Has anyone installed the aFe Intake on their 335i? The company claims an increase of 27hp and 34 ft/lbs torque for about $450 (or less) plus an hour labor. I have been waiting for DINAN to release their Cold Air Intake, I was told it is due out in about 60-90 days, but have no idea on price or power increase. Has anyone heard anything on that? Thanks. Howard
People may love it BUT I would ne very skeptical ofr the HP claims, you WILL hear a better note but 27HP I doubt, but then again what do I know, just my opinion.
I'm looking in install the aFe intake on my '06 330xi myself. Just waiting for it to go on sale again at BavAuto.com. I take the performance numbers with a grain of salt, but supposedly the sound difference is worth the price of admission, plus I'm looking for something to play with. Here's a VERY good article by Steve Dinan regarding evaluating manufacturer hp/torque increase claims--click here. Though they have the data to back up its performance enhancements, the Dinan cold air intake for the E90 is quite a bit more expensive and requires taking the bumper off (and maybe a wheel; not sure about the brake), etc. That's just a little too much for me to do in my parking garage, and then adding in the cost of someone else installing it (a Dinan-authorized dealer/installer at that) makes it a relatively expensive modification. One of the things the Dinan kit does that the aFe kit doesn't is maintain positive air pressure by way of a scoop and conduit that has direct contact with forced external air when the car is moving. The aFe kit takes in relatively still air from under the hood. You also need to consider when and where you'll be driving, as the Dinan intake is relocated very low to the ground. Probably not the best when there's a lot of water or snow around. My $.02. Rick
filter change and warranty Does changing the filter housing or the filter element invalidate the warrenty??
This is probably mostly about the housing. If you just change the filter element you are covered as you are permitted to do that as part of regular maintenance and you don't have to use the OEM filter just a compatible one. This has been my experience and I'm sure others would concur. As for changing the filter housing to support a cold air intake or other wise, there can be warranty issues with pretty much any modification you make the car. The bottom line is if you do this and your motor explodes the dealer can probably make a reasonable case that you modified your vehichle and that this modification caused that issue. I have had modified intakes on every car I've had and loved them all, performance gains or not. I never had the cars in for any warranty work though. -Leon
True that you don't want to get water into your intake but I believe you'd really have to suck a lot of water in to be a problem. On my 02 WRX I have a cold air thats behind a fog light and it has been fine for a few years. The snow cant really get behind the fog light anyway.. little bit of water yeah but nothing crazy. -Leon
Based on what I've seen in dynos, you will only get measurable gains when in combination with a tune. Any gains on an otherwise stock car will be negligible. The +27hp gains aFe advertises is misleading in the fact that they are referring to maximum HP gain and not peak HP gain. For example, you may have 280whp stock and 287whp with the intake, a peak gain of 7whp, but somewhere else on the curve you have 200whp stock and 218whp with the intake, an increase of 18whp. And FWIW, aFe engineers themselves say their testing was conducted on an otherwise non-stock vehicle. If anyone is interested, I actually have an aFe Pro-Dry S intake I'm thinking about selling.
aFe intake on 335i I put a aFe intake kit on my 335i which included the ducting installed behind the kidney grilles and I am totally happy with it. There is a difference in sound quality and while not neck snapping, there is a noticeable increase in power. Its the only mod I have done so far but I am waiting to return to the states to add some more. The only drawback I have found is that the rear air filter is pressing against the matting on the bottom side of the hood; has anyone else seen that after installing the kit? I have tried to adjust the air ducting to lower it away from the hood but haven't had any luck so if anyone has a suggestion I am all ears...my $.02, buy the kit, its worth it...
the dinan intake is out and its expensive and an intake will not give you 27hp if you run a tune and supporting mods you will see some gain even the dinan intake needs the stage 2 software and exhaust to make some sense
