E30 Zone

Had a K&N on my last E30 but wasn't overly impressed, can anyone recommend a good one for under £100, I heard panel filters were good?

BMW did a good job designing the standard airbox and K&N do a panel filter to fit it I think they're around £35ish

I had a 4 bhp gain on th RR with a RAM Air cone filter properly ducted over the BMW item, on a boggo 320

normal one with panel filter is what most people find the best

Without a doubt go for either a bmw panel filter or a K + N panel filter. Speaking from experience, the halfords filter is completly useless - makes the car very sluggish. The BMW filter is VERY good but the k + n filter is slightly better by a smoother power delievery through the rev range. Cone filters will only take in hot air and lose you power, unless it is properly sheilded like the k+n gen II style kits. hth

You can get a K&N panel filter from ebay.com, shipped to the UK for £30 all in !

Thinking of getting one myself but a bit put off by storys of them not being as good as stock and containing bits which mess up the maf

JimmyC wrote:I had a 4 bhp gain on th RR with a RAM Air cone filter properly ducted over the BMW item, on a boggo 320

r/r proven eh? can you post up the graph? that would certainly put a stop to all the "the bmw standard filter is the best, everything else loses power" posts we always see on here

fuzzy wrote:

JimmyC wrote:I had a 4 bhp gain on th RR with a RAM Air cone filter properly ducted over the BMW item, on a boggo 320

r/r proven eh? can you post up the graph? that would certainly put a stop to all the "the bmw standard filter is the best, everything else loses power" posts we always see on here

i presume that figure was with the fans on? I gained 4.1bhp (the .1 makes all the difference!) over the factory 136 BHP with my k+n panel filter with the fans on, but i dont have proof of the car with a standard bmw air filter though. i like the idea of using the standard box with a cone filter

how does that work then is the cone inside the box

ITG or Green cotton filters are also an option, and I don't think I've heard anything bad against them. Unless you're building a proper heat shield, go for a panel filter in the standard air box.

When i used a green cotton air filter, it felt like i had better performance over the k +n cone filter i had but didnt really sound very inductiony

The best performance iv found so far is complete standard setup (possible k+n panel) with the smal pipe from airbox to just behind the headlights removed. Standard level of filtration+better airflow+beautifull sound

the best performance ive found is to throw away the filter all together and leave it open.it wont help the engines longevity but it makes it more responsive and gives it a good throaty rumble.

fuzzy wrote:the best performance ive found is to throw away the filter all together and leave it open.it wont help the engines longevity but it makes it more responsive and gives it a good throaty rumble.

fuzzy wrote:the best performance ive found is to throw away the filter all together and leave it open.it wont help the engines longevity but it makes it more responsive and gives it a good throaty rumble.

did that in ma mates fiesta

Alex wrote:

fuzzy wrote:the best performance ive found is to throw away the filter all together and leave it open.it wont help the engines longevity but it makes it more responsive and gives it a good throaty rumble.

did that in ma mates fiesta

I think we've all done it at some point 'just to try it'

secondtimelucky wrote:

Alex wrote:

fuzzy wrote:the best performance ive found is to throw away the filter all together and leave it open.it wont help the engines longevity but it makes it more responsive and gives it a good throaty rumble.

did that in ma mates fiesta

I think we've all done it at some point 'just to try it'

i put a max power air filter on my corsa, sounded like a turbo charged washing machine

Alex wrote:

fuzzy wrote:the best performance ive found is to throw away the filter all together and leave it open.it wont help the engines longevity but it makes it more responsive and gives it a good throaty rumble.

did that in ma mates fiesta

i did it on my celica for a while before i changed the engine .

Alex wrote:

secondtimelucky wrote:

Alex wrote: did that in ma mates fiesta

I think we've all done it at some point 'just to try it'

i put a max power air filter on my corsa, sounded like a turbo charged washing machine

always used itg filters on my c20xe vauxhall engine that was running massive amounts of nitrous and never had any problems, a bit pricey but imo well worth it.

If you must go for an aftermarket filter it has to be the itg item: (proven gains)



Try Ant at A-tech for one- www.fastbimmer.co.uk Good price aswell

oakey wrote:If you must go for an aftermarket filter it has to be the itg item: (proven gains)



Try Ant at A-tech for one- www.fastbimmer.co.uk Good price aswell

Surely that's just sucking in hot air so will lose you power

If I were going for an aftermarket filter I would go with the CDA style enclosed filter like this to prevent hot air getting sucked in... just a pity it's to small for my M30B35



Seeing your engine has just reminded me I need to get my MS fitted lol

fuzzy wrote:the best performance ive found is to throw away the filter all together and leave it open.it wont help the engines longevity but it makes it more responsive and gives it a good throaty rumble.

My iS had no filter in it when I drove it back home after buying it. God knows how long it was like that, I promptly dropped one in and gave the intake tract and throttle body a good clean. Lots of gunk

charlE30 wrote:

oakey wrote:If you must go for an aftermarket filter it has to be the itg item: (proven gains)

Surely that's just sucking in hot air so will lose you power

As soon as the car is moving it's not really an issue.

I used a piper cross cone filter and also added a power boost valve on my e30 325i and found it smooth and gave plenty of grunt

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... :IT&ih=027

if you want an induction kit something like that looks like a good solution

charlE30 wrote:

oakey wrote:If you must go for an aftermarket filter it has to be the itg item: (proven gains)



Try Ant at A-tech for one- www.fastbimmer.co.uk Good price aswell

Surely that's just sucking in hot air so will lose you power

If I were going for an aftermarket filter I would go with the CDA style enclosed filter like this to prevent hot air getting sucked in... just a pity it's to small for my M30B35



Seeing your engine has just reminded me I need to get my MS fitted lol

I've seen these BMC CDAs. They are sensational bits of kit.

You can get a smaller version. The DAI. Might be worth a look.

k&n cone or grren cone , seems to work and sound the best , seemed to rev a bit easyer on my 1.8 , drop k&n with modded cold air feed to stock box , gud as gold.

I went for the ITG, 'cos when i read up on them, it gave slightly better power than the BMC.

I do love those BMC ones though!!!!!

Have the ITG one mysef, but have never seen any written proof of power gains.
Has anyone actually got any?

hasn't oakey got proof on his tech 1 when he had his ITG filter on? im sure it was oakey who said that?

Whats the general opinion on the BMC CDA 70-130 unit for the iS?
It's either that or standard box with k&n Panel Filter?

Stuck mine on the end of some Samco like tubing, to get it neare to some cold air.
Probably not doing much, but had the tubing anyway

oakey wrote:If you must go for an aftermarket filter it has to be the itg item: (proven gains)



Try Ant at A-tech for one- www.fastbimmer.co.uk Good price aswell

I've got ITG Maxogen kit. It's the same filter but with a correctly designed and sealed housing to keep heat out and promote good smooth airflow in. I find it works really well, most noticable in the top end of the rev range. I need to get a small bit of pipe to get air directly from behind the grill but when you're moving that corner will have lots of cool air anyway. Not cheap at £320ish for this kit but luckily it was off another one of my cars that I sold.