Cold air intake

[gman16]

Hi guys,
I'm a newbie to this forum and am just beginning to mod the wifes '99 332I. I was told that a cold air intake should make a big difference in power. Is this true and also what brands would you guys recommend with the most bang for the buck? Also need to know if it will prevent me from clearing smog in Cali. I'll appreciate any input/advice you guys can offer. We have all the options except the power that I'm accustom to.
Thanks

[doughboyea]

gman,
There are numerious types of intakes out there. Thier gains are different for each, but you won't get enourmous amounts of HP and torque out of them. Some say you'll only get about 10hp maybe just over 15hp for the 3 series BMW's, if you have an M3... a little more, a 5 series, even more.... though I am by no means an expert, but have read much about what others have said about intakes in this forum. Here are some intakes that I'm looking into:

Eurosport Evo II Carbon Fiber Conforti Intake System - E46 3 series.

GruppeM Ram Air Intake - E46 3 series

They range in price from a few hundered to just under a thousand dollars.
There are more out there....

But more gains will be attained with a combination of intake and a "chip", the most popular:

Conforti Performance Software and Shark Injector

That's about $350.

Exhust would help out too.

So to sum up, you'll get some better HP ratings (not ALOT) and also get a more aggressive sounding engine from the intake/exhust set up...

Hope this helps. I can't answer the California thing... not really from there...

Dough

PS: There are some sound clips available and reviews of intakes, do a search on the forum for GruppeM, and you'll find the clips.

[Saggis]

as above...
a good start is always a K&N filter...they do real good work but if your looking for the best go for a gruppe M, they are expensive but worth it from what ive heard...

i have a cone filter from K&N for about 80$ and i noticed a great difference in power...well okey not like a turbo or something but it was noticebl...
they also give your engine a better response time...which means when u push the pedal it will react quicker

[Aydin]

Are you guys kidding around. 10 hp from a intake??? I don't know about that. Can anyone verify????

I thought its more like 3-5

[doughboyea]

Aydin,
I could be wrong, of course, I am not an expert, nor am I a mechanic, I never claimed to be, however, when coupled with a "chip", gains are much greater than alone. An intake alone could produce the range in HP you mentioned, somewheres from 3 to 5 HP, however, when a Shark Injector is added, there's more HP taken from the advantage....

But of course, it would help if others verified this....

Dough