DIY: Air Intake for e46 - United Bimmer Community

**Cuse330Ci** · 04-21-2007, 05:23 PM

This is not a difficult job at all, but it I did find the instructions that came with the kit could have been better.

My starting materials:
e46 330Ci
aFe Intake Kit
10mm ratchet 3/8" drive
1/4" socket
5/16" socket
nut driver (lol)
4mm allen wrench

First some pics of the kit.

and the filter

To begin we will remove the stock air box. Start by removing the two bolts with the 10mm socket

Next remove the mass flow sensor plug and hose clamp. The hose clamp loosens with the nut driver and 1/4" socket.

**Cuse330Ci** · 04-21-2007, 05:23 PM

With those disconnected the factory air box comes out pretty easily. One thing to beware of: there is a rubber hose clamp type thing on the back side of the airbox. It can be separated just by pulling the tab back through the loop. That part was not mentioned in the aFe instructions but it isn't a big deal.

The next step is to remove the rubber cushion at the bottom of the fenderwell. It looks exactly as it does in the instructions and it's impossible to miss (in other words I forgot to take a picture of it).

Next you will take the mass air flow sensor off the factory air box (it's attached with spring clips) and grab the rubber o-ring. The o-ring goes in the aluminum adapter on the new air box.

Now this is where i stray from the directions that came with the kit. I tried it their way first and it wasn't working. They say to put the mass air flow sensor back in the car and then put the new air box in and connect it that way. I found it MUCH easier to attach the mass air flow sensor the new air box and then put the box in. In the next picture you can see how the supplied spring clips fit on the mass air flow sensor.

All i did was set the new air box down on the drive way and put the air flow sensor in and clamp it down. This took about 2 seconds as opposed to about 1 minute of unsuccessful attempts to do it their way.

Next take the new air box w/ air flow sensor and place it in the car. Out of the box it fit pretty well overall. Do pay attention not to pinch any wires at the bottom, they are moved easily to the side. The only fit problem was that the edge rubs against the back of the headlight box. If you have a vise and a file you can rememdy this with about 5 minutes worth of work. This figure shows the box installed.

Positioning it was pretty easy. There is a metal bar sticking up from where the rubber pad used to be attached to the fender well. It goes through a whole on the bottom of the new air box. Place a washer and a nut on there and tighten it down with the 10mm ratchet. Then take the two bolts removed from the beginning and put them back in with the 10mm ratchet.

With that done push the mass air flow sensor back into the hose it came from and tighten down the hose clamp.

Now the fun part, take that big beautiful cone air filter, slide it into place and tighten down the hose clamp. Your work should now look like this.

**Cuse330Ci** · 04-21-2007, 05:24 PM

Here's another shot showing how it looks installed without the cover on:

The next step is to take the aluminum shield cover and place it on the new air box. Place the screws into the shield and tighten them down.

Optional Steps:
With 3 of the 4 screws in drop the last one underneath your headlight. Swear. Take the ENTIRE intake out, retrieve the screw (they are aluminum so a magnet won't help you) and go back to about step 5. Smoke a cigarette.

With the shield in place the final setup looks like this:

That's it. If you skip the optional steps the whole thing should take you about an hour. aFe claims a 20 hp, 18 lbs./ft of torque gain. You can hear just a little bit of a whining noise from all the extra air getting sucked in the engine. It's not annoying in the least. I like to pretend it's a supercharger whine

witeshark · 04-21-2007, 06:42 PM

Very nice

**RSF5** · 04-21-2007, 06:51 PM

nice

**straight6pwr** · 04-21-2007, 08:02 PM

good work. actual hp gain is about 1.

**Cuse330Ci** · 04-21-2007, 08:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by straight6pwr

good work. actual hp gain is about 1.

I'm pretty skeptical about the claimed 20, I'd like to think it's more then 1 lol.

**mullethunter3** · 04-22-2007, 01:29 PM

1 hp?

**94bmw325i** · 04-22-2007, 02:17 PM

great DIY! My intake helps the top end a little bit I think. I think it really just sounds cool.

**elsabor67** · 04-22-2007, 02:18 PM

1hp? That's funny. at least 3-4 wouldn't be bad at all. I really like how clean it looks.

**clear1** · 08-21-2007, 09:13 PM

Is no air box bad?

**RSF5** · 08-21-2007, 09:40 PM

No, the air box just houses the filter.

**oz striker** · 10-27-2008, 09:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RSF5

No, the air box just houses the filter.

But i suppose the airbox also helps sheild the filter from the hot ambient engine air no?

I actually experimented with tryin to fit a cone filter into (a spare) stock airbox, kinda worked but in the end i decided to just add a 3rd CAI feed from the brake duct.

heres the album showing all the pics:

http://s128.photobucket.com/albums/p...Y%20Induction/