K&n

I found a site that sells the K&N intake for my 04' 325i sedan, and I saw it was in Brea. I am in OC, so its pretty close. They said they can't let me come by and purchase it because the warehouse is somewhere else, but I can come in pay for it, and charge me no sales tax. So the total would be $230, you guys think it is worth it? Seems pretty cheap to me. Oh and anyone with this add on, any difference in acceleration? sound? I don't think torque is a factor here... Welp thanks!

18x the dirt passes through that filter against your stock one.
Your engine will take in the same amount of dirt in 800 miles that your car currently takes in over 15,000 miles.
You get exactly 0hp from the set up, you will probably lose power because you no longer get the air coming through the kidney grills and you'll be sucking in the hot air from the engine bay.
You will ruin your mass airflow sensor because of the sticky, dirty oil gumming it up.

None of this is made up on the spot, this has been tested in a lab that K&N (aka Krap&Nasty) doesn't sponsor. This is why websites like Edmunds say they make good filters.

230 dollars for all that? What a bargin!

Well from other peoples reviews (users of the intake), ive heard good. Can you show me some proof?

Originally Posted by Fobanginvtek

Well from other peoples reviews (users of the intake), ive heard good. Can you show me some proof?

Before I search through my odd 3000 posts for the one post I made, have they given you any proof its not crap? But alas, thats not going to be good enough so i'll get looking.

Alright, found it.

Heres the link to a good thread with some good information. You have to read in until you start to get some facts, but keep in mind that every post saying "wow my filter is great" should be as legitimate as every "wow this filter is crap post" unless they've cited something to back it up. Also, the filter people are talking about that make legit gains is NOT the K&N filter. At about page 3-4 they start talking about the aFe filter, which (allegedly) doesn't suck (but I think they just had a lucky dyno thats earned them a lot of money).

http://forum.e46fanatics.com/showthr...ghlight=filter

and of course, the proof for everything I was saying before

http://www.nicoclub.com/articles.php?id=180100
Summed up if you can't be bothered reading through the graphs and text

Compared to the AC, the K&N "plugged up" nearly 3 times faster, passed 18 times more dirt and captured 37% less dirt.

In 60 minutes the AC Filter accumulated 574gms of dirt and passed only 0.4gms. After only 24 minutes the K&N had accumulated 221gms of dirt but passed 7.0gms.

Obviously, marketing and profits are more important to K&N than actually making a quality filter that can back up all their claims.

As for the power stuff, I don't have dynos on hand to show you. What I can promise you though is that you will see no gains with a drop in filter and no gains/drops with a CAI without a heat shield (and even then, still no power). No one has. If I have to find dynos though, I guess I will.

No proof, but assuming they said they saw a increase in acceleration, and sounds good after a while of usage, i assumed its good. Thanks let me know

You can always pick a Krap & Nasty equipped engine from a UOA (Used Oil Analysis). There are better flowing, better looking, cheaper, better built filters that actually remove dirt which is their primary task. Marketing always beats performance.

I've heard the samething about k&n. I bought an AFE cold air intake. Any info on that would greatly be appreciated.

you will gain no power, just intake noise. pick an intake that gives you the best sound with the least amount of particulate matter.

Also keep in mind that there is this 'placebo' effect that when people install something that promises power, they will feel it regardless of whether or not it actually does.

Nobody can feel a difference of 5hp on a ~200hp engine through the butt-dyno, so even if it did add power (which it doesn't), you wouldn't be able to feel it.

As a disclaimer, I'm not a hater. I use K&N filters on my VS1400, a bulletproof engine from the 80's with a badly designed intake. I don't care about a bit more dirt into this engine, as it's not a precision instrument like modern BMW engines. Also, there's no MAF or other sensors to ruin, and the air intake (unlike BMW's design) is sh!te from the factory (designed to actually reduce power). On the bike, because of the factory restrictions, hp gains of 20%+ through bigger carb jets, intake, and free-flowing exhaust are possible. But you can forget about that on your BMW.

Thanks for the info...so it seems that just the filter itself from K&N isn't good.....someone recommended the AFE dry filter? Yeah I am not going to notice any hp gains or add-on power, but atleast it sounds nice =D Any recommendations for a cheap intake??

you can get the fipk on amazon for $168 + ship http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listi...5101425&sr=1-2


dont believe all that dirty oil hype, if motors were dieing due to this they would have been out of biz long ago...............install it, dont be a puss

Originally Posted by Fobanginvtek

Thanks for the info...so it seems that just the filter itself from K&N isn't good.....someone recommended the AFE dry filter? Yeah I am not going to notice any hp gains or add-on power, but atleast it sounds nice =D Any recommendations for a cheap intake??

the pro dry is a good balance of filtration and air flow. I have one because it looks and feels much nicer then the stock one that came off and I don't feel like buying a new filter every time (drop in). My local stealer charges over msrp on all their parts.

Originally Posted by wasp9166

dont believe all that dirty oil hype, if motors were dieing due to this they would have been out of biz long ago...............install it, dont be a puss

So anything that doesn't cause it to fail is ok then, right?


Just take the air filter off then. Maximum flow FTW. Who cares about a little dirt?

I have used both oil and dry Airfilter types. The people who have problems with the Oil type like K&N usually douse their filters in so much oil that it gets sucked onto the MAF. I had K&N on my 928 and 944 as well as my Range Rover and not once did I ever have oil build up on my MAF. Granted the 944 uses the Vane style of MAF so that is not much of an issue. The 928 has the MAF right under the Air Filter and it never had an issue with the oil build up. BTW their really is no power gain with these things that you will notice. The sound and not having to constantly replace the filter are the benefits in my opinion.

I've had my K&N for years and haven't had any problems. Not sure about gains.

So everyone is saying OEM is just as good as any after market kit?

Originally Posted by Focal E46

I've had my K&N for years and haven't had any problems. Not sure about gains.

So everyone is saying OEM is just as good as any after market kit?

People have OEM airfilters while running a TS3 with 400rwhp... doesn't seem to be a problem.

Originally Posted by Focal E46

So everyone is saying OEM is just as good as any after market kit?

Yea.

Why anyone would want 18x more dirt just for some more noise is beyond me.

Originally Posted by Rene325ci

The sound and not having to constantly replace the filter are the benefits in my opinion.

I can't see constantly having to wash and oil the filter being a benefit. Not to mention the car being out of action while you wash, dry and oil. With paper filters, it's drop in and forget.

Originally Posted by jeffro3000

Yea.

Why anyone would want 18x more dirt just for some more noise is beyond me.

If there is moer dirt in the K,n Then its Doing a better job cleaning the air, Dont listen to Going Nut k.n are great filters . but do what you want its you car

Originally Posted by E46330iguy

If there is moer dirt in the K,n Then its Doing a better job cleaning the air

Re-read post #4 and try again.