[Blueeyesredpanda]

Most of your probably heard of the well-known D brand $500 ram air intake. and many members have successfully DIY'ed the ram air intake. Most of them have Halogen headlight. I have Xenon headlights, there is no space between the driver side headlight and intake. But there is enough space going straight to the BOTTOM of the intake.

RESULT

Record #1 CLOSED BOX
Temperature: 27C
Intake temp: 33C
Speed is 90kmh on the highway
Coolant temp keeps dropping on the highway, lowest was 79 if I remember correctly
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Record #2 OPEN BOX
Temperature: 19C
Intake temp: 23C
Engine Temp: 110C
Speed is 110kmh on the highway for 30mins
Coolant temp 105C

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Material:
1. Flexible Duct 3" inlet


2. 3" Duct funnel with mesh and screws


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Steps:

1. Remove the front wheel well

2. Remove one side of the brake duct

3. Test fit the duct

4. Use a 3" or 3-1/4 Hole saw cut right at the bottom CORNER of the euro intake, very close to the intake rubber bump stop/secure knob. Other spots you won't be able to close the wheel well.



5. Shove the duct into the intake first, the hole should be very tight, which is why it won't fall off

6. Use an Oring and tighten the duct to funnel

7. Install the funnel onto the lower grill

8. Reinstall the wheel well.


MORE PICS WILL BE POSTED

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[The Nightman]

Nice work! I thought it would be impossible to fit behind LCI xenons but this changes everything.

Hard to believe a simple mod has dyno proven gains: http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1186611

[markslc1]

part sources/numbers? Can this be done with a US N52 airbox?

[The Nightman]

Originally Posted by markslc1

Can this be done with a US N52 airbox?

Yep. Check out the Dinan intake: http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=183780

[JuniorB]

The sealed n52 box is also a cai system that pulled outside air from the grills, why go thru all this? You could accually pull more air thru the grill.

[rjahl]

Originally Posted by JuniorB

The sealed n52 box is also a cai system that pulled outside air from the grills, why go thru all this? You could accually pull more air thru the grill.

The corrugated air duct is horrible for pressure drop.

[Blueeyesredpanda]

Originally Posted by JuniorB

The sealed n52 box is also a cai system that pulled outside air from the grills, why go thru all this? You could accually pull more air thru the grill.

It is sort of a M3 and Dinan n52 intake replica.
I believe the original design doesnt pull more air but i will be doing some testing later this month. Also my intake temp dropped by 10-15C. The intake box itself gets hot because of the engine heat.

[Blueeyesredpanda]

Originally Posted by rjahl

The corrugated air duct is horrible for pressure drop.

What do you mean by pressure drop

[JuniorB]

That duct tubing looks no better, of course any smoothi transition in an intake system will improve flow. The box intake and exit may be rather small, a full 3' intake pipe from the tb may definely be benificial.

[The Nightman]

Originally Posted by JuniorB

The sealed n52 box is also a cai system that pulled outside air from the grills, why go thru all this? You could accually pull more air thru the grill.

Documented gains even with a 2" shop vac hose:

Originally Posted by freedomfries

Hard to believe a simple mod has dyno proven gains: http://www.e90post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1186611

[W37V]

Originally Posted by Blueeyesredpanda

1. Remove the front wheel well

2. Remove one side of the brake duct

3. Test fit the duct

4. Use a 3" or 3-1/4 Hole saw cut right at the bottom CORNER of the euro intake, very close to the intake rubber bump stop/secure knob. Other spots you won't be able to close the wheel well.

5. Shove the duct into the intake first, the hole should be very tight, which is why it won't fall off

6. Use an Oring and tighten the duct to funnel

Where did you get the parts from?

[Blueeyesredpanda]

Originally Posted by W37V

Where did you get the parts from?

Ebay

[Blueeyesredpanda]

Originally Posted by JuniorB

That duct tubing looks no better, of course any smoothi transition in an intake system will improve flow. The box intake and exit may be rather small, a full 3' intake pipe from the tb may definely be benificial.

I dont know what you actually mean by no better when results have proven positive results.
Air dont just glide along the side of the duct. It glides through the whole 3 inches diameter.

[Biginboca]

Originally Posted by Blueeyesredpanda

I dont know what you actually mean by no better when results have proven positive results.
Air dont just glide along the side of the duct. It glides through the whole 3 inches diameter.

Exactly. And it’s a supplement to the factory intake snorkels not the only intake. And the auxiliary intake originally dynoed to show gains in the other thread was 2” hose and you are using 3”, so it’s more than sufficient.

I ordered the same tubing you used a few months ago but I couldn’t get it to snake behind the headlight, the fit was too tight. I didn’t think to remove the wheel well liner and try it that way. The reason I was going to do this intake is because when I researched it the gains were there for sure over just using the stock snorkels. Nice work!

I ended up just ordering the AFE sealed CAI and using that. It has some supplemental intakes also but what you have fabricated would be superior in my opinion because:

1: the AFE draws it’s supplemental air from openings in the airbox behind the headlight so it’s not getting the coolest air supply

2: the AFE costs almost $500 normally

[Blueeyesredpanda]

Originally Posted by Biginboca

1: the AFE draws it’s supplemental air from openings in the airbox behind the headlight so it’s not getting the coolest air supply

2: the AFE costs almost $500 normally

Mine is a very tight fit, had to move it around to find the perfect spot. I would say the whole thing only took me 1 to 1.5 hour.

Yes the opening on the AFE is a bit weird because it sucks in some the warm air from the headlight. You can see the heatsink on the headlight is right next to the intake

[AWSAWS]

Doubt you'd see any appreciable gains. Even 5hp on a 250hp car is like 2%. You'd see 5 times that on a timing pull and more again on tc cut in. Won't be worth the time and effort imo

If you want a descent improvement try spraying some misted water in there.

[Biginboca]

Originally Posted by AWSAWS

Doubt you'd see any appreciable gains. Even 5hp on a 250hp car is like 2%. You'd see 5 times that on a timing pull and more again on tc cut in. Won't be worth the time and effort imo

If you want a descent improvement try spraying some misted water in there.

I disagree. If it takes 1.5hrs and costs less than $25 it’s worth it for 5hp. Guys on this forum regularly spend that much time bolting up an exhaust that gains less than 5hp and costs $1000.

For me it’s not a hassle tinkering with the car and making it faster, I enjoy this as my hobby. So for me the time is enjoyable and the real expense is $25 for 5hp, which is the cheapest hp/$ you will find.

[rjahl]

Originally Posted by AWSAWS

Doubt you'd see any appreciable gains. Even 5hp on a 250hp car is like 2%. You'd see 5 times that on a timing pull and more again on tc cut in. Won't be worth the time and effort imo

If you want a descent improvement try spraying some misted water in there.

I agree and disagree,

The NA motors have timing pulls just not as mush as your/our FI motors.

I did log enough timing pulls on the N52 to know that the stock tunes are very sensitive and it's hard to compare any type of mod without an actual log to view the results. The DME constantly monitors IAT, coolant temp, fuel quality, load, current gear, knock sensors and calculates a value, then modifies that result with stored adaptation values. You can not assume any two runs are the same without logging.

I've posted this before but hell, if the intake is easy and it was fun, why not? We're all here to have a little fun anyways. I've seen crazier things.

[Blueeyesredpanda]

Originally Posted by AWSAWS

If you want a descent improvement try spraying some misted water in there.

Judging by what you said. I can see that you know nothing about NA. Spraying water at the radiator? What do you mean no gains? When there was positive results on the other thread.

[JuniorB]

I saying a real air dam system, smooth transisions, and a large enough pipe. Although these are a pretty good set up, larger pipe in place of the factory would be an increase. That air dryer piping dosent look optimal, if it works for you, I guess it would suffice. A full 3' pipe leading into the bumper dam would be optimal.

[M.Etreby]

Quick question
Doesnt the air scoop does almost the same, they direct more air into the box but still using original car setup, it may not be a bigger volume compared to a 3" pipe of course, yet as long as you are driving ahead you will keep getting cold air inside, right?

[Biginboca]

Originally Posted by M.Etreby

Quick question
Doesnt the air scoop does almost the same, they direct more air into the box but still using original car setup, it may not be a bigger volume compared to a 3" pipe of course, yet as long as you are driving ahead you will keep getting cold air inside, right?

Yes, and in fact even without the air scoop (just normal factory set up) you get this effect you have described. The factory set up is very well done and is a true “cold air intake”. The actual benefit of air Scoops is questionable, adding an additional pathway is definitely going to be a better solution because Scoops are not addressing the main limitations of the factory set up.

The factory set up is limited in the snorkels which funnel air between the top of the grill and the airbox. So adding a second pathway to grab cold air from the front of the car can be helpful.

Some sealed cold air intakes (BMW performance intake comes to mind) replace the snorkels but I don’t know how much better the replacements flow vs stock, and other intakes (AFE and Dinan) add additional flow pathways separate to the stock snorkels.