E34 intake controversy??

[Stuka]

Well, lets start out by saying the e34's intake has been debated for many a year, as to whether or not to go cold air, or bust out a K&N in the stock airbox. Being the silly teenager I am, I opted for the 100 dollar powerflow kit, offered at bavauto.com. Great company, btw. After putt-puttin around for about 2 months with it in, I came across a racing enthuseist(sp?) and his e34 540. Inside that 540 was a K&N in the stock airbox, as he stated no matter how much airflow you get, if its hot, you lose hp. Keep in mind I have the cone setup, but i was also sporting a white trash can cut in half serving as a heat shield. I then took another trip to bavuto.com and bought myself a k&n for the stock airbox and put it in.

Verdict: The cone filter gave me an awesome sound, and better throttle response. The heat shield I made for it looks mad ghetto, so it lost points there. The K&N in the airbox looks nicer, but the sound faded, making my BMW feel stock, but the power was there. I have yet to really determine that the K&N in stock airbox gives that much more hp, but I like the look, so im keeping it.

I'd have to say they are pretty much equal, with one not having the nice sound.


What are you guys running, and what do you think of my experiment?

[Torque]

i am on stock filter/ airbox...

over the summer when the school is out, i plan on trying (this being a key word) to build a custom intake. we'll see how that goes.

but first i have to get a new thermostat and fan clutch...there goes around 100 dollars

[Leicesterboy15]

I don't know if anyone has seen this but there is some good info on air filters on this link....


http://www.bmwe34.net/e34main/upgrade/Air_filter.htm


I am running the standard set up, I have thought about a K&N but with all these different opinions about, its hard to know if its gonna make any difference. Nice bit of R&D tho..

[Stuka]

i dont know, it just felt like the powerflow kit just had more umph to it, as it seems the stock airbox is well, stock. The k&N filter is ok, but it just lacks what the powerflow had. Im too lazy to put the powerflo back on, plus im not sure which is better in hot weather. My next buy is going to be an exhaust, probably triflo, so well see if the airflow gets any better.

[d3ity]

I've been toying with the idea of a cold air intake... This may have just convinced me to attempt the project.

Hey stuka...Question for you, I just called bavauto and they dont have an intake for my vehicle, its an e34 1993 525i...How did you get yours? Did you get one for a diffrent vehicle and "fit" it? Where did you place it? some pictures would be delightful

[Torque]

search for intake on bavauto.com after selecting year and model and it will find a Powerflo for 164.95. it was probably a new guy that you spoke to or something.

later

[d3ity]

Well, it doesnt show up for the '93 525i, but i punched in your model year ('90) and it came up, any conflicts that you can see out of this? was the engine placement diffrent at all?

[Stuka]

hey d3iety, i thought this post died, but i have to answer ur question. I bought my powerflo kit for 103.99 (ON SALE) and it was made especially for my car, as it came with bolt on pieces and everything to make it fit right. It came minus a heat shield (69.99) so i used a plastic trash can. It looked so bad i changed it back to stock. Hope that helps a bit.

[d3ity]

Thanks man, I've since decided to build my own with torque0...

Check the To: Torque thread.

[sp0rky]

The 1990 and the 1993 have a different engine, so im not sure if they will be a perfect fit, its best just to build your own.

My intake sacrificed some torque but gained a BIT of noise and pick up in the higher RPM range (3.5k +)

[d3ity]

Thats all in the plan man So happy, just found my filter (hopefully)

[Torque]

what filter did you find ?

[d3ity]

www.greenfilters.com

it looks like a decent solution

Look around, search by part then look at thier "universal" filters