DIY: Intake boot replacement. No more whistle while accelerating

Whatta PITA this was!!!!!
a 6mm socket, a nut driver and a swivel head helps tremendously with the lower boot clamps...
mine were positioned in the worst possible place too...
I seriously think a 6mm gearwrench would be helpful too...
I am 6', 200lbs with big hands and I found that moving the cabin fresh air intake and the little rubber heat shield mentioned above helped alot...
working around the strut bar was a pita but all in all it is done,
mine too was ripped in the accordian section of the little hose...

Don't be cheap, replace both lower and upper while your there,
chances are they are the same age anyway...
I also treated my rubber hood seals while I was there too...

Glad that is over...
Next!!!!

PS...

On the lower boot,

I found that you need to put the small tube and clamp on first, tighten them,
then tighten the TB clamp incase you need to adjust the placement..
this insures that you have it positioned correctly and have enough room to get it all the way on...

I just wanted to add some things on this thread in case they come up in search results for people having issues...

This DIY is just plain awesome Tim

The only thing i can recommend is a set of ingnition wrenches (1/4" the small ones about 3 or 4 inches) was the trick for me when it came to removing the lower intake boots 2 clamps, it was a major pain in the ass but once you loosen them enough to slide them where you can access them easier. Also it wouldnt hurt to order a backup, these parts on the intake are brittle, and in case your replacement goes again in a year or two, it wont hurt having the back up on hand.

I originaly changed the boot because i heard a whistling sound, after fixing the boot the whistle was still there, but the boot was cracked, chances are yours is too. I now know that my Tensioner Pulley needs replacing.

Once it was replaced i reassembled the intake fittings and made sure every tool was accounted for, also checking each bolt before starting up. I got the "SES" light, with a scan it brought up 8 codes!

P0300;P1345;P1347;P1343;P1074;P0171;P0102;P1619

After reading a little i found these are codes relating to running lean, misfires, etc... and decided to clean my MAF seeing something might have gotten in there when changing out intake tube. A quick spray of tune up in a bottle (MAF Cleaner) on the MAF sensor wires (through both sides) and it cleared all the codes. Let it dry before reinstall (5mins)

Hope some of this babble helps someone going through the issues related to the ones i had. You guys here are great, and Tim thanks alot, your site has saved me alot of money from Stealerships. I hope this post didnt get too off track, but i had no codes before this project, after install of new the codes came up, just wanted ppl know how i fixed the codes after install. Thanks again everyone...

wish i seen this first before posting in the other thread

anyways just installed an AFE Intake and have the whistle around 2000 RPM however i have no SES lights.
should i still attempt this fix seeing as it's a PITA for 90% of the people and i'm just learning my E46?

bump for answer
some people say it's normal but i have some people actually come up to me and ask if there's an intake leak..
still no dash lights..
should i still attempt the fix

i went to attempt replacing this tubing but ran into the problem of accessing the clamp screws on the lower intake tube.
it seems like the black box (pic below) is really in the way and the DIY doesn't show the removal of it.

i see 2 torx screws, a bolt with a nut and unplug 2 things, is there more to it?

2 torx screws (T40 iirc) and connector only. Be careful when you pull it out, not to damage the flap inside. Btw it is called DISA valve if you want to research further, and here is the installation video (just to get an idea of what to expect in removal):

^^
thanks a lot will be attempting this again Saturday
going to try removing the upper intake boot then DISA Valve possibly to get at the clamp screws on lower intake boot

well just finished replacing the boot, i noticed the second smaller tube on the lower boot was really loose and there were a few spots on the accordion looking piece that were creasing but not actually cracked right through.
i also think my upper boot i will replace soon as it looks like the stem to the hoses that come off the "F" looking piece was silicone repaired by previous owner, too be safe i wrapped it up with electrical tape.

now for the install..
i removed the upper intake boot and went the route of taking off the DISA Valve instead of disassembling the million other things listed in the DIY.
removing the DISA valve was easy as pie and gave me great access to the clamps minus the last one.
as most above mentioned, the last clamp on the lower intake boot was on the bottom of the tube and facing towards the back of the engine
after all sorts of extensions and other pieces back and forth i got to the clamp and removed it.

i haven't got to test and see if the whistle is gone yet because i also replaced my coolant temp sensor and now need to refill my coolant and the closest BMW dealership is 45 mins away.

now to build the courage to do the Vanos seals

*EDIT*
whistle is pretty much gone, got a faint little noise but it's not at 2K anymore so i'm guessing that's the usual intake noise

Originally Posted by ///M=Power

i just popped it on so it was snug and wouldnt come off if i pulled it. it didnt matter where the tab was that is on the bottom of the boot if thats what you are talking about...


but this mod works, it got rid of an annoying whining sound when normally accelerating... but i still get a high pitched screech like a turbo that starts at 5500 rpm and gets louder the higher the RPM when im flooring it, people ask me if my car is turboed all the time lol, i just think its embarrassing . i have a vacuum leak somwhere else, i need to find out where it is, im thinking its the upper intake hose, the rubber is no longer that soft, its become dry and cracked so im thinking theres not a good enough seal behind the MAF.

when I did this repair that was the only thing I was hoping to fix but it still sounds boosted to me as well, at least it does when I floor it. sounds like a junkyard turbo from an old volvo lol so yeah embarassing if your around people who are car savvy and know thats not the sound of a turbo

please please PLEASE let me know if you find a solution for this.

my check engine light has been off for over 100 miles so I'm assuming there are no more vacuum leaks, i checked pretty extensively for dry rotted tubing when I did the boot and it was all good, so my only other guess would be a dirty/old intake?

well last 2 days my intake whistle has returned
i know 100% everything is installed properly and tight so i'm thinking of replacing the tube now

Are You sure it's not a pulley bearing? Was the boot cracked?

^^
originally the boot had some wear but no cracks straight through also the boot was pretty loose so i had the new part anyways and replaced it

Originally Posted by seacorb

when I did this repair that was the only thing I was hoping to fix but it still sounds boosted to me as well, at least it does when I floor it. sounds like a junkyard turbo from an old volvo lol so yeah embarassing if your around people who are car savvy and know thats not the sound of a turbo

please please PLEASE let me know if you find a solution for this.

my check engine light has been off for over 100 miles so I'm assuming there are no more vacuum leaks, i checked pretty extensively for dry rotted tubing when I did the boot and it was all good, so my only other guess would be a dirty/old intake?

I found this issue is caused by the exhaust on our e46's. the shape of it is just right to create a whistle when just the right amount of air passes through the muffler and tips...i had a friend rev it and thats where the whistle came from. my friend got an aftermarket muffler and the sound went away. so i was like yep thats the cause of it. my car still does this as well but i couldnt care less. when i floor it due to my modified stock exhaust/ catless headers it has an m3 like rasp sound which masks it, and my intake drowns it out because its crazy loud.

awesome! thanks for sharing. my other other guess was an exhaust leak. kinda shitty BMW made the non-sport exhaust with a pre-installed whistler tip haha.... DA WHISTLE GO WOO WOOOOOOO.......... unfortunately for us its NOT only in da monin'

Originally Posted by seacorb

awesome! thanks for sharing. my other other guess was an exhaust leak. kinda shitty BMW made the non-sport exhaust with a pre-installed whistler tip haha.... DA WHISTLE GO WOO WOOOOOOO.......... unfortunately for us its NOT only in da monin'

lol they just blew that stopsign at the end.

I was also having other whistling sounds and I thought it might be coming from my A/C tensioner, so I replaced it at the same time. Now I have no kind of sounds at all. For those still complaining of a whistling sound, check your A/C tensioner. Its easy to get to from under the car and is literally a 10 minute DIY max.

Also, on my intake there are 2 hoses coming off a connector on the main tube of the intake. While working on this DIY, the smaller hose cracked. It was not a big deal and I replaced it with another hose I had laying around but what was it for? I know its a vacuum line of some kind.

Also, my SES light just came on after this DIY and a 200 mile drive.

seacorb that video was hillarious looooooool, i watch that stupid video like 5 times!!! its only in da monin!! im thinking of getting one

just did this...and it was not easy! the clamps on my lower intake were impossible to get to. I ended up disassembling anything and everything around that entire area. Whoever at BMW that assembled my car is a jerk!

Its dark now and I don't even have the replacement part yet. Will put everything back together tomorrow.

My back is killing me!

Originally Posted by Bimmer37

just did this...and it was not easy! the clamps on my lower intake were impossible to get to. I ended up disassembling anything and everything around that entire area. Whoever at BMW that assembled my car is a jerk!

Its dark now and I don't even have the replacement part yet. Will put everything back together tomorrow.

My back is killing me!

Was it actually broken or did you open it to only realize every thing was ok?? Cause that's what happened to me