Best overall air intake upgrade?

[underdonk]

Stock box, BMC filter, FTP intake pipe here. One reason for me was the ability to have both the Verus heat shield along with the aluminum shield attached to the stock intake. Who knows how much it really helps to have both in reality, but it works in my brain.

Right on! The Verus turbo heat shield is a nice piece, isn't it? I've had it on for a while and it feels like a good bit of thermal management kit. I have an aFe filter in the stock airbox now, but an HKS to go in next time I open it up, which will be when I install the FTP turbo inlet pipe sitting in my garage. I'm curious about your air box heat shield - was this a custom job? I have wrapped a good portion of the motor-side of the airbox in the reflective gold tape, but that's it.

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[Z4_M40i]

Thanks, this is why i love this forum. I now have a turbo heat shield on my shopping list

Maybe there is already a thread but BMC or HKS panel are better than K&n?

 

[J29DB03]

Right on! The Verus turbo heat shield is a nice piece, isn't it? I've had it on for a while and it feels like a good bit of thermal management kit. I have an aFe filter in the stock airbox now, but an HKS to go in next time I open it up, which will be when I install the FTP turbo inlet pipe sitting in my garage. I'm curious about your air box heat shield - was this a custom job? I have wrapped a good portion of the motor-side of the airbox in the reflective gold tape, but that's it.

Nothing custom, just the sheet of aluminum already attached to the engine side of the stock intake box. I had to give it a little bending to clear the Verus shield but it was doable. I left the intake resonator on since I’m not concerned about noise.

Thanks, this is why i love this forum. I now have a turbo heat shield on my shopping list

Maybe there is already a thread but BMC or HKS panel are better than K&n?

I feel saying which panel filter is better is like saying which engine oil is better. It’s really up to opinion. The difference really is oiled vs dry. The BMC is oiled but by no means dripping with it. The reason I chose it was literally because Porsche uses them in their GT3 RS. That was good enough for me.

 

[underdonk]

Thanks, this is why i love this forum. I now have a turbo heat shield on my shopping list

Maybe there is already a thread but BMC or HKS panel are better than K&n?

There are threads comparing the various filters, but usually it comes down to personal preference (oiled vs. non-oiled, cost, etc.). I don't think anyone's changed just drop-in air filters and performed back-to-back dyno runs on our cars, but the general consensus is any change between just filters is imperceptible. I'm switching to the HKS because it isn't oiled and provides the least amount of... well... filtration, and hypothetically better airflow... and maybe a little more noise. Plus their packaging is pretty.

Yeah, this forum has been dangerous for my wallet... but it's so damn much fun. ?

Nothing custom, just the sheet of aluminum already attached to the engine side of the stock intake box. I had to give it a little bending to clear the Verus shield but it was doable. I left the intake resonator on since I’m not concerned about noise.

Nice! Would you mind sharing a few pics from different angles? Curious what it looks like and how you mounted it to the airbox. I'm getting ready to have kiddo #2 here in just a couple or 3 weeks. Maybe while it's staying nice and warm all swaddled on the engine after a nice drive, I can hammer out a custom shield and send it to a buddy who does CAD work for a living. He can 3D scan it to a CAD file and I can share it here so people can have them made if they want. Selling them sounds like a whole bunch of work.

 

[zrk]

eah, this forum has been dangerous for my wallet... but it's so damn much fun. ?

RIP my wallet, too. Planning for the engine build now.

 

[underdonk]

RIP my wallet, too. Planning for the engine build now.

...but there's no doubt it will be worth it. What are you planning on doing?

 

[zrk]

...but there's no doubt it will be worth it. What are you planning on doing?

Pistons/Rods/Sleeves/Big Turbo. I'm gonna drop about another $20-25k upcoming fall/winter season.

Because the first 35k wasn't enough, I guess.

 

[J29DB03]

Not sure how helpful they’ll be but here are a few. I started the bending after the 4 screws that attach it to the filter housing.

I simply removed it when I installed the Verus shield, put it on the edge of a work table, and starting trial and error. Bend it some, see if it fits back on the intake, bend some more, test fit, too much, bend it back, etc. until it fit back on the stock intake.

It ended up having to be a little close to this particular spot but it’s not actually touching. Not that it would have made a difference if it did.

I initially didn’t bend it at all and tried it out. It cleared the Verus shield however barely, but would rub when the engine moved. There’s a little scuff on the front side of the Verus shield at this corner. I don’t think it touches anymore but I’m not certain. If it does I don’t believe it’s much.

I’m very happy how it turned out. Hate that my Verus shield has that scuff simply because I know it’s there. But I’m the only one I know who tried this so how else was I going to figure it out without trying. If anyone else tries this just to state the obvious, don’t try bending it while attached to the intake because it’s plastic. Those screws are in the actual filter housing and not the removable resonator section.

 

[underdonk]

Pistons/Rods/Sleeves/Big Turbo. I'm gonna drop about another $20-25k upcoming fall/winter season.

Because the first 35k wasn't enough, I guess.

Nice! Going to be so much fun when you're done with it, though. It's getting to the point for me where I could have gotten into a more expensive car that I really liked with how much I paid for the Supra + what I've spent in modifications. I do, however, like practically everything about this car including the scarcity (which I hadn't anticipated). I like that I can go for weeks or months without seeing another one on the road, where even some of my other choices for cars like the Porsches or Jaguars I see much more frequently around here. Plus, this B58 motor really is one of the best ever made by BMW, and I'll cautiously say one of the best I6 motors every produced by any manufacturer. BMW really nailed it.

Not sure how helpful they’ll be but here are a few. I started the bending after the 4 screws that attach it to the filter housing.

I simply removed it when I installed the Verus shield, put it on the edge of a work table, and starting trial and error. Bend it some, see if it fits back on the intake, bend some more, test fit, too much, bend it back, etc. until it fit back on the stock intake.

It ended up having to be a little close to this particular spot but it’s not actually touching. Not that it would have made a difference if it did.

I initially didn’t bend it at all and tried it out. It cleared the Verus shield however barely, but would rub when the engine moved. There’s a little scuff on the front side of the Verus shield at this corner. I don’t think it touches anymore but I’m not certain. If it does I don’t believe it’s much.

I’m very happy how it turned out. Hate that my Verus shield has that scuff simply because I know it’s there. But I’m the only one I know who tried this so how else was I going to figure it out without trying. If anyone else tries this just to state the obvious, don’t try bending it while attached to the intake because it’s plastic. Those screws are in the actual filter housing and not the removable resonator section.

Ha! You know, it's funny, until I looked at these pics I had completely forgotten that the stock airbox came from the factory with a heat shield, which I have long since disposed of, because as you noted, it won't fit with the Verus Engineering turbo heat shield. That's funny. I really think the Verus part plus a turbo blanket would make anything on the airbox side of it unnecessary (and one or several hood vents if you want to go nuts). @zrk has the Verus vent installed on his car, if memory serves correctly, and has seen a pretty sizable drop in IAT.

 

[Rustyscrew]

I have an Eventuri intake which has its own heat shield. But I also just got the Verus turbo shield so I’m hoping that will help a lot too with IAT.

 

[J29DB03]

I have an Eventuri intake which has its own heat shield. But I also just got the Verus turbo shield so I’m hoping that will help a lot too with IAT.

Who really knows how much of a difference the heat shields attached to the intake really do. I’m sure some do more than others such as, if I remember correctly, the Eventuri uses gold instead of aluminum. But I’m sure they do something so if you can have both heat shields it has to be better to a degree. (pun intended)

 

[underdonk]

Who really knows how much of a difference the heat shields attached to the intake really do. I’m sure some do more than others such as, if I remember correctly, the Eventuri uses gold instead of aluminum. But I’m sure they do something so if you can have both heat shields it has to be better to a degree. (pun intended)

It's an aluminum shield with the gold reflective "heat tape" on it. You could do the same thing to the factory heat shield, or really anything thing the turbo on the intake system, including the side of the factory airbox. You can get the stuff on Amazon relatively inexpensively.

 

[J29DB03]

It's an aluminum shield with the gold reflective "heat tape" on it. You could do the same thing to the factory heat shield, or really anything thing the turbo on the intake system, including the side of the factory airbox. You can get the stuff on Amazon relatively inexpensively.

Sounds like a new project.

 

[Vroomin350]

Call me crazy but my butt dyno tells me the aftermarket intake created a tiny lag that the OEM didn’t have

 

[zrk]

Call me crazy but my butt dyno tells me the aftermarket intake created a tiny lag that the OEM didn’t have

Crazy.

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