hey guys this is my first write up for this forum, i dont know if anyone has done this before.. or have already made a thread about this....so i hope this help people. well i was bored today before the 4th of july BBQ and I felt like doing something to my car... i figured i should modify the stock intake system to get more air flow and dissipate heat... Las Vegas is a hot place... so with that said, keep all negative comments to yourself please.
i wanted to utilize the duct on the fog light covers i had. i figured using an old intake pipe, i could recreate the csl snorkle.
first off i cut the pipe to make fit in the duct,
secondly i cut a hole in the bottom corner of the stock air box.
and then i put the pipe thru the hole.
then re-assembled everything.. it was a total of 15 minutes of work. and 20 mins just to find the damn intake pipe in my garage lol
here are some pictures.
don't mind the fact i don't have a grill installed in the bumper.. stupid dealer gave me an mtech II grill rather than an m3, so i am waiting for the other grill to come in.
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dont worry... i did put an intake filter in the box, i just didnt take the pic of it just so you can see it without the filter.
there was a better acceleration, and i hope this will better my gas mileage.
in the future i will loose the stock filter and integrate a knn cone filter inside of it, i already have the plans written out.
the pipe was from an old intake for a civic that i cut to make fit. the diameter is around 2 1/2 in. i bought the intake on ebay like 7 years ago lol but if you want the exact one just look for a 02 civic ex cold air intake, i just used the second part of the pipe that went behind the bumper.
i did the same if you look at the first picture, the hole to the left on the fog light cover is where the opening of the intake is thus creating a velocity stack where air is forced into the pipe, rather than it be perpendicular to the air flow how some people have been doing it, also the dinan system. I've done it the way the csl snorkel is set up.
also the inside of the intake box was modified to use an aem cone filter
also i modified the intake channel behind the kidneys, i used a piece of aluminum to elongate the duct in order to create the ram air effect
and here it is with the hood closed, as you can see it is now directly in the path of the on coming air thus channeling the air directly into the intake box rather than it up higher in the under the hood.
i also sealed the opening where i cut to fit the pipe with silicone and i also put a grill on the pipe opening inside of the air box to prevent birds or any other large foreign objects and debris from being sucked in.
the filter on my car is a knn cone filter made for aem so thats y it says aem if im not mistaken.
since i modified the top portion of the stock air box i can no longer use a drop in style filter because i cut out the baffles that channel the air downward and back up thru the filter.
so the part of the intake that is behind the kidneys is going directly into the filter rather than down then back up. ill try to get a pic
What I'm saying: REMOVE the whole OEM airbox and DIY a direct channeling from the front scoop and the MAF, then install a drop in filter infront of the scoop.
Maybe increase the size of the scoop/filter for more flow.
Yeah I see what you mean... That's what I wanted to do too. I actually re-bought an OEM airbox since I threw out my old one, but then I wanted to do that "stealth" mod that you did.
But this "kidney ram intake" mod would be so awesome...
I hear what you mean.
Isn't there this "water filter" thingy that can be installed in the piping? I read about that a few months back when someone was worried about installing his cone filter behind the CSL bumper intake hole. I can't remember what it's called though.
How about removing the MAF and tuning the air/fuel mixture via alpha-N (per software)?
Then the only thing to worry about would be too much water going into the manifold... I can't see being too much of a problem unless you're actually watering the intake with a hose :eeps:
I actually did this DIY a while back...Interesting how similar yours looks to mine. Although I sacrificed the velocity stack design for safety reasons. I left my panel K&N filter instead and i didn't run my piping down directly to the fog light. I ran it behind my lower grille so that it would catch large debris that would otherwise end up in my airbox. Also, not having it meet a sealed opening on the front of the car lowers the risk for vacuuming up large amounts of WATER! I used PVC about 2 years ago and it still looks good. I also cleaned up some of the tabs on the inside of the box and painted the whole thing in Ceramic paint... The best part is the suction noise it creates, AWESOME! Along with the Shark Injector, some very noticeable gains.
Im gonna get a COSMO RACING INTAKE HEAT SHIELF for like $100 bucks, i have a CONE SHAPPED OPEN ENDED FILTER on my car already.. Not running a Stock Box and it sounds great and MPG jumped drasticallly
Water + Intake = Explosion. Seen an engine that had a piston go though the side of the block and damage other components at one of my mechanics shops. He said it was because the engine sucked in water. I don't know how factual this is, but it makes me afraid to do anything more than the K&N CAI and water sock to my intake.
From Wiki:
Hydrolock (short for either hydraulic lock or hydrostatic lock) is a condition of an internal combustion engine in which an incompressible liquid has been introduced into its cylinder(s), resulting in the immobilization of the engine's pistons. The liquid causing this malfunction is often water, hence the prefix "hydro-". Hydrolock occurs in a 4-stroke engine when liquid is sucked into the engine's cylinder(s) during the intake stroke and, due to the incompressibility of the liquid, makes the compression stroke impossible. This, in turn, prevents the entire engine from turning, and can cause significant engine damage if one attempts to forcibly turn over or start the engine. Typically, connecting rods will be bent, making the engine uneconomical to repair.
Yup. I've said it once and I'll say it again. The portion of BMW's R&D department dedicated to developing the airbox has a larger budget than any aftermarket supplier out there. The answer is not always "cone filter + heat shield".
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