Does this sound crazy? Custom Intake.

[ASCH MAN]

Ok, let me preface this thread with - "I don't have the money for a real intake". Getting married next month and the fiance thinks the car is fast enough. That being said, we all know nothing is "fast enough".

I debffled and de-snorkled the airbox, and noticed a little change in intake sound, and maybe performance. As per previous post this may be good for 5 or so HP, which is short of the 7-10 of a real intake. My assumption is that the only difference now is that there is no heat shield, or access to cold air. The intake tract seems pretty large, and aside from the filter I see no reason why this way can't get the same amount of airflow as a real CAI, aside from the "C" part of that equasion

Therefore, I want to attach tubing from the opeining of the airbox, and run it down to where the Dinan intake would be, so air would be sucked in from around a hole made in the brake air duct, or at least colder air down there.

I relocated the horn last night and there is a pretty clear shot down to the duct now.

Two question for all the experts here:

1. Does anyone see a problem with this or why this method would not attain about the same HP gain as a "real" CAI?

2. What diamater rubber hose would fit over the factory debaffled intake hole?

Has anyone else done this or am I just doing a lot of work for nothing. Right now it seem like a ton of hot air would be sucked in through the airbox opening.

No flames as I will state again "NO MONEY RIGHT NOW FOR A REAL CAI" and I really think this would yield within 1 hp of the real thing anyway. Thanks in adavance.:

[jmciver]

BMW makes a part that takes air from the driver side brake duct to the intake of the stock airbox. I used to have it until I got my CAI.

As far as how much horse power you will get using the intake snorkel mentioned above and a de-baffled stock air box, etc, etc, I don't know. However something tells me you won't get the same performance of a CAI with heat shield and cold air ducting (which is what I have : )

[ASCH MAN]

I think that part you are talking about is for a 95, and will not fit the 3.2 (guessing). I understand that this will not equal a real CAI, but think it will be very, very close. I didn't think a heat shield was needed if there was a cold air duct involved, just like the Dinan intake.

[jmciver]

Unless the intake snorkel for the stock intake on a 3.2 is different, it should still work.

As far as the CAI duct goes, in my setup I have an ECIS CAI. I then ran some 4 in HVAC ducting from the lower grill to the area just below the filter. That area is the hole that Dinan uses for his CAI.

[ASCH MAN]

I have seen pictures of what you are talking about and yes, that should work. I want to actually attach the tube to the intake box, so there is no chance of hot air getting in since I don't have a heat shield. Would the HVAC duct work?

[heatmizr]

Hey Audio -
where did you relocate the horn to?
I was just looking at that the other day and noticed that I will need to do that as well.

[bimmer95]

The air snorkle was originally from the Euro M3's, but it'll fit both US 3.0L and 3.2L airboxes just fine.

[jmciver]

Originally posted by AudioMan
I have seen pictures of what you are talking about and yes, that should work. I want to actually attach the tube to the intake box, so there is no chance of hot air getting in since I don't have a heat shield. Would the HVAC duct work?

I don't see any reason why the HVAC duct wouldn't work. It is just a matter of snaking the duct from an outside air source (the lower grill in my case) to the intake of the airbox.

I don't know about your application, since I have not looked at my stock air box in a while, but for my mod, I had to cut the driver brake duct and the plastic underpanel in small places to make the duct fit.

[ASCH MAN]

The horn bracket had to be bent upwards to get at the bolt, but did not snap off, so that was good and can returned to stock if needed. The best place I found to relocate the horn was to a ground bolt right in front of the cruise control. The bracket sticking off of the horn was retained, but turned about 180 Degrees. The horn is now upside down, but doesn't seem to cause any harm. It basically is in front of the cruise and behind the headlight.

Where can this snorkle be found and does it go right into the factory airbox?

[ASCH MAN]

I actually just found the snorkle on BMP's website. It is only $50, but it looks like you would be back to the original problem of restricting flow. The opening to the airbox is a lot larger that that little tube. HVAC seems like the better route to go and it could be zip tied around a hole in the brake duct. That way extra air from around that area could be used if the engine really needs it. I will measure the intake hole on the stock debaffled box this weekend to see what diamater hose is needed. It will have to be bent a little, but with clamps should be doable. I will show everyone who spent $250 or more on an intake that the same results can be made for less than $10.

[bimmer95]

Originally posted by AudioMan
Where can this snorkle be found and does it go right into the factory airbox?

Dealer or TurnerMotorSport or many other places, and yes it snaps right on, but you have to cut a hole in the top of the brake duct.

[jmciver]

Originally posted by AudioMan

Where can this snorkle be found and does it go right into the factory airbox?

It is a BMW factory part so you should be able to get it any place that BMW parts are sold.

[BMLRacer]

Audio,

I'm assuming that you changed to a K&N or like filter. Doing this with the stock filter is about pointless.

[ASCH MAN]

Originally posted by BMLRacer
Audio,

I'm assuming that you changed to a K&N or like filter. Doing this with the stock filter is about pointless.

I knew there was a catch, damn. Actually, it will be done right after the wedding, but the backbone work will be finished by then. I get the nice intake sound now, but can't really tell a power difference. Who knows, there may be one. I have read in other threads that just switching from the stock filter to K&N will not really do anything, that the greatest restriction is in the baffle and snorkle alone. And if properly changed, the factory filter is not too bad.

[BMLRacer]

Well, maybe if you'd hang out with us, the local BMW gang could pitch in and buy you at least a K&N as a wedding gift....


Where in Cols are you? I live downtown, Oxcart lives in Worthington, and Bimmer95 lives in Hilliard.

[jmciver]

Since you plan on keeping the stock airbox, I say go for the ITG foam filter. That is what I plan to use when I finish my 3.5 in HFM intake. It is more expensive than K&N, but I feel you get what you pay for (Uh Oh.......did I just open up a can of worms !!).

[BGM3]

I have an AA CAI and I thought that if I provide more air to the CAI then I may get the full use of it. Sooo, I went to the hardware store and bought heat proof, flexible tubing. It was ridged inside so I thought that would help keeping water and large debris from coming up into the filter area. I cut a slightly larger hole in the drivers side brake duct and fed the hose through the brake duct until it pointed towards the front of the car (ram air style). After securing the hose in the brake duct, I ran the rest of the hose and secured it next to my air filter. I don't know if this actually achieves more power but I'm sure there is much more airflow. I'm sure you can do the same proceedure but attach the hose to the bottom of the airbox.

[BGM3]

jmciver -

How do you like your RE lightweight flywheel? Did you get it with the Carbon clutch? Are you experiencing any rattling? I plan to do my clutch soon so, I wanted to drop in the RE LWF
Please let me know.

TIA

[jmciver]

You mean like this.......







Oh and about the LWF, I love it. The car has better throttle response especially with the EVO Sport pulleys. I put it in when I replaced my clutch, I just used a stock clutch. And yes, there is that typical LWF rattle, but it is not that bad IMO and doesn't bother me.

[ASCH MAN]

I live in Dublin near Tuttle Mall. If I were to request a wedding gift, it would be a help installing a M Roadster Shifter and Tranny mounts to reduce the possibility of making a money shot, I mean shift again. I will get a hold of you guys after September. Until then, there is no money allowed to go into the car, I just got it and that has been money well spent. The whole car is a mod over my 93 Camry.

[bimmer95]

Dude, I live like 5 minutes from Tuttle Mall, right off of Davidson Road just inside I-270. I can't believe you haven't brought that shite box by yet

[Jim O.]

Originally posted by AudioMan
I have read in other threads that just switching from the stock filter to K&N will not really do anything, that the greatest restriction is in the baffle and snorkle alone. And if properly changed, the factory filter is not too bad.

Several comments on this. First of all, I really doubt that anyone could feel a 2-5 rwhp difference - in fact, it's probably within the noise level on most dynos. So, I think you're kind of making a mountain out of a molehill on this.

Second, what year is your M3? If it's a 95, than the biggest restriction in the airflow (after you've debaffled your airbox) is the HFM.

I'd suggest putting the front "snorkel" piece back in place - it actually flows fairly well. That should take care of your concerns about sucking in hot air. But even with the snorkel removed, the air going into the airbox shouldn't be that hot. The opening is way up in the front of the car, so hot air would have to move forward in the engine compartment to be sucked into the airbox. Since cooler outside air is constantly coming in the front of the car, this isn't too likely. You might want to get a thermometer and actually measure the air temp inside the airbox before you go too nuts about this, just to see if there's a problem in the first place.

Have you removed the water ingestion flap on the front of the radiator shroud? That will increase the amount of air coming in the front of the car, too.

Jim