[N420i]

I'm after some of those sweet turbo swooosh sounds on throttle lift...

At the moment I'm only aware of 2 companies making intakes for the B48 engine, BMS and Injen.

The BMS intake is about half the price of the Injen, but the difference is not insurmountable if the noise improvement is there... I do like the fact that the BMS one has a provision for oil catch can installation.

Are there any other options available? If so, which of them is the loudest? Ideally something reasonably priced. I'm sure GruppeM will build you a custom unicorn-hair-braided-carbon intake for $17k that plays Beethoven's 9th when you let off the gas, but i'd like to keep this below 3-400$

As a sidenote, this will also be paired with a catless downpipe (Almost certainly a chinese 80$ one. If it sucks i'm only out 80 bucks) and an Mperformance backbox a little further down the road.

[Sweeney921]

So far Injen and BMS make the only bespoke intakes for the B46/B48. Dinan just released one for the B58, so hopefully their B46/B48 model is coming soon too.

Subbed to see if anyone has experience with the Injen or BMS intakes. That's really clever that BMS' supports an oil catch can.

EDIT: my bad, didn't realize that AFE and MST also have intakes on the market too.

[tpliquid]

MST just released B48 intake. not on website yet but they posted few pics on their FB page

[N420i]

given that tomorrow I have a free morning, I'm gonna attempt to fabricate my own out of silicone hoses and aluminum piping and see how that goes. I'm not sure I'll even be able to do it, but if I am it's gonna be a damn sight cheaper than the 400€ Injen wants for a paper cone, an aluminum pipe and a plastic heat shield...

[CapitaineBeaver]

Originally Posted by N420i

given that tomorrow I have a free morning, I'm gonna attempt to fabricate my own out of silicone hoses and aluminum piping and see how that goes. I'm not sure I'll even be able to do it, but if I am it's gonna be a damn sight cheaper than the 400€ Injen wants for a paper cone, an aluminum pipe and a plastic heat shield...

I have the BMS one on my car and the sound is nice (especially with higher boost on the JB4). I cant comment on the injen since it just released but personally feel the injen intake is too expensive and look nowhere as nice as the BMS one.

[N420i]

Okay done! It took me all morning sin apparently no one in the biggest city in Spain stocks 80mm hoses... So I had to make do with manhandling some 76mm hose onto the 80mm inlet... but in the end I managed. I cut a slot for the MAF sensor and just screwed it right into the silicone. Cheap-ass, pathetic filter for the moment since, apparently, no one stocks decent filters in this town either. And then people complain that online shopping is killing street retail... Oh well...







For the moment the only thing keeping it from resting against the strut is the metallic ziptie you can see on the pictures. I'll work up a decent part for holding it in place soon, I need to receive my proper filter first.

First off, the sound is AMAZING. You can really hear the turbo build pressure, and it swooshes like crazy when you let off. So mission accomplished on that front. I guess some people would find it bothersome since you can really hear the boost from inside the cabin with closed windows and all, but since that's what I was after anyway, I'm happy. It'll soon be drowned out by a catless DP and MPE combo anyway.

On the other hand, I get the feeling that I've lost some power... Although weirdly it also feels like driveability and throttle response has improved. It's probably all in my head though and I won't be able to tell for sure till I hit the dyno or pull against a known car. Some heat insulation would definately help, too, but I can't help but think that'll take most of the noise away.

[thatf30]

Don't forget about AFE

[N420i]

Originally Posted by apanizo

Don't forget about AFE

AFE as in these guys https://afepower.com/?

That's pushing 450€ shipped to Spain... For that kind of money I might as well go the Injen route which will probably be much noisier since the AFE options all seem closed box designs.

[B58]

That's cool man you made it yourself, but no offense it looks very cheap and ghetto on a BMW... reminds me of the older gen civic crowd. The BMS one isn't so bad man for the price it has a good amount of noise and their dyno testing showed some gains. I'm going to get a new intake soon did you want me to donate you my BMS intake? You can just pay for the shipping.

[N420i]

Originally Posted by B58

That's cool man you made it yourself, but no offense it looks very cheap and ghetto on a BMW... reminds me of the older gen civic crowd. The BMS one isn't so bad man for the price it has a good amount of noise and their dyno testing showed some gains. I'm going to get a new intake soon did you want me to donate you my BMS intake? You can just pay for the shipping.

LOL no offence taken, it IS extremely cheap and ghetto! Under 40$ for parts and a couple of hours of work just to test out if the concept works.

Whoa thank you VERY much for the offer! A straight up donation is WAY too generous man, that's a 170$ part!! But I'd love to take it off your hands for a reasonable price!

Hit me up when you take it off and I can look into shipping costs. What are you replacing the BMS intake with?

[B58]

Originally Posted by N420i

LOL no offence taken, it IS extremely cheap and ghetto! Under 40$ for parts and a couple of hours of work just to test out if the concept works.

Whoa thank you VERY much for the offer! A straight up donation is WAY too generous man, that's a 170$ part!! But I'd love to take it off your hands for a reasonable price!

Hit me up when you take it off and I can look into shipping costs. What are you replacing the BMS intake with?

Either Dinan or the new Injen.... just waiting to see some stats and pricing.

[kern417]

Originally Posted by N420i

On the other hand, I get the feeling that I've lost some power... Although weirdly it also feels like driveability and throttle response has improved. It's probably all in my head though and I won't be able to tell for sure till I hit the dyno or pull against a known car. Some heat insulation would definately help, too, but I can't help but think that'll take most of the noise away.

The MAF is specifically calibrated to the diameter of MAF housing on the stock intake and it's location in the intake path (should be centered). Screwing it into a silicone hose that you know is a different size than stock is asking for trouble. It will affect power, timing pull, and afr if it gets incorrect readings. It doesn't even look like you screwed it on straight in the intake path. You should remove it.

[N420i]

Originally Posted by kern417

The MAF is specifically calibrated to the diameter of MAF housing on the stock intake and it's location in the intake path (should be centered). Screwing it into a silicone hose that you know is a different size than stock is asking for trouble. It will affect power, timing pull, and afr if it gets incorrect readings. It doesn't even look like you screwed it on straight in the intake path. You should remove it.

I've done some before and after logs, with same ambient temps and same gas.

Exact same AFR and timing as stock. Very slightly higher boost than stock. Exact same IATs even though its uninsulated. Exact same 0-60 times too, so the missing power thing might be in my head...

But yeah, the whole thing is sketchy to the max, as I said above this is just a temporary experiment, I will end up getting a proper intake.

[N420i]

Unfortunately I just found out that (unsurprisingly) the B58 intake diameter is significantly wider than the stock B48 so this intake is a no-go.

Currently debating whether to keep my janky AF solution (less janky now that I replaced the veeeery sketchy 15 dollar filter with a proper RAMAIR foam cone) or return to stock since the difference between the stock MAF housing and the diameter of the tube it's currently sitting in is only a couple of mm...

AFRs and timing all look fine but according to the math even a couple mm difference can make a huge difference in the amount of air flowing in the pipe since the flow is a function of pipe diameter ^4th power...

IATs look fine too but I'm not too crazy about it sucking hot air straight from the engine bay... Even though this is a problem with many other intakes too and I'm getting the price one has to pay to hear the turbo spool and blowoff...