jamster Posted February 21, 2010 Report Share Posted February 21, 2010 Evening all Can anyone please shed some light on my standard 2001 e46 330d (184bhp) airbox? i have been told by a few friends that my airbox is resricted is some way? if so how do i remove this restriction? any help would be much appreciated. jamster Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
simonlpearce Posted February 21, 2010 Report Share Posted February 21, 2010 This is news to me, perhaps ask your friends to explpain in a little more detail... Best bang for buck with a diesel is a remap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob- Posted February 21, 2010 Report Share Posted February 21, 2010 The only thing you can do is replace the filter with a K&N one. I have never seen an aftermarket induction kit for an e46 diesel and if there was one i doubt whether the work envolved to fit it would be worth the gains (if any) it would give. As Si said the best thing you can do to improve power is get a remap Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barrie Posted February 23, 2010 Report Share Posted February 23, 2010 Doesn't the forced induction pretty much negate the flow considerations for normally aspirated engines? Mengwalton 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suhail97 Posted February 23, 2010 Report Share Posted February 23, 2010 The air box is restrictive as the air has to go through many bends before it goes near the engine. But, the turbo helps pull air through and with a K&N panel filter and EGR bypass if possible, you'll have a pretty smooth engine / power delivery. (I'm not sure an induction kit is available for the diesels due to where the airbox is and the fitting type) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob- Posted February 23, 2010 Report Share Posted February 23, 2010 You could go mental and get a bigger intercooler? Mengwalton 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
autosri Posted February 23, 2010 Report Share Posted February 23, 2010 A bigger intercooler will cause a bigger restriction as far as I know but cools the air better Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bry.F Posted February 23, 2010 Report Share Posted February 23, 2010 Unfortunately the airbox on a diesel is on the opposite side of the engine bay to the petrol cars Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rob- Posted February 23, 2010 Report Share Posted February 23, 2010 Hybrid turbo ftw Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Natedogg Posted February 23, 2010 Report Share Posted February 23, 2010 drill the box so it looks like swiss cheese and fit a panel filter. will sound awesome. also, remove all the silencer exhaust boxes from the system - turbo sucks all the noise out of the car unlike an NA car - and big bore diesel pipes sound mad as a box of frogs. (yes i have done this mod on a land rover and a td golf in the past)!! awesome results. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mit Posted February 23, 2010 Report Share Posted February 23, 2010 Your friends probably don't know what they are talking about. I guess they might be referring to the swirl flap issue but that's not the airbox! Mengwalton 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Natedogg Posted February 23, 2010 Report Share Posted February 23, 2010 he he he. he said flaps!! sorry.....i cant help it. i work in engineering and still chuckle when they say flange!! taxi!! mit 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jamster Posted February 26, 2010 Author Report Share Posted February 26, 2010 thanks for all your help guys going to go the route of egr bypass and piper cross panel filter. keep up the good work Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rambo Posted March 25, 2010 Report Share Posted March 25, 2010 he he he. he said flaps!! sorry.....i cant help it. i work in engineering and still chuckle when they say flange!! taxi!! lol you legend. all air boxes have restrictions in one way or another, it just depends if it is worth "smoothing" or "de-restricting" etc. is worth it, most of the time it will just change the noise and add no performance. my advice would be to leave it as it is Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richy_Boy Posted March 27, 2010 Report Share Posted March 27, 2010 A bigger intercooler will cause a bigger restriction as far as I know but cools the air better Depends on how good the design is. In theory, the bigger the IC, the bigger the channels to allow air through it, so less restriction. If it's knocked up in China by people who have never seen a car, it might not be so great. If you do long sustained runs or track days in your turbo diesel, then I'd recommend you upgrade it, especially if the turbo pressure has been increased. As for the intake, the guy above is right in that it's not *so* important with turbo cars where the pipes go as long as they don't collapse on the intake-side when the turbo is on full chat and don't leak on the engine-side. I need a turbo/supercharger in my life again.. Rich Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulfoley30 Posted April 1, 2010 Report Share Posted April 1, 2010 he he he. he said flaps!! sorry.....i cant help it. i work in engineering and still chuckle when they say flange!! I'm the same, everytime I mention flanges at work I can't help but smile. Nobody else bats an eye lid though so I thought I was the only one immature enough, good to see I'm not! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trickett_james Posted January 21, 2013 Report Share Posted January 21, 2013 (edited) Sorry to drag up an old thread but just wondered if anyone had done this and what the results were? I've drilled my air box on remapped 1.8T VAG engines before and been happy with the results. I understand that heat soak could be an issue but I think with a cold air feed this could be avoided (feel free to tell me differently) My question is, can this be done on a 330d? And if so, which part would you drill? Obviously our cars don't have an air box as such so I guess you could drill the underneath of the plastic side panel that goes over the filter. I love the sound of the engine already but I think now it's mapped and got a decat on it a bit of induction noise would finish it off off nicely...although I appreciate I could be completely wrong; this just got me thinking Cheers Edited January 21, 2013 by trickett_james Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich_D Posted January 21, 2013 Report Share Posted January 21, 2013 don't drill the airbox on a 330d, you will not got any induction noise or performance gain trickett_james 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blair Posted January 21, 2013 Report Share Posted January 21, 2013 Before you do anything you need to see what map sensor is reading at WOT this will determine if you have a restrictive intake or not. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mengwalton Posted January 22, 2013 Report Share Posted January 22, 2013 drill the box so it looks like swiss cheese and fit a panel filter. will sound awesome. also, remove all the silencer exhaust boxes from the system - turbo sucks all the noise out of the car unlike an NA car. WHAT!? Sent from my HTC Sensation Z710e using Tapatalk 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mit Posted January 22, 2013 Report Share Posted January 22, 2013 WHAT!? Sent from my HTC Sensation Z710e using Tapatalk 2 I believe it's called sarcasm Mengwalton 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trickett_james Posted January 22, 2013 Report Share Posted January 22, 2013 Cheers rich, what I thought and wanted to hear! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich_D Posted January 22, 2013 Report Share Posted January 22, 2013 Cheers rich, what I thought and wanted to hear! With a K&N panel filter inside the standard airbox, these things are good for 300bhp, so there is no restriction Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trickett_james Posted January 22, 2013 Report Share Posted January 22, 2013 Would I see any benefits from a k&n then? Thought I'd read on here that I'm best with a standard filter and I've just put a new one in Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rich_D Posted January 22, 2013 Report Share Posted January 22, 2013 Would I see any benefits from a k&n then? Thought I'd read on here that I'm best with a standard filter and I've just put a new one in On a standard car, no. On a remapped car, yes. I had one in my last 330d and will be fitting one in this 330d when I start tuning it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
