custom intake and "cold air box" progress. *pics*

bermankahns

Member
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2003 Midnight Blue Protege5
so i'm almost done with my custom ai intake and "cold air box" all i need to do now is make the top for it then get a new filter (i want the apexi filter) and i'll be done.

here's some pics of the progress.

my poor car was all taken apart. if you look at the driver side behind the bumper you can see the black hose hanging down.


here's where the black hose goes


here it is behind the bumper


and here is where it's getting it's cold air from


and here is the set up so far


after i'm done i'll put a how to for all that want to attempt this. i'll be finishing it by th end of next week.
 
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Why didn't you use a larger pipe? I did the same exact thing with the duct hose, but used 4 inch.
 
It's actually a pretty good idea. I toyed around with that idea when I had my SRI. You get alot of the same benefits of a CAI, but without the pumping loss of the longer pipe.

If you ever find yourself surfing the BMW forums, one of the first recommended mods to make a cold air box similar to this.
 
Why didn't you use a larger pipe? I did the same exact thing with the duct hose, but used 4 inch.

it didn't fit the hole that was there. the hole is only 3.5" and i didn't want to deal with making it bigger. the one i used is 3.25" so it fit's nice.

It's actually a pretty good idea. I toyed around with that idea when I had my SRI. You get alot of the same benefits of a CAI, but without the pumping loss of the longer pipe.

If you ever find yourself surfing the BMW forums, one of the first recommended mods to make a cold air box similar to this.

yeah, i actually got the basic idea for the mod on an audi forum, but i added a little more to that design. it just had a layer of aluminum with no insulation and i used some thats about 1/2" thick.
 
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it's a good idea, but i don't think it'll be noticable

the bmw setup actually forces air into the intake, same with audi or the vipers and corvette. racecars use this setup too, but their is teh actual intake with no filters, they have actually recorded going into boost after certain speed

still, A for effort
 
tonight i started on the top for it and ended up finishing it, all i have to do now is go to the autopart store after work and buy some off those body panel plug looking things so i can put it together. sorry i dont know what they are called. anyways here's pics.

 
so i finally put the top on it today, but i'm not very happy with the fit so i think i'll be making a completely new box all together after winterpalooza, unless i find time on friday or saturday, but i doubt it. so here's some pics.

 
yea i have a little ques for i installed and intake and now its making a hissing sound very loudly is this normal i have all sensor conected right .. please let me know
 
yeah, it's normal, it's the sound of the air going throught the metal pipe. it should also wistle a little when pressing the gas.
 
ok, so after a month of the mod being in, i can honestly say there is a difference in the car, maybe not power, but i can see the difference in the temp guage. it used to sit at half way, now it's steady at a littel below half, i'll take a pic of it today on my way to work to show you all what i mean, it's only slight, but i like the fact that i can at least see the difference. i think if i used a littel bit higher quality materials, i might actually see a littel power gain.
 
Hmmmm..... intake air temp has little to do with overall engine temp. Sure you're not just imagining that change in the temp gauge? The stock gauge is miles from accurate anyway. When my Autometer gauge reads about 110 degrees, the stock gauge is reading right in the middle (normal operating temp). As the engine warms up more, the Autometer gauge goes up an additional 75-80 degrees and the stock gauge has not moved at all.
 
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true. i dont know, maybe i just want to see a difference so i dont realize all this does for my car is make it look like it makes power... lol
 
LOL... I think everyone has done this at least once before to their car. You gotta love backyard mechanics.
 
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