[S1ammin]

I got the BMS open setup and I think it's fine. Love the sound and really think it compliments the JB4/SpeedBooster combo.

Oh, and I love the sound!

[ezaircon4jc]

Originally Posted by STR8-6IX

Downpipe = delicious spooling sounds

But is there any HP/TQ gain? Worth the $$$??

[STR8-6IX]

Originally Posted by ezaircon4jc

But is there any HP/TQ gain? Worth the $$$??

absolutely, the power gains are very impressive given the money. great sound and vastly improved turbo spool/engine response. I think its like 10-15HP and 15-20 torque with an ecu tune

[ezaircon4jc]

Originally Posted by STR8-6IX

absolutely, the power gains are very impressive given the money. great sound and vastly improved turbo spool/engine response. I think its like 10-15HP and 15-20 torque with an ecu tune

How about without a tune? I want longevity more than a few more horsepower at the upper end.

[vivanapoli806]

Originally Posted by ezaircon4jc

How about without a tune? I want longevity more than a few more horsepower at the upper end.

It's almost pointless to go catless unless you get a tune. With proper tune you can easily get 20-30hp depending on the tune and will still remain reliable.

[S1ammin]

Originally Posted by STR8-6IX

if it is a sealed box, it is a good intake system. BMS types intakes are garbage.

avoid those K&N filters. marginal increase in performance at the expense of much less engine filtration. not worth it

Really?

Most drop-ins claim to ONLY provide less airflow restriction, but none say they provide less filtration. I can comprehend how they do that based on my observation of what a stock filter looks like after some miles on it. Mine had a concentrated area of debris all centralized where you would expect, but the remaining area of the filter was almost pristine. Increasing the area of the filter that can use the air would also increase the effectiveness of the filter.

With this BMS open-area configuration, I expect that I will not see one area of the filter getting so disproportionately clogged than any other. We'll see if that holds up, but with a JB4 addon, I think my motor will benefit from the increased availability of intake air. And I do trust the BMS air filter will filter out the baddies.

I really think that mods already in place determine the benefit of other/supporting mods. Sometimes the cart pulling the horse does work, but usually not. I do think that a JB4 would equate to the cart pulling the horse w/o more available air, and saying that, a FMIC is going to be my next upgrade.

Then, chargepipe, then downpipe, then..... Map?

[Bmw doubles]

STR8-6IX is right about high pressure in front of the car and hood and BMW stock air box being the best option. If you can get a proper scoop to ram air into the stock air box with a high flow drop-in, that is the best bet. Tune or not.

A bigger plenum on the air box might actually help and I think that's why aFe intake claims 30bhp bump in power which btw is 4.5 whp. Not an unreasonable claim nor is that noticeable or worth 500 bucks. So all in all stock air box wins with a K&N drop-in filter

[lsturbointeg]

Originally Posted by Bmw doubles

You wanna hear it spool get any open air filter and remove the rear weather stripping

Like a K&N drop in filter?

[ezaircon4jc]

Originally Posted by vivanapoli806

It's almost pointless to go catless unless you get a tune. With proper tune you can easily get 20-30hp depending on the tune and will still remain reliable.

Can't go catless in The People's Republik...

[Bmw doubles]

Originally Posted by lsturbointeg

Like a K&N drop in filter?

No a BMS style one or a boof 1

[ziekxq]

any updates on this from OP?

[ededic00]

Originally Posted by ziekxq

any updates on this from OP?

I got it installed and love it. Ill post a more descriptive review in a few days. Ive just been busy with work.

[Jayphil]

Originally Posted by ededic00

I got it installed and love it. Ill post a more descriptive review in a few days. Ive just been busy with work.

Any update on impressions, sound etc?

[S1ammin]

Originally Posted by Jayphil

Any update on impressions, sound etc?

Since you have JB4 I think you do want either this or the BMS open air. Set the JB4 to map1 and listen to the whistles :-)

At least on my car, the turbo kicks in at a lot lower RPM on map1 vs map5.

[Jayphil]

Originally Posted by S1ammin

Since you have JB4 I think you do want either this or the BMS open air. Set the JB4 to map1 and listen to the whistles :-)

At least on my car, the turbo kicks in at a lot lower RPM on map1 vs map5.

I might get one of these to maximize top end performance but sine I have a downpipe and exhaust I am sure I will not notice much sound difference. As for the JB4 map, I am always on map 5 and have never tried anything else. Maybe I should try Map 2.

Here I am always putting 94 octane gas so I thought that map 5 would be able to detect it and give the best performance over map 2 limited boost

[S1ammin]

Originally Posted by Jayphil

I might get one of these to maximize top end performance but sine I have a downpipe and exhaust I am sure I will not notice much sound difference. As for the JB4 map, I am always on map 5 and have never tried anything else. Maybe I should try Map 2.

Here I am always putting 94 octane gas so I thought that map 5 would be able to detect it and give the best performance over map 2 limited boost

Map 5 can potentially get to a higher boost than the fixed map2 but since you have a downpipe, you should absolutely try map 2 to see what it feels like compared to map 5. I started on map5 but as soon as it got warmer here, map 5 started feeling a little weaker. Map 1 always feels strong on my car.

I won't even try map2 because of the crappy gas we have out here. Map 2 may even give me a higher boost but that power will be lost due to timing getting retarded. Plus I'm on a stock chargepipe and don't want to push my luck too far.

[vivanapoli806]

I might be selling one of these soon. Possibly getting into a Porsche 997. Only has couple hundred miles on it

[etnsandman]

Thread Revival!!!

So anyone have any additional inputs? A few of you have likely been running this for a while now. Overall thoughts?

[ededic00]

Originally Posted by etnsandman

Thread Revival!!!

So anyone have any additional inputs? A few of you have likely been running this for a while now. Overall thoughts?

I added this intake and am now running JB4 Map 1. I'm waiting on doing a catless downpipe to run Map 2. For me this was mainly a mod for sound, which you can hear the turbo a bit more over stock. Also the other benefit is you can clean the filter yourself. So far I have not had any issues with it. I would have to say that the design is alot nicer and cleaner compared to the BMS intake. Prior to the K&N intake I had a BMS intake and I hated how unfinished it looked. This K&N system looks nicer with the air box shroud that also seals the box to the underside of the hood.

[andykap]

Originally Posted by ededic00

Mine is due to be delivered this Thursday. Ill let you guys know what I think of it. I did have the BMS intake and took it off because I didn't like how unfinished the engine bay looked with it installed. I am also in the process of finding a X4 M40i engine cover that has the "M Performance" logo on it. I think it will fit right in with my M Sport F10.

Did you get the X4 M40i engine cover to work on your F10?

[David_Vasha]

Originally Posted by STR8-6IX

your hood consists of a high pressure area (closer to the cowl where the intake vents are for the e9x m3) and then a low pressure area to the front of the hood, or right behind the radiator.high pressure areas are for the intake of air. low pressure areas are for exhausting hot air within the engine bay. so if you have a vent in a high pressure area that feeds directly to the intake this would be effective for your intake... but we dont have such a vent. IMO the best performing intake is a closed air system, just like BMW's factory airbox. it provides the best balance throughout the whole powerband (your typical air intake reduces low end torque at the expense of a slightly better high end) not reasonable for a daily driver.

anyways, another issue with an open intake within the engine bay with no vent is heat-soak which is a rather serious issue when sitting in traffic on a hot day. again... BMW's factory airbox takes this into consideration and is far more effective then your typical intake at keeping intake air cool. so unless you have a hood intake or some sort of tube feeding air from the front of the bumper, you're far better off spending those $300 on literally anything else and leaving your factory airbox alone.an intercooler upgrade would easily improve performance more then your average air intake by lowering IAT (intake air temperature.) alternatively, the money you planned to waste on the intake would be far better spent on upgrading your muffler or put toward a downpipe instead.

like I was saying about low pressure areas.. A hood that has a vent directly behind the radiator would be very effective at maintaining coolant temps temps and in turn improving performance. the increased airflow would allow the radiator to work more efficiently, reduce a large amount of the heat within the engine bay which would in turn improve intake performance as well. I believe that focusing on improving oil/coolant/underhood temps would yield better performance gains then a simple air intake. when coolant is at around 190F mark, this allows the cylinder head to operate at peak performance. to keep temperatures closer to this, there are some things you can do. for one, I recommend you remove the plastic engine cover and insulation in warmer weather. this helped keep oil temps down by almost 50F for me. as you may already know, modern BMW's with their electric waterpumps run ridiculously hot for emissions and fuel economy purposes - not good for the longevity of your motor, overall performance and very likely why us BMW owners are constantly replacing gaskets all over the motor. I also recommend using 5w40 oil like motul or liqui moly which keeps temps down. this oil is harder to break down meaning more protection over the long run. lastly, if you get your vehicle coded I strongly recommend you code the waterpump to work harder because the temps we see are a little ridiculous. generally you want oil temps roughly at 100c, or no more then 110c. 120c (halfway mark) turns into track temps on a hot summer day which you obviously dont want.

I know all of this is somewhat off topic and doesnt really pertain to OP's original question, but some people may want to use air intakes to help IAT temps (which it does, but only when you are moving. in traffic it becomes extremely heatsoaked and useless)

these suggestions are cheap, simple, and effective ways to improve performance compared to an air intake. if not, I would suggest putting that money toward a downpipe/muffler upgrade for some real sound and actual performance gains. an intercooler is also a good idea (going back to the topic of maintaining engine temps)

I understand what you're getting at and I do believes it's true. But with the restrictiveness of the stock air filter my mentality is that if I lessen the restrictiveness of the filter and keep IATs cold by upgrading my FMIC I should be fine. Maybe I'm wrong but isnt this optimal since your allowing better airflow while keeping temps the same or even cooler?