[dealer]

The Need for this DIY
I own a 2017 BMW 320i LCI with a custom bootmod3 stage 1 remap. The car equipped with the B48 engine currently puts out 280hp and 380nm of torque. As in any turbocharged car, Intake Air temperatures and overall intake airflow are critical to maximizing engine performance. As a resident of Jaipur, a city with 48 degree summers, any assistance to the car's intake to get easier access to cold air would surely prove beneficial. With this thought in mind, I went on an endeavor to look for potential upgrades.

The Problem
As I searched for potential upgrades to my car's cooling and intake system. My research revealed the following:-
1. Cold air intakes do not really make any meaningful difference on the B48 engine except for the added sound.
2. Intercooler upgrades are not available since the water to air intercooler is integrated in the Engine block.
3. Heat Exchanger upgrades are possible (from CSF/Wagner) but make little to no difference on a stock engine (an engine without a turbo upgrade).

The Surprising Discovery
As I read through various forums, looked at photos/videos of various B48 intakes etc. I noticed a strange difference between my stock intake and others shown in the photos and videos. My intake seemed to be blocked behind the headlight assembly and had a closed intake like the one seen in this link. (Source: Bimmerpost)


I do not know about the all the F30s sold in India so please do check your own car before proceeding. I expect all CBU F30s to have a similar closed intake.

The Solution
As I could not understand the reason why BMW would block off the intake other than to prevent a little dust from entering, I decided to make a few changes to the car's intake system to make the intake air temperatures cooler and improve overall airflow.

I ordered the following parts from ECS tuning -
Intake Grill
Intake Duct
FTP DA Scoop

The parts costed 133USD and took a month to arrive.

The Install
1. Start off by removing the front grille. Follow this video as a guide -

Kies Motorsports - F30 Grill Removal

2. Remove the Stock Intake Airbox. Follow this video -

Kies Motorsports - B48 Airbox Removal

3. Remove the intake plastic duct. (It pulls straight out)
4. Remove the stock Flap that closes the intake.
5. Slide in the new intake duct from the engine side (PS - Working from the front of the grille is extremely hard and doesn't fit proper)
6. Attach the new intake duct to the stock plastic duct.
7. Reattach the Stock Airbox.
8. Attach the Intake Grille to prevent debris from entering.
9. Install the FTP Intake Scoop using 3M Double Tape or the Screws Provided.
10. Reinstall Front grille.

The Result
I haven't gotten the time to datalog the car yet but the throttle response has certainly improved. It would be unreasonable to expect any differences in stop and go traffic due to the lack of airflow but I expect that I'll see more consistent intake air temperatures when doing high speed pulls as cold air is now being channel directly to the intake now.

PS - I apologize for the lack of pictures. If anyone else attempts this mod, they will understand the space constraint within the engine bay thus eliminating the possibility of any meaningful pictures.

[dealer]

Compatibility Update
The above mod works for all B47 and B48 F30s sold in India. Your car may be already equipped with the duct so you may be able to make do with just the air scoops.

Better Image of the mod attached below (Parts - 15,16). Part 14 needs to be removed.

[Jeroen]

Thanks for sharing. That cone filter looks like a K&N filter?

I am using a K&N filter on my Jaguar XJR too. But one that just fits into the same filter housing as the original paper filter. The cone filter has of course even less restriction.

I can not really say whether my K&N modification gave me any more power or torque. When you have some 400bhp on tap, adding a few more BHP is not going to make a huge difference. In theory, it should improve low rev pick up and torque and as far as I am concerned you can never have enough of that! And of course the sound might improve.

Reusable filters appeal to my hard core engineering back ground of fiddling and fixing things rather than rip and replace.

Stock up on the recharge and filter fluids though. You are going to need them. Because no matter what filter set up you have, getting the intake filter dirty is going to ruin any and all initial improvements very quickly. That might well be the reason for the intake block you refer to. Warm intake air reduces your engine performance somewhat, but a blocked air intake filter will spoil it completely and can cause engine damage!

So cleaned and recharge a lot!

Jeroen

[dealer]

Originally Posted by Jeroen

Thanks for sharing. That cone filter looks like a K&N filter?

Hey Jereon, I used the particular video as a guide to be used on how the stock airbox should be removed in order to access the duct. I do not advice going in for any aftermarket filter and would recommend sticking to the normal paper filter.

Also, I wholeheartedly agree on the increased dust potential and the need for more frequent air filter changes but as some F30s did come with this intake option as stock in India and some blocked off, I believe its a good mod that shouldn't cause any engine/turbo damage in the long run.

[KKapadia]

Thats an interesting observation of the intake duct behind the grille being blocked. Now that you mentioned that your car is a CBU, it is made for colder climates, where preserving heat seems to be the purpose. You should try and decode the Vin number of your car.
I don't have the F30 but an F25 and the intake is open through the port behind the grille that you mentioned, and one of the codes in the Vin decoder of my vehicle mentions "Hot Climate Version". May be this is one such feature that comes with the "Hot climate Version"
Your car will definitely run better in the 48 degree summers with the new set up.

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by dealer

Hey Jereon, I used the particular video as a guide to be used on how the stock airbox should be removed in order to access the duct. I do not advice going in for any aftermarket filter and would recommend sticking to the normal paper filter.
.

Thanks! As mentioned by KKapadia it is very likely that this “blocked” intake duct is climate thing. Would be interesting to find out.

Especially on electronically controlled engines, it is really no problem to change the standard filter to some sort of free flow filter. It is one of the easiest and cheapest modifications one can do, with no risk. But usually not too much gain either, but hey its just another thing to boast about!

Jeroen

[bharatbs]

Just too reconfirm, there is no increase in performance?
Do you have a video of how it sounds.
Also please do share the impact it has on your air filter.

When you are driving on the highway, it is normal to hit a patch that is being repaired or you may end up driving behind a dumper truck. So it will be good to understand the downside.

This looks like a simple mod, which is what I like. I am running a Steinbauer chip on a 320d.

[dealer]

Originally Posted by KKapadia

Thats an interesting observation of the intake duct behind the grille being blocked. Now that you mentioned that your car is a CBU, it is made for colder climates, where preserving heat seems to be the purpose. You should try and decode the Vin number of your car.
I don't have the F30 but an F25 and the intake is open through the port behind the grille that you mentioned, and one of the codes in the Vin decoder of my vehicle mentions "Hot Climate Version". May be this is one such feature that comes with the "Hot climate Version"
Your car will definitely run better in the 48 degree summers with the new set up.

This does seem to be the case. I ran my car's vin through the bimmercat decoder and my car is certainly not the hot climate version.

Originally Posted by Jeroen

Thanks! As mentioned by KKapadia it is very likely that this “blocked” intake duct is climate thing. Would be interesting to find out.

Especially on electronically controlled engines, it is really no problem to change the standard filter to some sort of free flow filter. It is one of the easiest and cheapest modifications one can do, with no risk. But usually not too much gain either, but hey its just another thing to boast about!

Jeroen

On the contrary, my tuner group Bootmod3 doesn't recommend any intake modifications when running a tune as it has a tendency to cause some minor issues. For other cars/engines, I do agree Cold air intakes add to the sound and performance of the car.

Originally Posted by bharatbs

Just too reconfirm, there is no increase in performance?
Do you have a video of how it sounds.
Also please do share the impact it has on your air filter.

When you are driving on the highway, it is normal to hit a patch that is being repaired or you may end up driving behind a dumper truck. So it will be good to understand the downside.

This looks like a simple mod, which is what I like. I am running a Steinbauer chip on a 320d.

Hey, I don't expect to see any difference in sound but certainly lower and more consistent intake air temperatures for sure. I will be collecting logs and sharing soon. Air filter would require more frequent cleaning/changing for sure.

[dealer]

Datalog Result
After a few Wide open throttle pulls, I have made the following observations:
1. Surprisingly, the turbo makes less noise while building boost.
2. Throttle Response has definitely improved.
3. IATs are a lot more consistent over multi gear pulls. Only a 8 degree fahrenheit increase over gear 3-5. Here's a log -
https://www.bootmod3.net/log?id=605c...729b550f3b066e

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by dealer

On the contrary, my tuner group Bootmod3 doesn't recommend any intake modifications when running a tune as it has a tendency to cause some minor issues. For other cars/engines, I do agree Cold air intakes add to the sound and performance of the car.
.

Could you elaborate. What minor issues and what would be causing those?

Jeroen

[dealer]

Originally Posted by Jeroen

Could you elaborate. What minor issues and what would be causing those?

Jeroen

Atleast when running bootmod3, there are issues with random erratic start ups and mixture too rich/lean codes. So the creators of bootmod3 just recommend sticking to the OEM intake.

[Jeroen]

Originally Posted by dealer

Atleast when running bootmod3, there are issues with random erratic start ups and mixture too rich/lean codes. So the creators of bootmod3 just recommend sticking to the OEM intake.

Sounds very peculiar to me. That is more a bootmod3 issue then anything else.
There shouldn’t be an issue on any regular set up though.

That is the reason why I don’t trust these tuning apps. Because something like this should not be a problem. If it is shows there is something wrong with the map you are using.

Would be interesting to understand what causes this behaviour.

Cold air intake, in general terms, tend to offer a bigger risks, depending on how they have been installed. By their very nature they tend to be more prone to pick up water, mud etc. Which plays havoc with your air filter.

Just my 2 cents, I’ m not really into tuning. By and large I don’t do mods, be it performance or other. A few simple things such as a K&N filter in the standard air inlet filter box of my Jaguar.

Enjoy

Jeroen