Miller W.A.R. Machine

[nando]

Is there still no chance of you selling a raw tube/sheild without the maf kit? my intake is one of the worst parts of my engine (the filter is fine, but I don't have a shield). and it looks like I could use the fog hole to duct air straight at the filter.

[u3b3rg33k]

uhh.... That's not how it works. You only need a few teaspoons in a cylinder to blow it up. Think about how little space there is between the combustion chamber crown and the piston at TDC. Fill up that space with water (which cannot be compressed) and you'll literally blow either your valves out of their guides or your piston out the side of your block. There's nowhere for the water to go, so something has to give.

I used to work at a BMW dealership, saw it happen more times than I care to think about. A lot of new Minis have that problem, and an e60 M5 was in just the other week with a destroyed engine after going through a puddle.

Well sir, then I suggest you abandon BMW and buy a fiesta:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BmEp9bBY5ds

Seems they can be temporarily submerged.

Seriously, think about how much vacuum it'll actually take to pull water the full vertical length of the PSIK. I bet I can tell you how many inches of WC it'll take if you tell me how long the intake is.

[brody]

... and an e60 M5 was in just the other week with a destroyed engine after going through a puddle.

How deep was the puddle?? He sure didn't have a PSIK :p

[CorvallisBMW]

With regards to water consumption:
"One interesting test that Frank ran in conjunction with water injection development was called a “drowning test”. Here, the amount of water was increased beyond what was required to suppress detonation. Eventually the amount of water was increased to the point that water was pouring out about half the cylinders, but the engine was still running. Finally, when power had dropped to about 600 HP the test was terminated. There were no ill effects to the engine." (from http://www.enginehistory.org/Frank%20WalkerWeb1.pdf)

Point being it takes a boatload of water to break your engine. Some spray hitting your air filter won't do it. Complete submersion of the inlet however...
You'll probably run into issues with the MAF operating before you kill the engine, barring complete submersion of the inlet.

uhh.... That's not how it works. You only need a few teaspoons in a cylinder to blow it up. Think about how little space there is between the combustion chamber crown and the piston at TDC. Fill up that space with water (which cannot be compressed) and you'll literally blow either your valves out of their guides or your piston out the side of your block. There's nowhere for the water to go, so something has to give.

I used to work at a BMW dealership, saw it happen more times than I care to think about. A lot of new Minis have that problem, and an e60 M5 was in just the other week with a destroyed engine after going through a puddle.

I'm sure it's great for track cars and summer-driven toys, but I personally would never put one on a DD. The marginal gains over the stock airbox wouldn't be worth the risk for me.

[u3b3rg33k]

I'd be concerned about sucking up water and hydrolocking the engine with that setup... especially in the PNW where it rains a lot. One trip through a puddle could grenade your whole engine.

With regards to water consumption:
"One interesting test that Frank ran in conjunction with water injection development was called a “drowning test”. Here, the amount of water was increased beyond what was required to suppress detonation. Eventually the amount of water was increased to the point that water was pouring out about half the cylinders, but the engine was still running. Finally, when power had dropped to about 600 HP the test was terminated. There were no ill effects to the engine." (from http://www.enginehistory.org/Frank%20WalkerWeb1.pdf)

Point being it takes a boatload of water to break your engine. Some spray hitting your air filter won't do it. Complete submersion of the inlet however...
You'll probably run into issues with the MAF operating before you kill the engine, barring complete submersion of the inlet.

[brody]

I'd be concerned about sucking up water and hydrolocking the engine with that setup... especially in the PNW where it rains a lot. One trip through a puddle could grenade your whole engine.

We are in the PNW too, and one of our shop cars as well as several local cars have this installed. The shop car makes a trip to Seattle and back up to twice a week (240 Miles round trip) in this nasty rain we have all the time and no problems.

If you go through a puddle deep enough, then that is just being careless, any regular puddles you get on the road get sprayed out sideways, not forward and up.

[tinkerputzer]

The intake is intended for off road use, ie. the race track where you won't hit deep puddles. There is a splash shield that comes with the kit too. But generally it won't be any different than the intakes where a headlight is removed.

[CorvallisBMW]

I'd be concerned about sucking up water and hydrolocking the engine with that setup... especially in the PNW where it rains a lot. One trip through a puddle could grenade your whole engine.

[brody]

I really like the way this cleans up the engine bay.

Any thoughts on a different brand of filter? I'm not a big fan of K&N.

We have always felt comfortable using K&N filters. However, you are more than welcome to switch up the filter for a different brand/material.

We have sampled some race used filters but haven't found something better yet.

[u3b3rg33k]

I switched back to the OEM paper filter after seeing this:

http://www.max-boost.co.uk/max-boost/internet_articles/BMW%20E30%20air%20filter%20tests.htm

And besides, I don't want oil on my MAF.

[Just Scott]

I really like the way this cleans up the engine bay.

Any thoughts on a different brand of filter? I'm not a big fan of K&N.

[NC325iC]

cool, then i guess it will fit my '86 325i (wink)

[Reeves]

It fits in my 87 325is. That's as early as it gets.

[NC325iC]

ICV is not a problem i just wanted to know if it would fit the body

[brody]

Will it fit in an early model?

There are some early model things to change, like the ICV. While the ICV varies greatly on these cars, you need to make sure you have the 90* style ICV like in the picture.

Also, the Splash guard will have to be modified to fit the early bumpers.