Front mount intake vs traditional

[Blitzed]

Is there an advantage to go with a front mount intake over the traditional kind?

[horsepower_and_hounds]

[CaryTheLabelGuy]

Originally Posted by Blitz2033

Is there an advantage to go with a front mount intake over the traditional kind?

The S55 and B58 has an air-to-water intercooler and has a front-mount heat exchanger (think radiator). This is a much better setup than a traditional air-to-air FMIC.

Want to do an experiment? Go run the S55 for a bit - then stop and open the hood and put your hand on the top-mount air-to-water intercooler and feel how cool it is to the touch. Now go run a car with a traditional air-to-air FMIC and then touch it and see which is warmer.

The stock intercooler is very effective. You'd have to run a very large FMIC core to achieve the same cooling and you'd be dealing with a larger pressure drop across the core.

That being said, improvements can and have been made to the stock S55 intercooler setup. There are aftermarket intercoolers and aftercoolers that require no major modifications to install and improve on the stock setup even more.

[Dippydo]

I can let you know in a couple weeks. I had my car dynoed completely stock and just put in the RK Tunes intake. I didn't buy it for more power just sounds and look, but I am curious if the claims are true. Wanted to break up all the black color under the hood with an accent color and see no point in spending any money on an intake that pulls hot air from under in the hood.

[cryptz]

I assume you mean intake and not intercooler. The answer to your question is sound, front mount will likely be more audible. Otherwise i think its been shown that benefits of any intake are minimal and the differences between each one is also minimal.

[Blitzed]

Originally Posted by Dippydo

I can let you know in a couple weeks. I had my car dynoed completely stock and just put in the RK Tunes intake. I didn't buy it for more power just sounds and look, but I am curious if the claims are true. Wanted to break up all the black color under the hood with an accent color and see no point in spending any money on an intake that pulls hot air from under in the hood.

You have a pic from the front? Looks awesome!

[CaryTheLabelGuy]

Originally Posted by cryptz

I assume you mean intake and not intercooler. The answer to your question is sound, front mount will likely be more audible. Otherwise i think its been shown that benefits of any intake are minimal and the differences between each one is also minimal.

I just looked at the OP and it did say intakes. I could have sworn it said intercooler previously, maybe I was just in a hurry.

[tom @ eas]

Nothing more than underhood bling.

Unless you're popping your hood at shows or want to be the coolest guy at the gas station - intakes really don't offer any additional power over a set of replacement filters.

[Fugazii]

I'm getting my MSR installed soon everyone who has one swears by it. The only complaints is the price.

[Ehloo]

Several manufactures have dynos out showing worth while gains. I don't think anyone will actually believe it till you make the purchase. Others prob still won't believe

The good news back in the day it was only MSR and few brave enoUgh to take the chance. Many other companies out there under 1000 for the intake. The sound in itself it's worth well over a 1000 for me

That being said I have a rK auto carbon intake waiting in my garage till I hit 1200 miles

I will be getting a MSR for my x5m when they finally release it. Their filters are blitz mesh and much higher quality and produce a different sound. And no one else makes a front intake for my car so no choices

Originally Posted by tom @ eas

Nothing more than underhood bling.

Unless you're popping your hood at shows or want to be the coolest guy at the gas station - intakes really don't offer any additional power over a set of replacement filters.

[tom @ eas]

Originally Posted by Ehloo

Several manufactures have dynos out showing worth while gains. I don't think anyone will actually believe it till you make the purchase. Others prob still won't believe

The good news back in the day it was only MSR and few brave enoUgh to take the chance. Many other companies out there under 1000 for the intake. The sound in itself it's worth well over a 1000 for me

That being said I have a rK auto carbon intake waiting in my garage till I hit 1200 miles

I will be getting a MSR for my x5m when they finally release it. Their filters are blitz mesh and much higher quality and produce a different sound. And no one else makes a front intake for my car so no choices

We've dynoed just about every setup out there over the years seeing little to no gains - all contributed solely by oiled/stainless filter media vs paper/charcoal liners used in the stock airbox. There just isn't a magic shape that unlocks horsepower, as most intakes are glorified noisemakers/underhood candy.

In the end, it's your decision. We would love to sell intakes also, but not going to mislead people in doing so.

[mike@x-ph.com]

Originally Posted by Blitz2033

Is there an advantage to go with a front mount intake over the traditional kind?

I have not seen any independent dyno showing real gains with front mount vs traditional intakes

It looks good but if you are after performance, use the money for other mods

[Blitzed]

Originally Posted by mike@x-ph.com

I have not seen any independent dyno showing real gains with front mount vs traditional intakes

It looks good but if you are after performance, use the money for other mods

ty everyone for all your help on this!

[mike@x-ph.com]

Originally Posted by Blitz2033

ty everyone for all your help on this!

You are welcome

[Justin.AutoTalent]

Originally Posted by Dippydo

I can let you know in a couple weeks. I had my car dynoed completely stock and just put in the RK Tunes intake. I didn't buy it for more power just sounds and look, but I am curious if the claims are true. Wanted to break up all the black color under the hood with an accent color and see no point in spending any money on an intake that pulls hot air from under in the hood.

You most likely will not see any gains on the dyno, unless you have a dyno room that will simulate the moving air to speed. I had MSR, and the before and after showed no changes.

The front mounts sound insane and from my experience, you do feel a bit in the higher rpms, 4k+.

[F80R]

I remember msr claiming 40-50whp gain with their Intake .. which is a retarded statement.. then maximum psi claimed 30whp .. then after dyno they made 6whp over drop in .. I know a guy with MSR intake and it sounds sick tho but there no power gain .. for looks and sound if you can put out 1-3k for intake then go for it

[JibSTir13]

What I've noticed with previous vehicles and aftermarket intakes is a slight loss in low-end response.

For those that have aftermarket intakes (full piping, not only drop-in filter) on the S55, have you noticed a loss in low-end response compared to stock?

[Ehloo]

Just installed my rk carbon intakes. Ecu is still adapting but it does feel low end for a little worse. It's very minimal

Not going to go into the debate of it makes power or not. The sound coming my car is something else and worth every penny. I paid 1100 for a AA midpipe purely for sound which most do the same. So what's big issue doing it for the intake

Originally Posted by JibSTir13

What I've noticed with previous vehicles and aftermarket intakes is a slight loss in low-end response.

For those that have aftermarket intakes (full piping, not only drop-in filter) on the S55, have you noticed a loss in low-end response compared to stock?

[dut]

I came up on an MSR intake (insane deal) and purchased it primarily for sound, knowing there would be no performance benefit(s). Oh, not to mention looks.

[Demxsr]

On hot days (85-100F) my car feels different than on cooler days (50-70f) and not in a good way. The exhaust definitely sounds different between the two conditions. Either way, hot or cold day, the engine temps are more or less the same, so I'm assuming the change in feel and sound is from intake temp. The OEM set up is closed off completely from the engine bay and getting all the air from the 2 intake ports in front of either side of the radiator.

To me, changing to an intake that has open filters in the engine bay makes it always a hot day. With turbos and any spirited driving, that engine bay gets hot AF.

I've been running stock setup with charcoal delete from 1,200 miles on. But hoping to change that very soon.

[Woodengun]

Originally Posted by Demxsr

With turbos and any spirited driving, that engine bay gets hot AF.

I was interested in this. I'll post more specifics later but I found that the engine bay ran 10-40 degrees (Fahrenheit) warmer than at the front grill. It really didn't matter if it was 70 degrees outside or 95.

The engine bay got very hot once I stopped and it takes a long time (30+ minutes) for the engine bay to cool down again. At highway speeds, the engine bay doesn't get that hot in the 2 places I measured temps.

[maximumpsi]

Originally Posted by F80R

I remember msr claiming 40-50whp gain with their Intake .. which is a retarded statement.. then maximum psi claimed 30whp .. then after dyno they made 6whp over drop in .. I know a guy with MSR intake and it sounds sick tho but there no power gain .. for looks and sound if you can put out 1-3k for intake then go for it

We never claimed a peak gain of 30whp. The complete tests and explinations were posted on our web site under the news section. There was also another thread here with a second test: http://f80.bimmerpost.com/forums/sho...ht=maximum+psi