Some pics of why not to use a

[Bill R.]

K&N type airfilter and cai. This is the system on this e46http://www.bimmer.info/%7Ebill/airbox1.jpg

And here is the front of the mass air flow sensor where the air comes in you can see the area where i wiped off the dirt to get an idea of how much dust goes through this filter. Its an oiled typed just like the K&N.http://www.bimmer.info/%7Ebill/airbox2%20copy.jpg

And this is what the backside of the mass air flow sensor looks like where no dirt gathers.http://www.bimmer.info/%7Ebill/airbox3.jpg

[genphreak]

Good on ya Bill. Just you forgot to tell those that don't know how much trouble a contaminated MAF can cause to performance, economy and long-term reliability.... :( pod filters are a serious no-no on a daily driver...

[632 Regal]

I follow wholeheartedly but I dont see where the dust or oil is on the back side of the filter, please expand on this!

[Jeff N.]

back - shiny clean
front - grimy icky

Front could be shiny clean if not for the K&N. Comparison, dig? :D



I follow wholeheartedly but I dont see where the dust or oil is on the back side of the filter, please expand on this!

[Alexlind123]

First of all, its not a K&N. It is a cheap imitation that is probably manufactured with much lower standards than a k&n filter. This is not to say that the K&N would be better for the MAF, im just giving light to some reason before everybody starts jumping to conclusions. Already, someone has called this made-in-china replica a K&N and its bashing it as such.

[Bill R.]

bon ami polish job on the cylinder walls,rings , valve stems, bearings, cam journals etc that i'm concerned about...When this abrasive gets sucked straight into the engine the best oil filter in the world won't help, it goes straight to the cylinder walls and piston rings, contributing to an early demise for the engine...





Good on ya Bill. Just you forgot to tell those that don't know how much trouble a contaminated MAF can cause to performance, economy and long-term reliability.... :( pod filters are a serious no-no on a daily driver...

[genphreak]

First of all, its not a K&N. It is a cheap imitation that is probably manufactured with much lower standards than a k&n filter. This is not to say that the K&N would be better for the MAF, im just giving light to some reason before everybody starts jumping to conclusions. Already, someone has called this made-in-china replica a K&N and its bashing it as such.Sure the K&N might do a better job. How it avoids distributing a certain amount of the oil that it is impregntated with inside the intake I don't know... for all the marketing (hoo-hah) we hear in the US about pod filters being better than BMW ones I'd like to see one German engineer (car enthusiast enough to track a car or two) that uses such a filter...

[Bill R.]

equal on tests. That is to say that they both let in equal amounts of dirt. Alex, not to bring up the standard old man stories but i had built at least 100 motors that used K&N's before you were born. I saw enough sanded motors back then to convince me not to ever use them on any of my own motors.





SUre the K&N might do a better job. How it avoids distributing a certain amount of the oil that it is impregntated with inside the intake I don't know... for all the marketing (hoo-hah) we hear in the US about pod filters eing better than BMW ones I'd like to see one German engineer (car enthusiast enough to track a car or two) that uses such a filter...

[Jeff N.]

.

equal on tests. That is to say that they both let in equal amounts of dirt. Alex, not to bring up the standard old man stories but i had built at least 100 motors that used K&N's before you were born. I saw enough sanded motors back then to convince me not to ever use them on any of my own motors.

[Jon K]

Sure the K&N might do a better job. How it avoids distributing a certain amount of the oil that it is impregntated with inside the intake I don't know... for all the marketing (hoo-hah) we hear in the US about pod filters being better than BMW ones I'd like to see one German engineer (car enthusiast enough to track a car or two) that uses such a filter...
G power uses them on their supercharger and turbocharge applications.


By thinking ITG/K&N/ETC filters are all letting ginormous amounts of dirt into the engine is saying anyone with aftermarket induction is ruining their engine...

[genphreak]

G power uses them on their supercharger and turbocharge applications. By thinking ITG/K&N/ETC filters are all letting ginormous amounts of dirt into the engine is saying anyone with aftermarket induction is ruining their engine...I've no fathom of knowledge to contribute here, however it seems to me that they are only a good compromise if you need to do increase airflow a great deal (ie using a massive pod-filter). To me poddies are just a bit of a quick and dirty solution. However without the ability to injection mould nice ABS boxes as some manufacturers do, what choice does one have practically?

All I'm saying is I just wouldn't do it unless i had to... there are larger boxes from bigger cars might be able to retrofit instead... or perhaps one can retrofit two in parallel in order to give the desired flow). Its just a matter of clarity really. Given their proximity to the average Ricer's Electric Turbonator with built in light-up, blow-off valve, I'm sure it's a valid point :D

[DueyT]

The Chev Suburban I'm currently driving in Afghanistan has the largest, paper-element air filter I've ever seen on a vehicle this size. It's about 2 x larger than standard. Additionally, our DI (daily inspection) procedures include emptying sand out a settling chamber within the airbox that the swirl-tube inlet pipe centrifigally seperates most of the sand into. We also knock the paper element clean every few days (3-4) and reinsert in the airbox. An engine over here would die within days with a K&N or any other type of pod filter!

Cheers,
Duey

[BigKriss]

equal on tests. That is to say that they both let in equal amounts of dirt. Alex, not to bring up the standard old man stories but i had built at least 100 motors that used K&N's before you were born. I saw enough sanded motors back then to convince me not to ever use them on any of my own motors.
What air filtering setup would you run with a forced induction setup? The one your showing us seems to be the most common around.

[Bill R.]

if you have actually worked with many motors or rebuilt many its pretty obvious that it doesn't take enormous amounts of dirt to ruin a motor, especially something that has as long a life with the stock filter as a bmw does. I can't speak for the itg filters since i haven't seen one, however you are looking at unretouched photos of an everyday driver that never goes offroad on this 2000 e46 that i can guarantee won't live the usual long bmw life based on what is seen here, Most supercharge/turbocharge typical customers don't care whether the motor's expected life is cut in half. I'm not interested in the pursuit of power, but i do expect maximum longevity, thats the reason that i use synthetic oils, the best filters, oil and air...
As far as turbo/blown motors go, i've been around them all my life since i grew up in the drag racing ciruit and if the race cars didn't have them then the tow vehicle definitely did and yes they don't ever live nearly as long but thats price you pay and they know it and accept it.






G power uses them on their supercharger and turbocharge applications.


By thinking ITG/K&N/ETC filters are all letting ginormous amounts of dirt into the engine is saying anyone with aftermarket induction is ruining their engine...

[Bill R.]

its pretty obvious that space is a big factor in the choices that the manufacturers have to live with. So i would think that they are choosing the filters that they do, simply because they don't have any other easy choice.
On all the offroad cars i built many years ago after we quit using the k&N setups we used paper element centrifugal type filters like you see on earthmoving equipment, that became the standard on the baja, mint , etc cars





What air filtering setup would you run with a forced induction setup? The one your showing us seems to be the most common around.

[peks]

K&N and like air filters require a lot of maintenance. many people who put them in have no idea. if this filter had been cleaned and oiled on a regular basis, you probably would not see that amount of build on the other side of it.

[Bill R.]

last done. And K&N claims that the filtering ability increases as it fills up with dirt not decreases.




K&N and like air filters require a lot of maintenance. many people who put them in have no idea. if this filter had been cleaned and oiled on a regular basis, you probably would not see that amount of build on the other side of it.