Intake Idea - Mishimoto Intake

[The__J__Factor]

Basically all i want to try is buy one of these Mishimoto Intakes for another model and replace the stock are box with it.
It should make a pretty close seal with the front of the car and where the stock intake gets its air from.
Found them on Ebay for cheap so if i can win one for cheap ill buy it and give it a go. People who use them on 350z and other cars seem to love the Mishimotos and i think this could be a great alternative to the Gruppe M.
This is just for fun and sound really, im bored and want to try some new stuff on the car.

It would pretty much be the same thing as the Gruppe M intake but cost under $100 or $125 if you use the buy it now price on ebay.

Here is the Mishimoto Intake


Here is the Gruppe M just for comparison


Link to just one of the ones on ebay - The civic ones and lexus ones look like they would be best to buy. (dont out bid me on the lexus one lol)
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/MISHI...Q5fAccessories

[wyu177]

Sounds like a great project! I wonder if the intake tubing is the same sizing, if not you can probably join it with a silicone tube coupler. Keep us posted on results!

[misterawa]

The intake for an e46, non-m, may fit. Good luck.

[The__J__Factor]

I won the intake for 99cents on ebay hahaha

So looks like i will be going ahead with this plan.

[xjeeper]

I never understood the appeal of the gruppe M Intakes. What is it about them that justifies the price???

Good luck with the project, I hope it works. And PLEASE keep us updated with pics

[mpower03]

any updates??

[The__J__Factor]

It just arrived yesterday.
The outlet where the car gets its air from is about 5-10cm lower then the intake arm of the stock intake, which means if i position the new intake directly infront of the air source i need to find a way to have it connect to the stock arm again.

So its a long weekend this weekend ill take it apart and see what i can do. Also got my order of the carbon fabric and will attempt to wrap my ugly wood panels in that.

The cf on the intake looks awesome though, its a great piece so i hope i can make it work.

[misterawa]

, don't forget to post pics when it's completed.

[Crimson92]

pics when done please

[The__J__Factor]

Half the interior is done, just need to find some torx tools so i can remove the center piece.
Crappy camera skills which dont pick up the cf fabric at all




With the intake still not sure what to do, im gonna have to find a MAF plate and have it welded to a new pipe, until i can do that the intake idea is on hold for a week or 2.

[Crimson92]

quite a steady hand you have there

bump for hurry up and install

[gizmo83]

Nice! I was wondering how that carbon fiber fabric would look in our cars. Need better pics though.

[The__J__Factor]

Yeh sorry for the blurry pics, my camera is real picky.
Here are some finished pics of the interior. The new finish makes all everything gel nicely together. No longer does the head unit stand out so dramatically in its black finish.

[Crimson92]

INTAKE!!!



do it

[ga41]

How about that intake huh? :P

[Diokaef]

no news on this??? pictures??

[The__J__Factor]

Hey all,

The intake got sold. The shape was pretty similar and would have worked fine, however i could not find a MAF adapter to have welded to a new intake section of piping. I didnt want to cut up the stock air box and modify the maf to make it work.

Also the pipe coming off the intake i bought was much smaller than the stock intake piping, so you would need to get rid of it and attach a new one. This would also involve getting a flat piece of metal for the base to screw onto the intake and then have the new pipe welded onto the base piece.

So at the end of the day it was doable, but a lack of time and not finding what i needed made me end up selling it.

Does anyone know if the MAF is the same as the M3? Or at least same shape and use same mounts? That could give us somewhere to start on making a custom intake.

[850tgul]

[QUOTE=The__J__Factor;6532708]Hey all,

The intake got sold. The shape was pretty similar and would have worked fine, however i could not find a MAF adapter to have welded to a new intake section of piping. I didnt want to cut up the stock air box and modify the maf to make it work.

Also the pipe coming off the intake i bought was much smaller than the stock intake piping, so you would need to get rid of it and attach a new one. This would also involve getting a flat piece of metal for the base to screw onto the intake and then have the new pipe welded onto the base piece.

So at the end of the day it was doable, but a lack of time and not finding what i needed made me end up selling it.

Does anyone know if the MAF is the same as the M3? Or at least same shape and use same mounts? That could give us somewhere to start on making a custom intake.[/QUOTE]

This last part is something I am trying to discover as well. I have some ideas about building a custom AFE type cai, and the only real holdup seems to be the mass air meter connector. As we all know the maf is built into the Z4M airbox unlike most cars where it is seperate from the airbox. This means you would have to cut up the stock airbox to reuse the connector and I doubt many want to do that. I have thought about trying to fabricate a new connector by building a new attachement piece and then attaching it to a new tube, but I don't think I have the ability to create one that would be up to standard. I believe it needs to "seal" in there and if a fabricated one wasn't up to spec, I would be affraid if getting codes. So, one solution is to get a spare Z4M airbox and cut that up (no one seems to have any they want to give up for obvious reasons, I've tried) and the other is to use another BMW model connector if it matches. Does anyone know if the E46 M3(or any other model) connectors are the same as ours? With this problem solved I think I could come up with a pretty decent intake similar to an Afe for a fraction of the cost that most could duplicate themselves.
Thx

[mikem]

Part N for E46 M3 MAF is identical to the Z4M, also the S85 V10.

[850tgul]

Originally Posted by mikem

Part N for E46 M3 MAF is identical to the Z4M, also the S85 V10.

Thanks for the info mikem.
So if the "hot film air mass meter" thing is the same, the next question is are the diameters of both the MAF tubes that the MAF meter plugs into the same. Our Z4M tube seems to be about 3.5" in diameter. Now, if the M3 is the same I don't see why something like the K&N 69 series short ram air kit couldn't work on our cars. [IMG][/IMG]
Granted the heat shield for the M3 wouldn't work, but if the tubing/piping will fit into our intake boot and our MAF meters will plug into the piping it shoud work. You then just have to fab up your own heat shield. Anyone have any thoughts on or info on this idea?

[mikem]

I`d imagine the tube cross section will be the same as the idea is the MAF sits bang in the centre. I`ve got a spare left over from my M3 up in my loft, I`ll measure it when I get chance.

Or dig around for some place selling the stream line elbows, the add may describe the diameter.

[850tgul]

Thanks Mike
Yeah it would make sense they would match up b/c they would be positioned the same way as you said. I tried looking around for the dimensions but came up empty, I'll keep looking. If you can measure your piece when you have a chance that would be great. I'm hoping this project will be an afe style (or better) intake at half the cost. I don't see how it would be any worse as long as I can fab up a decent heat shield. It's pretty much the same principle. If there was a way to fab up a tube to connect the MAF meter to, it would really be cheap. I am a little hesitant about fabbing up that piece though as I would think that MAF meter is very sensative and if it wasn't really close the BMW spec placement it would throw codes or something. But $250 and a few bucks for a heat shield is better than $500 for the afe. If it comes together I plan on documenting for a nice diy writeup. Not expecting any gains whatsoever with this, just going after that "CSL" sound.
Thx again