gavsadler
///Member
Hi all,
Well I bit the bullet and decided to go ahead and order one of these pieces of kit. Got it from a contact in the UK, so I managed to save a bit.
All-in-all, it took about 1 week from placing my order, to receiving the kit - via DHL. At this point I would just like to get this off my chest: it's an expensive piece of kit, and you have to be really passionate about BMW, or really stupid to fork out so much money for it (I had not decided quite where I fitted in, perhaps a bit of both) :banghead:
Here's a pic after unpacking the box:
I decided I'm going to be as scientific as possible in my "analysis-review". The intake tract is noticably larger than the OEM piece, as well as the intake into the airbox. I measured the volume of the intake tract, and the BMWP part has 22% more volume, and the inlet into the airbox is 18% larger than the OEM piece.
A while back, I decided I would try something different too. Just having 1 piece of the kit in CF seemed like a skimp on BMW's side, so I decided to get creative and wrap the other bits of kit in CF wrap. I think it came out quite snazzy . I also made the effort to align the weave the same as the part on the intake. Check it out....
Here's the lid wrapped:
Here's the intake nostrils wrapped:
And the extension piece wrapped:
And everything installed:
So we'll see how this wrap lasts with the underbonnet temperature's. Hopefully it stays in place. If it does, then I'll look at giving the parts a coat of gloss paint to make it match the BMWP piece a bit better. I had to make careful use of the hairdryer to stretch the vinyl to fit around the bolt holes etc.
Next I contacted Sav from Savspeed to help me out with the Dyno, I wanted to put my car on the rollers (stock standard) and then fit the BMWP intake straight after that and do some more runs. This would probably be the most effective way to see if there is any measurable gain.
Temperatures are nice and cold lately, when I arrived at Savspeed, ambient temperature was 10Deg C, nice and cold, so that would help with the power readings.
Sav first loaded the car on the Dyno, and spent a few minutes warming up the dyno, running the car through the gear's and at different speeds etc. He then did 2 runs, and ended up with 136kW and 249Nm on the wheels. Some nice healthy numbers :thumbsup:
I then quickly swapped over the parts, and then he spent another 10min or so using varying loads and speeds so that the ECU could 'learn' about the new intake fitted. Then 2 more dyno runs. It was apparent that the ECU was still adjusting, as the power numbers were still fluctuating up and down slightly. We let the car cool off for 10min, and then did 2 more runs. Power went up to 138kW and 253Nm.
Sav said that the car is improving, and will probably do in time as the ECU learns more about the new intake. A big thanks to Sav for the help on the day. He's friendly and down to earth.
Here's the initial dyno graph: The gains aren't huge, but they're there. And i'm sure it will improve once the ECU adapts some more in the coming days:
Driving impressions:
Having driven with the new intake for 2 tanks now, I can tell you that there is a noticable improvement at low RPM - between idle and 2500rpm. The car is much smoother on pull-off, and doesn't seem to have that "held back" feeling as it had with the OEM intake. If the dyno could read lower, I'm sure it will vouch for this too. I suspect this is most probably an increase in bottom-end torque.
From about 2700-3200rpm, there was a rather annoying boom that came from the intake. This could be heard with the windows closed or open. It was proving to be mildly annoying for me. This is probably when the 3-stage inlet manifold starts opening the other valves etc. After a bit of troubleshooting, I found that at at that RPM range, the new airbox lid would vibrate - causing the boom. I sorted this out with some sound deadening mat applied strategically.
Throughout the rest of the rev range, there is a slight difference in sound. It still sounds very sporty from inside the car and the car is more responsive and eager to rev. I honestly couldn't feel a difference in the power and torque through the rest of the rev range, but this might change with time as the ECU learns.
Overall, so far, so good. I'll see how it goes in the coming weeks as I spend more time in the car and the ECU learns. For the moment that's all I can comment on driving impressions, but I thought I'd post all my developments to date.
Well I bit the bullet and decided to go ahead and order one of these pieces of kit. Got it from a contact in the UK, so I managed to save a bit.
All-in-all, it took about 1 week from placing my order, to receiving the kit - via DHL. At this point I would just like to get this off my chest: it's an expensive piece of kit, and you have to be really passionate about BMW, or really stupid to fork out so much money for it (I had not decided quite where I fitted in, perhaps a bit of both) :banghead:
Here's a pic after unpacking the box:
I decided I'm going to be as scientific as possible in my "analysis-review". The intake tract is noticably larger than the OEM piece, as well as the intake into the airbox. I measured the volume of the intake tract, and the BMWP part has 22% more volume, and the inlet into the airbox is 18% larger than the OEM piece.
A while back, I decided I would try something different too. Just having 1 piece of the kit in CF seemed like a skimp on BMW's side, so I decided to get creative and wrap the other bits of kit in CF wrap. I think it came out quite snazzy . I also made the effort to align the weave the same as the part on the intake. Check it out....
Here's the lid wrapped:
Here's the intake nostrils wrapped:
And the extension piece wrapped:
And everything installed:
So we'll see how this wrap lasts with the underbonnet temperature's. Hopefully it stays in place. If it does, then I'll look at giving the parts a coat of gloss paint to make it match the BMWP piece a bit better. I had to make careful use of the hairdryer to stretch the vinyl to fit around the bolt holes etc.
Next I contacted Sav from Savspeed to help me out with the Dyno, I wanted to put my car on the rollers (stock standard) and then fit the BMWP intake straight after that and do some more runs. This would probably be the most effective way to see if there is any measurable gain.
Temperatures are nice and cold lately, when I arrived at Savspeed, ambient temperature was 10Deg C, nice and cold, so that would help with the power readings.
Sav first loaded the car on the Dyno, and spent a few minutes warming up the dyno, running the car through the gear's and at different speeds etc. He then did 2 runs, and ended up with 136kW and 249Nm on the wheels. Some nice healthy numbers :thumbsup:
I then quickly swapped over the parts, and then he spent another 10min or so using varying loads and speeds so that the ECU could 'learn' about the new intake fitted. Then 2 more dyno runs. It was apparent that the ECU was still adjusting, as the power numbers were still fluctuating up and down slightly. We let the car cool off for 10min, and then did 2 more runs. Power went up to 138kW and 253Nm.
Sav said that the car is improving, and will probably do in time as the ECU learns more about the new intake. A big thanks to Sav for the help on the day. He's friendly and down to earth.
Here's the initial dyno graph: The gains aren't huge, but they're there. And i'm sure it will improve once the ECU adapts some more in the coming days:
Driving impressions:
Having driven with the new intake for 2 tanks now, I can tell you that there is a noticable improvement at low RPM - between idle and 2500rpm. The car is much smoother on pull-off, and doesn't seem to have that "held back" feeling as it had with the OEM intake. If the dyno could read lower, I'm sure it will vouch for this too. I suspect this is most probably an increase in bottom-end torque.
From about 2700-3200rpm, there was a rather annoying boom that came from the intake. This could be heard with the windows closed or open. It was proving to be mildly annoying for me. This is probably when the 3-stage inlet manifold starts opening the other valves etc. After a bit of troubleshooting, I found that at at that RPM range, the new airbox lid would vibrate - causing the boom. I sorted this out with some sound deadening mat applied strategically.
Throughout the rest of the rev range, there is a slight difference in sound. It still sounds very sporty from inside the car and the car is more responsive and eager to rev. I honestly couldn't feel a difference in the power and torque through the rest of the rev range, but this might change with time as the ECU learns.
Overall, so far, so good. I'll see how it goes in the coming weeks as I spend more time in the car and the ECU learns. For the moment that's all I can comment on driving impressions, but I thought I'd post all my developments to date.
