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Intake advice

17K views 34 replies 16 participants last post by  dtc100 
#1 · (Edited)
I went to the local BMW dealer and inquired on the warranty issue if I change to a cold air intake. The service manager advised that it WOULD NOT void the warranty. He said that it would increase the HP, but i would not see a performance difference. He stated that I would need to change the torque if I wanted more acceleration.

Does anyone have and knowlegde on cold air intakes and what different I may see on my 0-60 time. I have a 2011 328i. Currently has 230hp. The CAI I am looking at promised 12hp. Thanks!
 
#3 ·
I went to the local BMW dealer and inquired on the warranty issue if I change to a cold air intake. The service manager advised that it WOULD NOT void the warranty. He said that it would increase the HP, but i would not see a performance difference. He stated that I would need to change the torque if I wanted more acceleration.

Does anyone have and knowlegde on cold air intakes and what different I may see on my 0-60 time. I have a 2011 328i. Currently has 230hp. The CAI I am looking at promised 12hp. Thanks!
Last December was one of the wettest months on record since the late 1800's. Since it never rains in SoCal, there is no such thing as a water drainage system which means a lot of standing water. Two BMWs were at the local dealer, a current 3-series and a recent 5-series, both with hydro-locked motors. Both had CAIs. And BMWNA did very much so void their engine warranties.
 
#5 ·
BMW sells a CAI that couldn't void the warranty. If there's any performance benefit, I speculate that it would only occur at very high revs.

Sent from my DROIDX using Bimmer App
 
#8 ·
The BMW PI is different than those aftermarket CAIs in that it is still a closed intake not open intake. The open CAIs lose low end power due to lack of back pressure.

The best bang for the buck intake mod is to add a pair of air scoops for as little as $40, replace the stock paper filter with a K&N (as low as $40) or aFe (as low as $67 both on Amazon) high flow filter. If one does not mind a little more DIY, cut out the built in carbon filter.

There is a more extensive secondary ram air intake DIY one can do for $22 material cost but it is more labor intensive.

All of the above DIYs will give you a closed performance intake that will not reduce the low end power but definitely some high end gain. Get the aFe filter if you decide to do the secondary ram air inlet mod. The aFe filter has more surface area to accommodate the larger intake tracks, otherwise the K&N filter with the air scoops and carbon filter delete will be a good combo.
 
#6 ·
Your SA is absolutely right. You will pick up horsepower but lose torque and for the average Joe torque is what makes the difference in seat of the pants feel and off the line acceleration. Leave the HP gain to the racers. Your money would be better spent on a performance exhaust.
 
#10 ·
I would not do this mod. Start by freeing up the exhaust. The car operates with the intake manifold fully open when it's in motion. The intake valves control how much air gets in. You could take the whole air filter off and you'd get the same amount of air going in because each valve is individually computer controlled. In reality, you're just going to get dust and crap in your engine, and need more oil changes.
 
#11 ·
If you look at the size of the stock intake duct, the restrictive paper and carbon filters, it is clear the large intake manifold is not fully accommodated. Opening up the air tracks will allow as much air in as the manifold can allow. The air scoops will further add pressure at speed above 60mph which was proven by dynos, then consider the low cost and ease of such mods you have a bang for the buck mod. If the intake pressure is of no impact at all, you would not have people complaining about lower performance at higher altitude especially for the NA engine.

The engine can handle bigger "dust" the air filter will allow. The oil filter passes more "dust" if you will.

Exhaust mods are great too, just don't dismiss any intake mods so easily.
 
#14 ·
So taking it out will not void warranty? And will it affect the performance in any way?
 
#15 ·
No and no. But any time you modify something you take some risk. At a minimum don't expect BMW to later replace your air box for free:)

Take out the carbon filter and make sure it is cleaned of all dust. Do so only if you also replace the stock paper filter with one of those high flow filters.

I suggest spend a little more to get the aFe oiled filter rather the K&N filter. The aFe has larger surface area and is more rigidly built, it will last longer before your next cleaning or replacement. The more spirited intake sound alone is worth the effort.

The air scoops and the secondary ram air intake DIYs will make your N52 even more fun to drive.
 
#17 ·
The stock intake and stock filter are already outstanding. I don't know about the 328, but the 335 has a CAI stock. It has a duct that sucks up air before the radiator.

Stock filters are great now days, too. If you get a gauze one, you'll have more or less undetectably better performance for the first couple thousand miles after you clean it, and then worse performance, all while letting much more dirt into the engine.

Stick with stock.
 
#18 ·
I stressed this is for the N52 intake. CAI for the N52 actually reduces its performance, which is why the BMW performance intake is a closed intake.

The 335 F/I system is quite different. A CAI would not degrade the performance because hot air gets cooled by the intercooler. There is no intercooler in the N52 (328i), a CAI (cold air intake) actually would literally suck in hot air in the engine bay.
 
#20 ·
#23 ·
If you're interested I have an intake for sale. I posted the ad in the Classifieds (Performance) section. here is the post:
Hello. I have a 2011 328i Sedan. I purchased the intake from BMW of Minnetonka and had them install it on 4/22. I tried it out for a few days then had it removed 4/25, again at BMW of Minnetonka. Nothing wrong with the intake system at all, the sound just isn’t to my liking. I had BMW Performance Exhaust installed at the same time (which I love). Intake includes all parts and filter cleaner.

$400 new. Will sell for $275 or best offer. Willing to ship

Full product info:
Advanced Flow Engineering (aFe) Cold Air Intake System for BMW 3-Series (E90/92/93) 3.0L non-turbo 328. Serial Number 54-11012

Thanks
 
#32 ·
Just to repeat what was said earlier, you will not get any significant gains by changing the intake system on your car, and you run the risk of installing a system that will not handle ingested water properly.

The stock intake is NOT restrictive to airflow under even fairly spirited normal driving conditions. In order to get significant power you have to change the air intake plus the intake manifold, plus the valvetrain, plus the injector setup plus the exhaust manifold plus the exhaust. You would then want to change out the pistons, add light weight connecting rods and crank, etc., which comes out to being about the price of two new M3s.

I've followed this issue over the years on my BMWs and Porsches, and whenever an independent assessment is done, most people show either no change or a slight increase or decrease in horsepower--usually insignificant either way--and often a decrease in torque. Remember that when aftermarket guys post before and after dynos, they may have done 20 pulls; the worst and best get posted on their website graphs.
 
#33 ·
you run the risk of installing a system that will not handle ingested water properly.
Please elaborate on this one for us.

The stock intake is NOT restrictive to airflow under even fairly spirited normal driving conditions.
Depending on which part. Look at the cross section of the stock air intake snorkel, it is much smaller than the cross section at the intake manifold. I think there is a reason why the BMW's own PI uses an enlarged air intake snorkel before the air filter box.

There is no denying the intake mods will not gain any significant power, but efforts made to increase pressure at highway speed, reducing air temp and match the intake track to the intake manifold should prvide noticeable difference, the improvement of intake sound alone is a great deal for many.

So it all comes down to how much does it cost, for whatever the benefit is gained.

Because of the smaller intake snorkel, I have always been a little skeptical about the euro airbox mod, because it does not change the size of the intake snorkel, yet it cost over $400 for the euro airbox and the round filter.
 
#34 ·
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