I am thinking about ordering a BMS DCI. They claim +15 HP @ the wheels over stock. I've seen a few write-ups countering the heat soak arguments and it seems a lot of people with tunes run a DCI. I'm not even sure a tune is needed for it to be worthwhile but it seems it helps more. Anyone have experiences they'd like to share? Any noticeable improvements (dyno or otherwise)? How does it sound? Easy to install? Seems like it's a no brainer for $100 to add it into the car. I am still under warranty for another 1.6 years though. Not sure if this could cause any issues or I suppose it's likely to draw more attention from the stealership to the the likelihood that a tune is being run. Any other thoughts or considerations?

 

It's a mixed consensus regarding the heat soak, I don't have mine on my car in the summer just when the weather is cooler. As far as the warranty question, you should always remove any aftermarket parts when taking your car in for service that effects the engine. The stealership will look for any reason to void any warranty work if they can.

 

The heat soak debate has been going on for years. BMS has thoroughly tested their DCI and found that the air temp at higher RPMs are no different then an enclosed intake. The owner of BMS explains it very clearly here: http://www.n54tech.com/forums/showthread.php?t=17100. I never had the DCI without my JB4 so I wouldn't know the benefits with just the intake, but it sounds great and really easy to install. It would probably take you about 10 min to put your old air box in when you take it to the dealership.

 

I run my DCI all year round and have no problems with the dealer or heat soak. The closest I had to an issue was not getting the engine air filter replaced per standard maintenance due to the stock air filter no longer being there.

 

I have them on my 335 and I beat the crap out of it when I do actually drive it. I notice no problems or decrease in power even in the oppressive SoCal heat we've had this summer. I say go for it.

 

Don't sweat it. I own a performance company that specializes in forced induction GM cars. For our application we can easily get the filter outside of the engine bay, which is optimal. For the N54 you can't really do this and still use a respectably sized intake pipe. Now if you pop the top off of your intake you can see the route the air takes to get to it. First it goes through the straw to the box, then through the filter, above that around and back down to the actual inlet. It's a less than optimal design, intended to be sufficient for stock applications. There is absolutely room for improvement though and I wouldn't question Burger's findings that the rise in inlet temperatures is more than offset by the volume of air.

In other words, go for it.

 

Damn when you put it that way I need to get one. I wasn't sold on the dci's but this explaination makes sense to me. Guess I'll add it to my mods to get list. Thanks for the lowdown.

 

I've had mine along with my Cobb for a few months now and love them. I live in FL, but heat soak hasn't been an issue so far. Couldnt attribute any power gains to the dci due to the tune taking all the credit, but the sound is phenomenal. You can really hear the car spool up with these. Well worth the $100, IMO.