E30 Zone

i have put a raceland 6 branch on my sport, sounds lovely.

but i paired it up with one of these universal carbon air filters and i just dont think its doing the job, i feel the car is not producing the power it should.

i am now regreting not getting a K&N air filter for an E30.

what is the best filter for the job, or is there another reason im not getting the power i should...

i was thinking this as well i am running standard air box with k&n panel fillter i think.

im tempted to change it to an iduction kit but the only 1's ive had that worked have been 1's with heatshields etc

The proper BMW.

Standard effort works the best I believe. Someone on here dynoed several filters back to back and found the difference to be negilable.

The way I see it, all these cone filters only suck in hot, dirty air and are a waste of money designed soley for the max power brigade.

Yep, standard all the way, don't throw money away on a cone filter.

see my filter has a carbon fibre heat sheild around it and only realy get the cold air from the front of the car, but i think its for 1.6 engines at the biggest and is not a reterable make? does that make a difference?

the 6 branch has completely changed the power delivery, but doesnt seem to be amazingly quick?

Without knowing much about raceland manifolds, I would say it doesn't seem to be amazingly quick because it isn't. The BTB jobbies appear to be the only offering with decent gains around the 15hp mark. Still not going to be earth shatteringly quick but a noticeable performance gain. However, they are expensive.

i only really want one for the noise but i dont want it to make an impact on running or peformance issues

Fitting a 6 branch alone will not make a huge difference in power, maybe a couple of extra horses. The BTB is reputed to give something like an extra 10-15(?) but you need to sell a few organs to get one!

I don't think your going to see much difference with the 6 branch in terms of quickness...

And like others have said, the standard air box is the best. Someone did dyno test it and the standard came out on top. Waste of money...


Have you serviced it etc? That always frees up some power if kept on top of when suppose to be...

so what about the air filter? put it back to original or get a K&N?

has anyone tried some of them out and got some experiance with the differences?

ok so im thinking put it back to original, its all serviced and in tip top condition, only other thing i can think of is maybe new leeds and a chip?

Use a standard filter in the standard airbox.

Someone on here dyno'd them and found no difference/less perfomance with the K&N.

A decent chip will help, (Speedtouch and A tech will help you out) but don't be expecting huge perfomance gains.

thanks guys

If you must get another filter then use a K&N panel filter in the standard airbox. It won't really make a noticable difference though. You need to spend big bucks to get a tangible power increase. BTB manifold, big bore throttle body, cam, re-map etc etc.

Remapped and chipped? Might get a few more bhp out of her then... Injectors all cleaned up? Re-set the valve clearances, clean out the throttle body and the TPS? These will all help if you havent already done them...

A replacement filter like the CDA Carbon airbox will only work if it has a direct cold air feed, even then it depends on the car on how much of a difference it makes. I am not aware of anyone fitting the CDA Carbon airbox and cold air feed and actually dyno testing it so i don't know what the gains are, although there should be one.

Just checked, they only make replacement filters for E30's, although E36 do have CDA systems available, depends on you lump.

http://www.bmcairfilters.com/search_a.a ... ca=3&lng=1

Standard for me, should imagine BMW have done quite alot of development and research with regard to efficiency, performance and cost. So why bother with something that is probably inferior in quality, costs more and possibly gives inferior performance.

I actually sold a standard airbox to a zoner (ali I think) who had a k+n on his m20. Told him that with a standard airbox on he'd notice a smoother more responsive engine which would return a few mpg's in his favour. I'm not talking 20 but noticable!
I had a pm from him thanking me for it and that he noticed an improvement on his car....

That said on my m52 I have an inclosed filter with cold air feed, the only reason is I have abs and can't fit an e36 airbox because the abs unit is in the way! If this wasn't the case I'd have the standard airbox all day but this is a different engine and I don't think its hurting it to badly

BMW and Honda are just about the only 2 manufacturers who had just about perfected the airbox on a standard car, put most aftermarket items on and the car suffers, there are very good products out there that do work, but they are costly.

On E30's, the airbox is fine, it depends on the filter you put inside, i am pretty sure that the guys who make BMC filters are guarenteed to offer a performance gain, you will need a dyno to prove theirs against a BMW filter, same day, tests done close together and if theirs isn't better, refund and keep the filter, need to double check with them though. i think they guarentee that on all their filters, panel, cones and sealed carbon induction kits.

hello , i had the hottuning 6 branch on my old carthe most you get out of that is mid range torque, but its always best imo to match a manifold with intake, so a bbtb would be good, and a chip

also what exhaust have you got? as said some good oil, plugs (bpr6es) and air filter, did have a k&n pannel filter

i have carbon one now, with cold air feed in the front grille not just behind the lights, will do dyno once ive done other bits

OEM is way forward... Forget this silly cone business

Ive got and ITG filter on my E30, I don't think it makes a blind bit of difference but it sounds nice

Standard or K&N please landlord!

e30-dk wrote:I actually sold a standard airbox to a zoner (ali I think) who had a k+n on his m20. Told him that with a standard airbox on he'd notice a smoother more responsive engine which would return a few mpg's in his favour. I'm not talking 20 but noticable!
I had a pm from him thanking me for it and that he noticed an improvement on his car....

That said on my m52 I have an inclosed filter with cold air feed, the only reason is I have abs and can't fit an e36 airbox because the abs unit is in the way! If this wasn't the case I'd have the standard airbox all day but this is a different engine and I don't think its hurting it to badly

and here iam E30DK that mofookin cone filter was a heap of shite so glad i put the standard one on cheers for that standard is how it is meant to be unless you have outrageous power that needs instant air intake!

just gonna go back to standard!

Wise move mate .

Hey ali, glad you were happy with it man. Its nice to be able to help out