M3: DTM replica airbox project

[CorvallisBMW]

Nice. I've done CF airboxs for the SAE Formula car at school, and they are not easy! Looks like you got a really nice peice there. Thankfully street cars dont have any kind of restrictors or anything...we kept cracking our airboxes because of the massive vacuum caused by the intake restrictor, even with the reinforcements we added. Let us know how those dyno numbers come out!!!

[cramer]

the flange is farily thick so I assume there is something under the weave, but I have not seen any production pics. What you can see is the metal inserts for the mounting points and the runners themselves. The mounting flange area is very solid.

[CorvallisBMW]

sick mang. They did a good job of laying up and v-bagging that carbon, it looks super-smooth inside. that's a hard shape to do too, props to they guys who built it and to you for getting it to fit! What kind of reinforcement did they use around the flanges? is it a sandwich reinforcement or something external?

[Jean]

Good work!!!

[golde30]

Pretty badass! Too bad someone doesn't make something like this for the M20. :D

it would have to include the ITB setup, and would end up costing ~$4k. they would sell about 1 unit to m20'd e30 guys. and that 1 person would be like Vlad on one of his many project cars.

[cramer]

Some updated pics:

The K&N 33-2051 modified to fit the intake:







And after a lot of trial and error, I finally got the gauge mounted where I wanted it.



Car is tuned and running well, still need to head back to the original dyno for a before/after comparison and further tweek my cold start as it's a bit lean at idle until fully warmed up.

[CleanAzzE30z]

My box wasnt even close to running my Sparco bar. Nice writeup though man. I love repeat: LOVE the sound it makes. Fucking scares people. It overtakes the exhaust sound. SOUNDS LIKE REAL DTM CAH!!! haha


Mariano

[cramer]

Ran it around the block for the first time and the provided fuel map turned out to be decent (AFRs at high 14s at idle and up to mid 12s in the higher RPMs and WOT). And yes, it sounds just mean when you open it up :D

[YAN-3]

good question about the length, I think it's the smaller version....

as for the filter I left it stock. There is room to get your hand in there and if it proves too difficult (have to remove the intake to change the oil) then i'll look into the relocation kit. So far I have not seen a solution that I like for relocating the filter so I'll be doing my best to leave it stock!

thats what i was thinking too. with the 15cm runners i think a regular Sparco bar will clear it, and as for the oil filter, I want to leave it stock too. Ive seen people do the relocation up to the front above the ABS pump and motor, don't really like the idea of that. let us know if you can get your hand under the air box, maybe if you just remove the snorkel, as long as i can get a hand on it i think ill be good to take it off and on.

PS: I can only imagine what it sound like now, all that air being sucked through those runners. ooooo-la-la,

[IHeartE30s]

Very nice! Would love to see the results from the dyno.

[cramer]

good question about the length, I think it's the smaller version....

as for the filter I left it stock. There is room to get your hand in there and if it proves too difficult (have to remove the intake to change the oil) then i'll look into the relocation kit. So far I have not seen a solution that I like for relocating the filter so I'll be doing my best to leave it stock!

[YAN-3]

Chris you got the air box for under $1300?
15 or 17cm runners?

and what about your oil filter, did you relocate it or is it still accessible from under the air box.

thanks bro.


EDIT: i should really read before i ask questions.

[cramer]

the box was $1050 plus the install kit ($1300 total). I do not have a cost for the dyno time yet (will soon hopefully) to fully tune the alpha n. I expect to pay shop rates for a couple hours.

Ryan -If you get the filter kit from Maxx-John, he sells an additional filter housing that you are describing. This modified filter setup goes inside the snorkel on the inside of the engine bay. Not ideal, but it will work.

[M3 Ryan]

Nice Cramer! I got my airbox in the last group buy with John, so its the MAXX version. I am running a MAP-ECU computer on mine instead of the alpha-n unit. I am happy with it, but I need to control spark to extract the maximum out of the box now, I wasn't too thrilled with my dyno numbers but something was a-miss... The sound is awesome though!
I found a fram filter that is a direct bolt-on, but my front snorkel has a filter mount unit that goes in front of the tube you have so it is inside the bumper area.. What was the final cost of that replica box?

[Mless5]

My brother has that or similar setup. He is running ITG filter there.