Well its 5am and I probably spent about 2-3hrs trying to find a way to get the dinan mod to work. The 550i is similar to the 545i but very different.

One noticeable difference is the intake tube is not a circular tube, in the 550i it has a rectangular box like figure in front. So you have to route the intake tube under the original intake tube.

The intake box has a slant to it, if you were to mount the intake it would be very hard to get it flush.

There is virtually no space for the 3" hose. I have tried every possible way, squeezed through every way, and found that its no good because its touching all these hot metal pieces and will probably melt the plastic tube. Or its way too tight.

I found one way which was really tight. But still no good since there is extremely limited space between the intake box and the metal pieces and antifreeze tube.

It may be possible to make it work with a 2" flexible hose but even then I don't see how it could be any good since its route would be right by the radiator and touched by hot metal pieces.

I would love to know how dinan routes the intake on the 550i. If there is any member with one please tell me if you know how its routed. Any pics would be really helpful.

 

Those that I have seen in person with this mod indeed had almost no space between metal parts and the housing. But I've only seen it on 545s

 

in this pic you can see two metal rods that are in front of the grey mount im holding. There is no space for the flex tube to fit into the grey intake mount. Does the 545i have those two metal rods under the anti freeze tube?

 

as i recall, i have that metal tubing as well. Try fitting it in and use heat wrap. It might work. I'll let the others chime in too. I forgot. Rizbel and DKNewYork did it last.

 

yea ill give it another go, but i tried and the space is so limited when i put the black coupler over it there is no space left for the flex tube.

 

tried again, no good. My guess is the 545i intake box is higher up or taller so that the metal rods are not in the way of the flex tubes. Whenever i line up the grey intake mount, it lines up directly in front of the metal rods. And when i place the black coupler it dosent even have space to fit, the metal tubes protrude into it. So there cant be a way for the flex tube to go in.

 

I doubt it. becasue the original DINAN intake is same for both 545i and 550i exactly the same.

I see your pictures. the 545i has exactly same tubing as 550i. When I did it first time it was stuck then I had to move a little back and it worked. Try to move a little back.

 

I'll ask a few of my dads friend who have it in their 550's. I'm out of town but when i come back over the weekend I'll see if they are around for pictures of their setup..Also my dad had it done in his 7 but all work had to be performed by a dinan installer... maybe b/c he did a complete dinan upgrade not just the airbox.. Is there dinan installer by you to bring it to..... Also are you getting the car chipped so you can really see the power that dinan brings or just doing the airbox?

 

Just an FYI, those are either a/c or power steering hoses, but since they are the same size I am leaning towards power steering. If they aare power steering, they aren;t going to get hot enough to melt anything that touches them short of a candle. If they are a/c, the high side line might get hot enough to melt plastic, but I wouldn't worry about it too much.

 

well i have a little breakthrough but its not as easy as the 545i's. I squeezed under the a/c, power steering hoses and got the flexible hose in, its still not perfect but im gonna take a break for now. For anyone willing to do this, its a PITA, a real back breaker.

gildagjg- that would be really helpful, im very curious to see how dinan would have done it.

miguex- That cant be true because in the 550i engine there is no space in the front, because there is a rectangular tube instead of a circular tube, as in the 545i. So you would have to go under the original rectangular intake tube. Also why did Dinan make the intakes at a different price? i also remember someone selling the intake for 545i and he said it would not fit on the 550i.