[Ehloo]

i have always ran an aftermarket intake on all my cars but with supporting other mods. Beside the complexities in the turbo design one thing is sure, they want air flow in and then out as fast as possible.

turbos compress air. if the intake can pull more air, colder and more dense air it would have as much heat created and it should be easier to make power.

i do plan to install an front mount intake and i will take some pics of the stock design. I don’t think many have seen it yet and hard to visualize but there is some common sense in my arguments. why BMW did what they did nobody knows but all speculation. i truly believe to define these as much as possible

Originally Posted by TallGibbs

Well stated, much more succinctly than me 😀
Also, I do believe there is some merit to an aftermarket intake system. My belief is you want to understand what you are buying which is why I find it super helpful to see actual data.

I hope someday to put an aftermarket intake on my car but I want to be confident I understand why I’m buying (as part of a full power package improvement) and recognize where it’s benefits actually contribute.

[aerobod]

On my M2, I can put my fingers into the BMW intake at the side of the radiator, so the air is reaching the intake mainly through the grilles. The aftermarket intake has to take the same path around the edge of the radiator, but just has a more restrictive cross section at that point, so will restrict maximum airflow into the OEM airbox, compared with the way BMW have provided the intake.

These aftermarket intakes also block about 20% of the intake area to the radiator (about 50% of the grille area, which is about 40% of the total intake area).

[M_Power Rob]

Originally Posted by aerobod

On my M2, I can put my fingers into the BMW intake at the side of the radiator, so the air is reaching the intake mainly through the grilles. The aftermarket intake has to take the same path around the edge of the radiator, but just has a more restrictive cross section at that point, so will restrict maximum airflow into the OEM airbox, compared with the way BMW have provided the intake.

These aftermarket intakes also block about 20% of the intake area to the radiator (about 50% of the grille area, which is about 40% of the total intake area).

Exactly...plus, the exposed filers will collect all sorts of dirt and debris which, yes, restricts airflow.

[Dave07997S]

You know just replacing the OEM paper filter on these cars with some BMC units are 8-10rwhp.