[jpsimon]

I'll be doing datalogging later tonight, and going to the dyno tuesday morning. Tip for the install, make sure you lube the joints


Here are some pics:











Carl helped with the install:

[Italia335i]

Looks good JP (nice dog as well). Looking forward to your data....

[uhcoug2011]

Originally Posted by Italia335i

Looks good JP (nice dog as well). Looking forward to your data....

+1 Looking forward to the data as well.

[ianthegreat]

nice, grats

[hun77777]

i need to see numbers on this and helix before i make up my mind...

[scottp999]

Thanks for the pics. Would love to hear more about how long the install took you, and were there any tricks to it?

[xsb00st]

Looks good! Did you have to drill holes like ontopofem did?

[chinoxs203]

nicee. cant wait to see your numbers now! how hard was the install? hopefully i can do my helix myself once it comes in

[Septro]

Dam it's bright where you're at - I'm assuming that bumper pic is the VK IC and not stock.. I thought it would be bigger and fill up the vent opening more.

[jpsimon]

We had to drill holes, it wasn't bad though.. like ontopofem said it only takes about 2 minutes. I called Vince to let him know that it would be a good idea to do slots instead of exact holes, and just provide fender washers.. But he was already on top of that and said all the other FMIC's that are shipping will essentially have the "slotted" design.

Install wasn't bad at all, having an extra set of hands will be very helpful. Make sure you lube the joints, that will help a lot

[marcvtec]

I thought it would be bigger, can't really see it helping that much, honestly, but lets see your results

[vbmw335]

Looking good. Good alternative to cutting $400 stock couplers and bumper. I called BMW to check pricing on couplers.

JP , how long did it take for the install from start to finish?? was it as easy as it looks?

[Red135]

What did you use to lube the joints? Silicone spray, grease...?

[jpsimon]

Originally Posted by marcvtec

I thought it would be bigger, can't really see it helping that much, honestly, but lets see your results

The point of this FMIC is to be a direct bolt on with no cutting needed. The question they asked was "is a bigger FMIC that requires modifications really necessary for the stock turbos?". Right away I feel a difference, the car pulls incredibly strong and it keeps on pulling that way over and over. I can guarantee this will show on the dyno — I'll be going on tuesday to get that done.

All you people claiming it doesn't look bigger.. bla bla bla. I bet you'll all be very pleasantly surprised when you see the numbers

[jpsimon]

Originally Posted by Red135

What did you use to lube the joints? Silicone spray, grease...?

Lubed it with some oil that was in the stock FMIC

that being said.. I'm gonna get an OCC next.

[Juicer]

Originally Posted by vbmw335

Looking good. Good alternative to cutting $400 stock couplers and bumper. I called BMW to check pricing on couplers.

JP , how long did it take for the install from start to finish?? was it as easy as it looks?

What FMIC requires you to cut the stock couplers? None that I've heard of. I installed my code3/spearco and I didn't cut any couplers.

[Juicer]

Originally Posted by jpsimon

Lubed it with some oil that was in the stock FMIC

that being said.. I'm gonna get an OCC next.

I did the exact same thing for lube when I installed by FMIC and came to the same conclusion regarding the catch can. Mine was literally dripping with oil. I was like WTF?

[Red135]

Originally Posted by jpsimon

Lubed it with some oil that was in the stock FMIC

that being said.. I'm gonna get an OCC next.

nice. I already have a OCC so hopefully I won't be able to do the same.

[Italia335i]

I am probably going to throw a OCC back on my car. I had one for about 3k miles and then ended up selling it when I took it off for service.

[Vince@ V K Motorwerks]

Originally Posted by jpsimon

The point of this FMIC is to be a direct bolt on with no cutting needed. The question they asked was "is a bigger FMIC that requires modifications really necessary for the stock turbos?". Right away I feel a difference, the car pulls incredibly strong and it keeps on pulling that way over and over. I can guarantee this will show on the dyno — I'll be going on tuesday to get that done.

All you people claiming it doesn't look bigger.. bla bla bla. I bet you'll all be very pleasantly surprised when you see the numbers

I’m happy you are enjoying your car and the IC. I look forward to seeing your dyno results. Please log your IAT's so you can compare it to the stock IC. That will probably help quantify the gains in hp and cooling efficiency.

[vbmw335]

Originally Posted by Juicer

What FMIC requires you to cut the stock couplers? None that I've heard of. I installed my code3/spearco and I didn't cut any couplers.

To be more clear its not the couplers but the hose clamps that holds the coupler in place must be cut off. I just dont want to leave any traces of any tampering. It will cost $$$ to get it back to same as stock. That was my point.

[Juicer]

Originally Posted by vbmw335

To be more clear its not the couplers but the hose clamps that holds the coupler in place must be cut off. I just dont want to leave any traces of any tampering. It will cost $$$ to get it back to same as stock. That was my point.

The hose clamp for the coupler entering into the intercooler needs to be cut for most of the FMIC's out there. This can be replaced by one of the reusable clamps that the aftermarket FMICs come with. I know because I took out the OEM FMIC and cut this clamp off and then used one of the T-bolt calmps that came with my code3 to re-install the OEM FMIC, with no problems. But I see your point, this is a different clamp than the OEM clamp. The VK FMIC is great in terms of being stealth for having mods.