Bmw performance intake

[Marcus-SanDiego]

I kind of had a unique situation when I got mine.

My car originally had an aFe intake on it when I bought it from previous owner. I wanted everything to be OEM on the car, so I was looking for a BMW intake. That BMW Performance intake popped up, at a great price, so I snagged it. I didn't price the stock intake but I imagine it would have been in the ballpark of what I paid for the BMW Performance intake.

The new intake matches my BMW Performance CF strut brace.

So that's mostly why I went with the CF intake instead of the basic BMW intake.

I sold my AFe intake along with the Active Autowerke strut brace that was originally on my car. I used that money to fund part of the purchase of my BMW Performance parts. Worked out well.

[Mtnman]

I Bit the bullet and went ahead and ordered this sunday. It should be shipping today. If all goes well, i may have it before the holiday weekend. If so, ill try to post some pics and a sound clip before and after.... Ill also give a report. Normally, "that thing looks so cool" adds 7+ horsepower....so if it sounds better too, im thinking ill end up with 300+ rwhp.

[danewilson77]

I Bit the bullet and went ahead and ordered this sunday. It should be shipping today. If all goes well, i may have it before the holiday weekend. If so, ill try to post some pics and a sound clip before and after.... Ill also give a report. Normally, "that thing looks so cool" adds 7+ horsepower....so if it sounds better too, im thinking ill end up with 300+ rwhp.

Don't forget the "ZHP MAFIA" sticker adds 5 HP........

[Marcus-SanDiego]

Don't forget the "ZHP MAFIA" sticker adds 5 HP........

Good call, DW. But we dynoed the car with the sticker on -- added 8 HP.

[Jon D]

I sold my AFe intake along with the Active Autowerke strut brace that was originally on my car. I used that money to fund part of the purchase of my BMW Performance parts. Worked out well.

I'm debating about the strut brace.. and was leaning towards the AA one after my conversation with them yesterday. The other choice is the BMW performance one. My issue is buying it for what it does more than how it looks. If it was looks BMW performance hands down. For the same money... what to do?? Now if you still had yours and saved me dollars that would have made life easy.

BTW could you tell a driving difference between the two strut braces??

[Marcus-SanDiego]

I do not drive the car aggressively enough, Jon. Therefore, I cannot tell you the difference between the two braces. The only difference is in looks, I imagine.

I sold that aFe and strut brace, by the way, to ZSP-Mafia (Jim). He bought it from me when ZHP Mafia was only available on Facebook. Seems like a long time ago.

The important thing for me is that the brace and the intake now match. I would not want a mismatched set -- especially when I cannot tell the difference from a performance standpoint. I like symmetry. The fact that both parts are BMW Performance parts makes me feel that the world is right. LOL.

[Mtnman]

Delivery date for the new intake, 12/30. Weekend fun Ftw!

[FullyBalanced]

I've got one... I spoke with the Dinan expert at Flow BMW in Winston Salem and he said it was basically the same as the new style Dinan. Good for 1-3 horse by itself. He recomended the Dinan TB and exhaust to go with it (of course). I'd say the only psuedo-notable thing is the sound. It may be a little lower of a grunt now.

[PKR]

If you're looking at strut bars and aren't into the bling thing then look at the OEM M3 bar. I just picked one up used and saved some real $$$ compared to the Performance CF piece.

[Tampa330i]

The only thing holding me back from the bmw strut bar is the shape. Shouldn't a strut bar be as straight as possible? Or is the carbon fiber solid enough so as not to flex at all under stress?