assessment: BMW engineers spent countless hours and 1 BILLION Deutsch Marks (at the time a shade over $550,000,000 US) on the R&D of the E31, it is highly improbable (near impossible) for a weekend mechanic to improve much on this (unless you are John Fuston and just supercharge the hell out of it - but that is a different story....)

[Larkin660]

Not to mention if you do change something like the air intake not only do you need to change the exhaust because unless FI you need to match the air coming out to the air coming in (more complicated than that with back pressure and all that) but you'll also have to get a tune done to really reap the benefits of it correctly.

[bruinbro]

Not sure it would look right with the e31 body lines.

[8Tech]

The individual cone filters as shown will not give any more power as they are drawing in warm air from under the bonnet but may well sound as if they do with the increase in induction noise. You may also note that the stock airbox has a bellmouth in it to smooth the flow through the MAF whereas this smooth flow will be absent from the cone filter.

The better solution is to insert a perfoermance element into the stock aitbox and make sure the full inlet system is all connected and undamaged. Known failings are the rubber bellows under the headlamps and broken/damaged airbox chambers from grounding-out underneath.

Whichever system you decide to use, do not use excessively oiled filter elements as any oil vapour will damage the hot wire MAF's. Unfortunately, most of the foam and gauze type elements rely on the dirt sticking to an oiled element to clean up the air.

Whilst the stock system may not be ram-air, it is certainlt the perfect cold-air solution.

Tuning or exhaust changes to match are not required because the car will self adjust as the MAF's assess both flow rate and temperature, and the O2 sensors adjust on-the-fly also.

[Khan850i]

thanks for your inputs. very much appreciated

[8Harry8]

BMW has spent several millions on the development in this car and you think you can come up with a better air intake system????

Wolf,

if someone comes up with a better air intake system that can be compared with the performance of your better than stock highly developed chipset I'll be in immediately…

[bruinbro]

threads like this just make me smile.
BMW has spent several millions on the development if this car and you think you can come up with a better air intake system????

These would be the same engineers that came up with the C-pillar cover and coolant expansion tank designs?

[Ahmed303]

I disagree with the assumption that just because BMW spent a tremendous amount of money, the technology is still superior. The technology evolution goes on and there is always room for improvement. The crappy exhaust port of the head design is one example among many others. The breathing to include the RAM air can be improved upon. Bored out throttle body + larger MAF + matching programming mated with a better air box design can definitely improve the breathing. I will post pictures of the Carbon Dynamic Airboxes I fitted for the 860 when I get a chance.

[chinito03]

I like that set up.

[toomanyparts]

I love my Pipercross filter. It's a dry filter by design. With a now stock exhaust, all I hear is engine noise.

[wokke]

These would be the same engineers that came up with the C-pillar cover and coolant expansion tank designs?

the design as such is ok, only the choice of material is questionable. But as you certainly also know this is normally someone else making those decisions and these people have an entirely different intention.

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I disagree with the assumption that just because BMW spent a tremendous amount of money, the technology is still superior. The technology evolution goes on and there is always room for improvement. The crappy exhaust port of the head design is one example among many others. The breathing to include the RAM air can be improved upon. Bored out throttle body + larger MAF + matching programming mated with a better air box design can definitely improve the breathing. I will post pictures of the Carbon Dynamic Airboxes I fitted for the 860 when I get a chance.

We're not discussing a heavily modified engine here. But besides that I doubt you can really proof that the design you mention is any better than OEM.
Generally I agree with you on technology evolution but IMO there is not much to improve on air intake technology.

[Larkin660]

What's wrong with the c pillar covers??? Other than mine blew off on the highway

[Omega man 1969]

Looking at the design of the air ducting, it would be possible to increase flow by blanking off the brake duct or significantly reducing the size of the output hole. Obviously this will have a downside on the brake cooling.

Before reading about air intake systems I assumed a larger intake mouth would be best but in fact it's better to have a smaller hole (higher pressure) at the beginning of the duct.

[Khan850i]

My intake has multiple holes at bottom over time, I can see light through it when I was taking the intake apart. Ill post a few pic of what I came up with when I get time

[8eights]

Best way to get air through the air boxes, Hands down!)

[PabloRock]

Or this;
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