[Luv_Vestal]

What's the best intake to put on my car? New to the 4 series..

[COKen]

The one which came on it unless you just want more sound. BMW engineers got it right.

[_tlink]

Originally Posted by COKen

The one which came on it unless you just want more sound. BMW engineers got it right.

This. If you want one that has great sound I'd look into CTS Turbo!

[Korvo]

Just echoing what others have said. There are no real performance gains from a CAI. Just some sweet turbo noise!!

[enjoythemusic]

Agree with above posts, just make sure of good filtration as stock is fine.

[Seba77W]

As far as performance I'd go with the M Performance OEM bottom box and a high flow drop in. If you want to hear the turbo spool and the diverter valve whoosh then go with CTS Turbo all the way. I've had it on my car 435i for over a year and it's been great. No CEL or rough idle as other intakes are known to cause. Good luck.

[BEM-S4]

Dinan is the only aftermarket option worth considering.

[Luv_Vestal]

Originally Posted by COKen

The one which came on it unless you just want more sound. BMW engineers got it right.

Ok thanks everyone for input.. with that being said what I really care most about is adding a performance tuner and I read you had to have upgraded intake and exhaust for the stage 3 or 4???

[BEM-S4]

Originally Posted by CourtneyLUVSbmw

Ok thanks everyone for input.. with that being said what I really care most about is adding a performance tuner and I read you had to have upgraded intake and exhaust for the stage 3 or 4???

Get the Dinan one. Everything else is filter on a stick and sacrificing performance for sound. Beyond Dinan you're looking at spending 2-3x as much for looks but no additional functionality. So Dinan plus maybe AFE scoop for $50 and call it a day.

[XxThe_RemedyXx]

Originally Posted by Seba77W

As far as performance I'd go with the M Performance OEM bottom box and a high flow drop in. If you want to hear the turbo spool and the diverter valve whoosh then go with CTS Turbo all the way. I've had it on my car 435i for over a year and it's been great. No CEL or rough idle as other intakes are known to cause. Good luck.

I have the air box that came with my MPPK purchase. I dropped in a K&N filter. The sound is a bit louder, like the car is "breathing" easier. Good stuff.

[kpgray]

Originally Posted by BEM-S4

Get the Dinan one. Everything else is filter on a stick and sacrificing performance for sound. Beyond Dinan you're looking at spending 2-3x as much for looks but no additional functionality. So Dinan plus maybe AFE scoop for $50 and call it a day.

+1

Originally Posted by XxThe_RemedyXx

I have the air box that came with my MPPK purchase. I dropped in a K&N filter. The sound is a bit louder, like the car is "breathing" easier. Good stuff.

The MPPK has the lower airbox modification to eliminate the heat air riser (thus it keeps air cooler for more performance) and for increased air flow above 5,500 RPM. The Dinan Air Intake is less restrictive on air flow but would have negligible impact without minimum of MPPK to take advantage of higher HP.

I have the 335i with MPPK & MPE. I installed the Dinan Intake, a very slight improvement 6,000-7,000 RPM only, otherwise no other noticeable difference in the rest of the power spectrum. However, the Carbon Fiber look under the hood is nice looking.

[Luv_Vestal]

Originally Posted by BEM-S4

Get the Dinan one. Everything else is filter on a stick and sacrificing performance for sound. Beyond Dinan you're looking at spending 2-3x as much for looks but no additional functionality. So Dinan plus maybe AFE scoop for $50 and call it a day.

So your saying to use the stage 3 or 4 tuner an upgraded intake or exhaust is not needed? I have the m performance exhaust already on my car .. I'm just trying to figure out exactly what is needed in order to add the stage 3 or 4 tuner or am I good to go as is..?

[1QuikWS6]

Shown below are the MPPK lower airbox for 435 N55 on left, original factory lower as supplied with my car from factory



If you notice, box on right includes the BMW 'snow valve' which is included on cars with 'Winter Pkg' my car had this.

The Dinan Intake conversion includes removing this valve & installing blank off plate in it's place so no outside air enters the airbox except thru the intake snorkel at DS of rad.

The MPPK box on left does indeed not have the snow valve, but it does have that large hole in the side rimmed in red plastic. Nothing else is different between the MPPK box & std. That large opening is only there for increased sound - because that's what customer expect to hear when supposedly upgrading to a better intake...





Myself, and many others, feel that a sealed intake is the best way to go - you may have your own opinion...

For that reason I did not change out my lower airbox for the MPPK version when I installed my Dinan CAI

[F30-XP-DM]

Another vote here for the Dinan intake. I'm not totally convinced it's worth the asking price, but it gives a nice noise under load and the CF looks awesome

[uncleruckus]

Originally Posted by CourtneyLUVSbmw

So your saying to use the stage 3 or 4 tuner an upgraded intake or exhaust is not needed? I have the m performance exhaust already on my car .. I'm just trying to figure out exactly what is needed in order to add the stage 3 or 4 tuner or am I good to go as is..?

Regarding you tunes, generally speaking the intake won't have much, if any real affects on performance ... so it's not really necessary (although wouldn't hurt per say).

What I think is more important than intake, is the following:

• Intercooler (VRSF is a popular one, so is ER)

• Chargepipe (Most common aftermarket one is the ER charge pipe)

• Catless Downpipe (Plenty of people use VRSF or ER catless DPs)

• Midpipe (Not really necessary, but I would personally invest in this over intake .. I know AWE Tuning makes mid pipes for our car)

Also, what performance tune were you looking to add ? There are 2 "classes/types" of tuning that is available:

• Piggyback Tune (e.g. JB4, Dinan, etc.) - Device that plugs into 1 or 2 sensors under the hood and fools the ECU (aka DME) to increase boost

• Flash Tunes (eg. BM3, MHD, AA, etc) - Re-install new firmware/software onto the ECU (aka DME) itself; the new firmware/software itself has higher boost values built in and often safer compared to Piggyback tunes (with flash tunes, the tuner is able to specify the AFR directly to ensure the engine doesn't run too lean)

If you let us know the specific tune you are looking to add (or what your goal is), I am sure we can provide bit more details/information.

[alohasurftoad]

to me, i consider an intake last of a flash tunes supporting bolt ons

for the most power and torque gain the next thing to consider is a catless or high flow catted downpipe, followed by these...

aftermarket intercooler and charge pipe, because the oem plastic one will likely fail at some point and you may as well change it while swapping the intercooler.
GFB DV+ diverter valve
aftermarket turbo inlet pipe
cat-back exhaust(mainly for sound)
lastly, intake(mainly for sound)

personally i'd probably just get a high flow drop-in filter but if you want to finish off the bolt-ons with aftermarket, from a design standpoint, the AFE Momentum GT, Dinan, and AWE S-FLO have the best designs because they're made out of plastic or cf(take longest to heatsoak) and they connect to the factory air inlet from the kidney grill. AFE Momentum GT is the cheapest of these and the one i'd suggest.

as of yet, i have not seen a legit comparison between any of these intakes and speculate that, closed or open, they'll all provide some minimal increase in performance however the open ones are a lot louder.

[Luv_Vestal]

Originally Posted by uncleruckus

Regarding you tunes, generally speaking the intake won't have much, if any real affects on performance ... so it's not really necessary (although wouldn't hurt per say).

What I think is more important than intake, is the following:

• Intercooler (VRSF is a popular one, so is ER)

• Chargepipe (Most common aftermarket one is the ER charge pipe)

• Catless Downpipe (Plenty of people use VRSF or ER catless DPs)

• Midpipe (Not really necessary, but I would personally invest in this over intake .. I know AWE Tuning makes mid pipes for our car)

Also, what performance tune were you looking to add ? There are 2 "classes/types" of tuning that is available:

• Piggyback Tune (e.g. JB4, Dinan, etc.) - Device that plugs into 1 or 2 sensors under the hood and fools the ECU (aka DME) to increase boost

• Flash Tunes (eg. BM3, MHD, AA, etc) - Re-install new firmware/software onto the ECU (aka DME) itself; the new firmware/software itself has higher boost values built in and often safer compared to Piggyback tunes (with flash tunes, the tuner is able to specify the AFR directly to ensure the engine doesn't run too lean)

If you let us know the specific tune you are looking to add (or what your goal is), I am sure we can provide bit more details/information.

I had a jb4 on my 335i.. it went under the hood... My ultimate end goal is more HP.. the difference of my 335i with or without the jb4 was night and day.. my car was WAY quicker and all around the sound of turbos, exhaust etc was way amplified.. I don't want to swap too much for aftermarket I want to also keep it as stock as possible plus my warranty doesn't cover anything that isn't oem.

I just got the car a few months ago and as far as I can tell the only modification that's been done is previous owner had it lowered with h&r race springs.

I am going to get an aftermarket charge pipe for sure... I had so many problems with the pos plastic oem charge pipe on my 335 it was ridiculous!

[BEAR-AvHistory]

Personally think they are all a waste of money, Dinan is just a bigger waste then most. The car comes with a CAI from the factory. Want more just put a lower restriction (more dirt) filter in it.

The engine cannot take in more air then the stock system can deliver till you get over the 425WHP & better range.

[louielouie]

Originally Posted by CourtneyLUVSbmw

I had a jb4 on my 335i.. it went under the hood... My ultimate end goal is more HP.. the difference of my 335i with or without the jb4 was night and day.. my car was WAY quicker and all around the sound of turbos, exhaust etc was way amplified.. I don't want to swap too much for aftermarket I want to also keep it as stock as possible plus my warranty doesn't cover anything that isn't oem.

I just got the car a few months ago and as far as I can tell the only modification that's been done is previous owner had it lowered with h&r race springs.

I am going to get an aftermarket charge pipe for sure... I had so many problems with the pos plastic oem charge pipe on my 335 it was ridiculous!

With just a stage 2, it's highly recommended you change the intercooler and the downpipe and therefore the charge pipe as well.

How do you plan on safely running an aggressive tune such as stage 3 but still keeping the car mostly stock? Sounds like a bad idea.

[Luv_Vestal]

Originally Posted by louielouie

With just a stage 2, it's highly recommended you change the intercooler and the downpipe and therefore the charge pipe as well.

How do you plan on safely running an aggressive tune such as stage 3 but still keeping the car mostly stock? Sounds like a bad idea.

Well besides my charge pipe having to be replaced twice on my 335i I had no issues with just a tune

[enjoythemusic]

Originally Posted by 1QuikWS6

Myself, and many others, feel that a sealed intake is the best way to go - you may have your own opinion...

For that reason I did not change out my lower airbox for the MPPK version when I installed my Dinan CAI

Ditto here, feel a sealed box is the way to go. Did not realize the Dinan intake was *that much* better than stock, it just kinda sorta came with the car as part of the deal. Great thread posts, thanks!

[rackjuediger]

Im running injen on my N20. Great sound and looks