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Adammcf
- E30 Zone Squatter

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Sun May 01, 2005 2:23 pm
Sounds well. Did it not ruin the power/response though? Im not a big fan of cone filters as they have always made my previous cars slower and crap to drive.
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deano325t
- E30 Zone Newbie

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Sun May 01, 2005 3:55 pm
Oh yeah it drove pants
It was only for testing something..
it usually goes vroooom ,ptsssschhhhhhhhhhhhh
Dean
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chu346
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Mon May 02, 2005 5:40 pm
When i bought my car the previous owned put the old air box on and gave me the k&n he had. I finally put it on the other day and i think its great, the sound is great and it idles alot better. I think that most people don't put some sort of shield on to make sure it only gets the cold air which is what is all about. I think that their good and i've had them on a few cars before and it worked well on them too. But you've got to make sure you make a shroud for it.
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SwirlyE30
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Mon May 02, 2005 6:28 pm
Hopefully if i get this IS lump in my motor ive got im gonna spend some cash and get a nice BMC induction kit with propper shroud, should sound/work nice!
Ive also heard you can drill holes in the side of your airbox and it gives a similar induction sound lol, this true? Feel like doin somthing abit chav
1986 Chevrolet Corvette. 330ftlb torque....V8s rule!
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E30BeemerLad
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Mon May 02, 2005 6:33 pm
I was thinking of a cheap mod to suggest (drilling airbox)
Can't vouch for whether it will improve performance, but will cartainly give it a bit more bwaaaaaaarrrp! If you can also devise some sort of heat shield or better cold air channel from behind the grill, that will improve cold air flow, which is what counts.
Chav!

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SwirlyE30
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Mon May 02, 2005 6:35 pm
What exactly do you do mate. What side of the box, how manyk how big etc?
ta
1986 Chevrolet Corvette. 330ftlb torque....V8s rule!
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E30BeemerLad
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Mon May 02, 2005 6:41 pm
I would just drill the bottom and maybe the side nearest the wing, you can drill 10p size holes without worrying. Try to get away with as many as you can, whilst still letting the airbox bottom still have some strength/structure
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Ziggy
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Mon May 02, 2005 6:42 pm
SwirlyE30 wrote:What exactly do you do mate. What side of the box, how manyk how big etc?
Just experiment! I did the same on a capri (!) - just used about a 30mm holecutter & did about 5 holes... a replacement airbox ain't gonna be much if you mess it up! Bought another capri with the whole bottom of the box cut out... now that made some noise!
My 325 came with a K&N so I really must get round to making a heat shield... anyone done one that I can copy?!
E30 in need of wiring loom smoke since April '11...
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chu346
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Mon May 02, 2005 6:49 pm
A really cheap way of doing it is using a 3 litre coke bottle. Just chop the bottom off to put over the cone and chop the cap end off to put the cold air feed in.
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Treeman612
- E30 Zone Newbie

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Mon May 02, 2005 7:06 pm
Hi - stuck a big K&N style cone on the front (airbox removed, bracket to support AFM installed), got hold of some 200mm aircon flexi-duct and made hose from grille to cone (cone goes inside duct.) Result=cold air and good volume straight to filter. PS use aluminium duct, not plastic. Any commercial airconditioning firm will sell you a length of duct (I got mine free by rummaging in their skip - you only need about 600mm or so.) and being flexi, you can route in where you like.
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ScottMc
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Mon May 02, 2005 7:24 pm
nah.... stick with a performance panel filter guys or you will be more likely to lose power. BMW didn't spend all that money designing it for nothing. There isn't really anywhere good under the bonnet of an e30 to get a cold air feed through (unless you remove a headlight or grille etc)
gone but not forgotten - Mtech 1 old skool 325i :: current rides- MR2 GT and 318i Touring

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Ziggy
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Mon May 02, 2005 7:42 pm
ScottMc wrote:nah.... stick with a performance panel filter guys or you will be more likely to lose power. BMW didn't spend all that money designing it for nothing. There isn't really anywhere good under the bonnet of an e30 to get a cold air feed through (unless you remove a headlight or grille etc)
I'm sure you're right... the car just came with the k&n & I cannae be ar$ed to find a stock airbox to put on there! Like the way it sounds too

E30 in need of wiring loom smoke since April '11...
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SwirlyE30
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Mon May 02, 2005 7:43 pm
Drilling a shit load of holes in the airbox, will that damage anything? or effect the airflow etc. Ill do it if it sounds cool and dosnt change anything performance wise! lol
1986 Chevrolet Corvette. 330ftlb torque....V8s rule!
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Phatz
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Mon May 02, 2005 8:27 pm
Hi Guys
Just to let ya'll know that I drilled a shit load of holes in my air box on my 316i and I reckon it's the best thing I've done. It's given the engine a much nicer sound and if anything, has slightly improved the cars performance.
It is worth noting that I did also add a K&N panel filter to further enhance induction, just remember to leave some of the box left so that has some structural strength left and to drill below the filter.
Enjoy!
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Ziggy
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Mon May 02, 2005 8:39 pm
SwirlyE30 wrote:Drilling a sh*t load of holes in the airbox, will that damage anything? or effect the airflow etc. Ill do it if it sounds cool and dosnt change anything performance wise! lol
Well you *did* say you felt "like doin somthing abit chav"!! It'll do naff all for the performance, but shouldn't do any harm either, apart from the fact that it won't be getting cold air from the front any more...
& the noise is just personal preference, but I reckon you'll like it

E30 in need of wiring loom smoke since April '11...
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SwirlyE30
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Mon May 02, 2005 9:35 pm
Just did this. Used like a 1inch wood bit and just drilled lots of holes all along the bottom and on the wind side. Sounds pretty fking cool tbh, for 2 mins with a drill it sounds nice. Dosnt sound any differnt until you give it some, then its a nice deep roar.
Im just worried it will do any damage?
Is there anyway to do a DIY mod to increase the cold air flow? Or to keep it colder by making a shroud?
1986 Chevrolet Corvette. 330ftlb torque....V8s rule!
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Ziggy
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Mon May 02, 2005 11:30 pm
SwirlyE30 wrote:Just did this. Used like a 1inch wood bit and just drilled lots of holes all along the bottom and on the wind side. Sounds pretty fking cool tbh, for 2 mins with a drill it sounds nice. Dosnt sound any differnt until you give it some, then its a nice deep roar.
Im just worried it will do any damage?
Is there anyway to do a DIY mod to increase the cold air flow? Or to keep it colder by making a shroud?
Glad you like it!

Really can't see how it could do any damage...
As for airflow, you just need to make some kind of shield to seperate the airfilter from the engine... it's just a case of seeing where it has to go & making something to fit...
E30 in need of wiring loom smoke since April '11...
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325iconv
- E30 Zone Newbie

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Wed May 04, 2005 9:00 pm
nice one dean I almost forgot what your car sounded like without the vvvvrrrrrrrrooooooooooommmmmmm,pppphhhhhhhhhhhsssssssssssssstttttttttttt,Take it you tested it at our fave test site
We need to do mine now we swapped engines

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billyboy193
- E30 Zone Newbie

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Thu May 05, 2005 7:39 am
I had an astra and cut the complete top off the air box fitted a k&n panel filter and meshed up the hole in the box and that made a difference with a great induction noise! well worth it and looked really good with the stainless mesh