Carbon Airbox with MAF

Fishy Dave

Active member
 Wiltshire, England
Hi all,

I'm enjoying the M in every regard, the one thing I would like more of is noise :evil: In order to preserve my hearing/relationship with my wife and neighbors I will go down the route of induction rather than exhaust. Providing I don't lose power and gain sound I will be happy (not worried about making a gain). The options seem to range from those that keep the standard MAF including K & N/AFE at the cheaper end, then the lovely looking Eventuri through to the various CSL type airbox which are more expensive, require an Alpha N/MAP sensor remap, make it harder to return the car back to standard but seem to sound the best.
I spent a late evening yesterday looking into CSL type carbon boxes which retain the standard MAF and don't require a remap. For the most part opinion on various forums say it can't be done due to airflow metering/restriction, or if it can it requires a cone filter on the end of the CSL box, which won't be as aesthetically pleasing? Does anyone have any experience of a carbon box running with the standard MAF and ecu?

I am in early stages of communication with a Belgian company called power-plus engineering who list a CSL style with MAF (for an E36), they have said this runs with the oem CSL air filter. https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10151059359036650.431124.122198171649&type=3

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Could this give the cosmetic and sound advantages without the cost and Alpha N, providing they can make them for the S54?

Cheers, Dave
 
In short... No. As far as my research says.

Get over to M3 Cutters there are bundles of threads on these replica airboxes and GSR ones come up regularly secondhand for circa £1k and then the cost of the map.
 
Hi FR08MEE, thanks, I've found plenty of threads about CSL copy airboxes but in almost every case they require the deletion of the MAF with subsequent remap? I have found another company that offer a Z4M airbox that retains the MAF, but again can't find any reviews: https://translate.google.co.uk/translate?hl=en&sl=de&u=http://www.carbon-goeke.de/&prev=search

:)
 
I think the general consensus seems to be if your going to spend that much on a carbon airbox you may as well do it properly and get the benefits of it by running AlphaN like the CSL's do and mapped properly.
Otherwise it's a very expensive way of getting just a noise and you may as well get 80% of the way and get a Gruppe M or Eventuri for half the cost.
 
the eventuri intake has a great review, if you ARE looking to go the full carbon air box, there is a group buy for the Evolve air box and tune, id be looking at that if i were you, its pretty cheap atm :)
 
Just to put this thread to bed, as advised by you guys I steered clear of the airboxes that use the standard MAF. The cost was just not enough of a saving (all over £1k) and none of the providers were able to answer my specific questions or provide more photos. I had been offered a Geoff Steel box at a decent price + remap but decided to play it safe and spend money in other areas and have ordered an Eventuri, I'm excited!
 
problem with alpha N mapping or Speed density tuning ( as the GTR owners call it) its is a) very expensive, and B) a pain in the ass to get right on this car particularly, but once its running properly and issue free you'll never believe the s54 can run so smoothly.

i can't see why MAF box would loose power or gain power over the proper alpha N CSL setup however? Wasn't the gain from the cams?
 
Yes, your first point was definitely a concern; my Caterham running an Emerald required three separate mapping sessions before I was happy with the smoothness.
The MAF boxes have a smaller opening (the same as a standard M airbox) so that the MAF can calculate the airflow accurately, plus at least one of the designs had a cone filter in front of the MAF which may be more of a restriction compared to the larger panel type filter as in a genuine CSL box. :)
Some of the gain from a proper map comes from the CSL box and part comes from the custom map, presumably running on decent fuel.
 
The reason the CSL type boxes are hard to get right is because there are soo many different types, with different volumes and harmonics.
Pretty sure the BMW CSL box with the S54 is pretty easy to do right, also of course depending what other mods are installed.
the other thing is, these days, the tune is just uploaded and downloaded, there is mostly no dyno involved, and as with anything, a dyno run would be nice for your favourite tuner to fine-tune the tune.. and Fishy Dave is also spot on, fuel quality is also a massive factor. Don't let these issues turn you away from what is S54 HEAVEN when done right, and the sound…… the extra HP is just a bonus :D
 
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