Ash Alyan wrote:
> And what's with the intake, any ideas as to why air is scoped from the
> right side, then over the radiator then into the air box on left????

I assume you're talking about the 1.9? I haven't seen the engine bay on a 2.8, but if it's the same, then the following applies to it as well.

It's one of the great mysteries of life! There are no sensors or anything else that appear to have been repositioned on the intake side from the M42 1.8 to the M44 1.9. The longer tract appears to serve no purpose other than to expose the intake charge to a high heat area.

I suppose that the intake length *could* be part of the overall intake tuning (the M44 makes more torque, which benefits from longer intake paths), but I always thought that the intake plenum, not the whole intake path was key to this equation. I also notice that M42 cars sound just a bit raspier than my M44, so it could be an attempt at sound deadening.

Anyway, I've ripped out all that junk and replaced it with a simple dryer hose and coffee can cold-air/ram-air setup. If you've read Carl Buckland's posts recently on his thoughts on the M3 intake, the idea is similar. You can read all about my version at:

http://www.cris.com/~Ron3b/M44_ram_air.htm

The thing that really bothered me was that the tube used by BMW is nothing more than a wire wound hose covered with a porous netting, covered in turn by a rubber coated foam hose. The foam hose on my car had already developed holes meaning that I was sucking hot air from directly over the radiator!

Any advice/feedback on better ways of doing this is welcomed.

• -- Ron Katona mailto:ron3b_at_cris.com 97 318ti Active (Club Sport suspension, 328 sport package wheels/tires, $10 cold air package)