The best intake for the car is an ess sc.

I've read on here that rpi scoops and BMC drop in filter make 10hp which I am skeptical when small Boltons show 5-10 hp gains, so many other factors that can vary run to run.

That said which one is the loudest? Can you hear any of these intakes breathing under load?

13 yrs ago aem cai on b16's b18's were the best sound!

 

The loudest intake I believe is AFE and the sh*ttest intake is AFE. So yea.... RPI makes that power at around 70mph, where if you look at the design, it makes sense thats actually directing air into the airbox instead just taking whatever smacks off the radiotor would make power.

 

i have the AFE stage 2 CIA with the AFE throttle body spacer. sounds great, looks great, no issues

 

I'm running the AFE Stage 2 on my 545i. Been running it since the day Trinity offered it. No problems. Haters gonna hate no matter what! Funny how most people who chime in on AFE Intakes never ever had one, or joined after the RPI vs AFE Controversy.

 

I will admit I have never had an AFE, BUT when you do research on it and the majority says its bad would you waste your money trying to see if it's true or go with what hasn't caused problems to multiple cars. Just look at the bottom of this topic here https://5series.net/forums/e60-parts...-545-a-132292/. Maybe he had the original version tho, since I have heard that the little heat shield that's on Bidwell's stops the heatsoak problem.

 

I have the same setup as did most of the forum members who originally purchased their setups from Trinity. I agree with you. Heatsoak is a problem. I personally have never had an issue....knock on wood and have been using it for probably 4 years now. I never felt a loss in power and honestly maybe never felt an "abundant" increase in power. Intakes do not generally provide lots of horsepower. At least on N/A Cars. I have had intakes on many cars from an Eclipse GSX to a E46 330ci to a 93 MKIV TT Supra to a 2003 Chevy Tahoe. These intakes have always provided power increases. How is the engine of a BMW E60 any different? How does this car generate more heat soak than any other car on the planet? The answer is it simply does not!

I've been active on this topic not only on this forum but also on M5Board. The very little testing that was performed, IMHO was skewed at best! I never saw definitive results that proved otherwise. I am fairly certain there is more surface area on an AFE or equivalent intake than the standard drop-in filter which equates to more air flow. Air flow to an engine is a good thing. Now cooler air (more dense) is an ever better thing! If you're talking about hot air going to your intake while your car is idling at a light, I could see that. But once the car is in motion, it should be sucking in cooler air. The same principal the "Scoops" capitalize on. The argument that this is a "Hot Air Intake" just does not makes sense to me. What's even funnier is how everyone who bought the intake swore by it! Then one day a new product came out and instantly this product was deemed no good.

Bottom line, if you are looking for crazy power gains, get a tune or a SC Kit. Your not going to get a lot of power from an intake on these cars. I like the sound, the maintainablity of this filter and the ever so slight mpg increase. But in 4 years, I cannot say I ever encountered performance issues from this intake that others have reported.

To all my fellow forum members, these are just my humble opinions and first hand observations.

 

most efficient intake system will be the RPI ram air scoop and BMC filter =)

 

Well there you go. Evidence from two different members one who felt a lost at the low end and another that hasn't felt anything different in years. I would say take your pick of what you want.

As I said earlier, I wasn't around for the debates so when I showed up I did a quick search and most said RPI and filter and thats what I went with. I think a good example for the AFE would be the fact that bidwell is in Houston and I would guess his intake has survived a Texas summer with no ill effects.

 

Ive posted on this so im not gonna beat a dead horse. In short i ran the afe for a week, then went with a Dinan. I never had a problem w/ the afe while in motion, but after idling at a stoplight i had issues with my low end take off power. As far as sound goes though, the afe is far, far superior to the dinan. In fact, i cant hear the Dinan draw air at all. But for me, having the take off power after idling at a stand still won out. iMHO... if you live in a hot weather area, spend time in traffic, or have significant time to spend bumping from one stop light to another, i personally would recomend going another route. My recomendation is to start cheap and invest up. FYI, i didnt return the afe when i got the dinan, i gave it to my cousin who drives a volvo. Was a decent fit actually after a little adjustment, but he says it works awesome.

 

ain't that the truth...

you won't replicate that with a BMW, unfortunately.