Karbonius Race Airbox

[GT Spec]

Hi folks,

I finally got round to fitting the Karbonius S54 Race Airbox over the weekend. l know some members wanted to see some pics of it fitted in the engine bay.

I had to remove the redundant stock airbox rubber gasket and trim about 20mm of the length of the throat as it fouls the front panel as delivered.

It is a top quality item and the induction sound is orgasmic now :driving:

GT Spec

 

[taz1966]

Hi,
Looks fantastic.
I have the Eventuri and it has transformed the noise.
I was thinking of changing it to the Karbonius.do you know if it is louder on acceleration.
Lastly where did you buy it and have you had to have an Alpha N tune

 

[maupineda]

Your spec seems very sweet. Mind sharing photos? How the CS fit, do they crash with the door or console? How do you like the driving with cams?

 

[GT Spec]

Hi,
Looks fantastic.
I have the Eventuri and it has transformed the noise.
I was thinking of changing it to the Karbonius.do you know if it is louder on acceleration.
Lastly where did you buy it and have you had to have an Alpha N tune

Hi,

So I bought the airbox from AP Motorsport in Sussex and the alpha-N tune from Severn Tuning via the group purchase on here. Never experienced the Eventuri but I’d imagine the airbox will be a lot louder due to the size of the carbon plenum and its inlet.

 

[Justino]

looks great - I am considering one as my airbox is currently off after replacing the starter motor.

I would prefer the stock CSL look, but the CSL snorkel needs trimming also, and the design I think would restrict airflow as you trim off the section/snorkel which is segregated from the main opening, which then sits on top of the chassis leg, so wouldn't get airflow.

It looks like the opening in the side of the inlet would line up exactly with the grille air intake?

 

[///MBan]

Hi folks,

I finally got round to fitting the Karbonius S54 Race Airbox over the weekend. l know some members wanted to see some pics of it fitted in the engine bay.

I had to remove the redundant stock airbox rubber gasket and trim about 20mm of the length of the throat as it fouls the front panel as delivered.

It is a top quality item and the induction sound is orgasmic now :driving:

GT Spec

Do you mean that you had to trim 2cm off the Karbonius airbox? I haven’t heard of that being required and certainly isn’t ideal. How did you cut it cleanly?

And for removal of the airbox rubber gasket, is this reversible?

Thanks!

 

[GT Spec]

Hi folks,

I finally got round to fitting the Karbonius S54 Race Airbox over the weekend. l know some members wanted to see some pics of it fitted in the engine bay.

I had to remove the redundant stock airbox rubber gasket and trim about 20mm of the length of the throat as it fouls the front panel as delivered.

It is a top quality item and the induction sound is orgasmic now :driving:

GT Spec

Do you mean that you had to trim 2cm off the Karbonius airbox? I haven’t heard of that being required and certainly isn’t ideal. How did you cut it cleanly?

And for removal of the airbox rubber gasket, is this reversible?

Thanks!

Hi,

Yes, I masked up the inlet 'throat', used a calliper to mark it up and then a Dremel tool to trim it. The front panel on the E85/6 M is closer to the the engine than the E46 M3 so it fouls it.

Yes, the rubber gasket can be refitted if you decide to put the car back to stock.

 

[maupineda]

what rubber gasket do you guys refer to?

 

[///MBan]

Do you mean that you had to trim 2cm off the Karbonius airbox? I haven’t heard of that being required and certainly isn’t ideal. How did you cut it cleanly?

And for removal of the airbox rubber gasket, is this reversible?

Thanks!

Hi,

Yes, I masked up the inlet 'throat', used a calliper to mark it up and then a Dremel tool to trim it. The front panel on the E85/6 M is closer to the the engine than the E46 M3 so it fouls it.

Yes, the rubber gasket can be refitted if you decide to put the car back to stock.

Thanks! In the picture through the grille, is that the opening of the Karbonius snorkel? If so, I suppose an advantage of the snorkel being too long is that it ends up being in the airflow!

 

[GT Spec]

what rubber gasket do you guys refer to?

Item 10

 

[GT Spec]

Do you mean that you had to trim 2cm off the Karbonius airbox? I haven’t heard of that being required and certainly isn’t ideal. How did you cut it cleanly?

And for removal of the airbox rubber gasket, is this reversible?

Thanks!

Hi,

Yes, I masked up the inlet 'throat', used a calliper to mark it up and then a Dremel tool to trim it. The front panel on the E85/6 M is closer to the the engine than the E46 M3 so it fouls it.

Yes, the rubber gasket can be refitted if you decide to put the car back to stock.

Thanks! In the picture through the grille, is that the opening of the Karbonius snorkel? If so, I suppose an advantage of the snorkel being too long is that it ends up being in the airflow!

Oh that carbon piece you can see through the kidney grille is a cold air scoop which I picked up from Burkhart Engineering in Germany. It directs fresh air towards the airbox inlet.

 

[///MC]

Hey,

I also recently installed a Karbonius Race airbox. Mine does not have the cut on the snorkel ( production August 2023) , i also had to trim it a tiny bit but as you can see from the pic, I kept the rubber part feeding the air from the grills and it lines up perfectly to feed the airbox.

I did previously have an eventuri intake, while alot of people will say it sounds similar to an airbox, it really isnt close, the airbox fills up the cabin with induction roar all the way to 8000 rpm. I actually removed my RPI mufflers just to enjoy the glorious induction noise.

 

[///MBan]

Hey,

I also recently installed a Karbonius Race airbox. Mine does not have the cut on the snorkel ( production August 2023) , i also had to trim it a tiny bit but as you can see from the pic, I kept the rubber part feeding the air from the grills and it lines up perfectly to feed the airbox.

I did previously have an eventuri intake, while alot of people will say it sounds similar to an airbox, it really isnt close, the airbox fills up the cabin with induction roar all the way to 8000 rpm. I actually removed my RPI mufflers just to enjoy the glorious induction noise.

Did you use a Dremel like GT Spec to trim the throat? And how did you work out how much to trim off - trim a bit off at a time until it fit?

I have one of these boxes on order and have to admit to being nervous about cutting it!

 

[GT Spec]

Hey,

I also recently installed a Karbonius Race airbox. Mine does not have the cut on the snorkel ( production August 2023) , i also had to trim it a tiny bit but as you can see from the pic, I kept the rubber part feeding the air from the grills and it lines up perfectly to feed the airbox.

I did previously have an eventuri intake, while alot of people will say it sounds similar to an airbox, it really isnt close, the airbox fills up the cabin with induction roar all the way to 8000 rpm. I actually removed my RPI mufflers just to enjoy the glorious induction noise.

Did you use a Dremel like GT Spec to trim the throat? And how did you work out how much to trim off - trim a bit off at a time until it fit?

I have one of these boxes on order and have to admit to being nervous about cutting it!

Where are you based? If you are fairly local I can walk you through it when you are ready to install it. Are you aware you need the earlier style rubber throttle boots? The later engines such as the ones fitted to the E85/6 had different boots from build. Let me know if you need part numbers etc.

 

[GT Spec]

Hey,

I also recently installed a Karbonius Race airbox. Mine does not have the cut on the snorkel ( production August 2023) , i also had to trim it a tiny bit but as you can see from the pic, I kept the rubber part feeding the air from the grills and it lines up perfectly to feed the airbox.

I did previously have an eventuri intake, while alot of people will say it sounds similar to an airbox, it really isnt close, the airbox fills up the cabin with induction roar all the way to 8000 rpm. I actually removed my RPI mufflers just to enjoy the glorious induction noise.

Hmm looks like they redesigned that section of the airbox. Mine was a 2021 production model I think. Does yours have the cut out for the push CSL plastic air feed tube?

 

[///MBan]

Hey,

I also recently installed a Karbonius Race airbox. Mine does not have the cut on the snorkel ( production August 2023) , i also had to trim it a tiny bit but as you can see from the pic, I kept the rubber part feeding the air from the grills and it lines up perfectly to feed the airbox.

I did previously have an eventuri intake, while alot of people will say it sounds similar to an airbox, it really isnt close, the airbox fills up the cabin with induction roar all the way to 8000 rpm. I actually removed my RPI mufflers just to enjoy the glorious induction noise.

Did you use a Dremel like GT Spec to trim the throat? And how did you work out how much to trim off - trim a bit off at a time until it fit?

I have one of these boxes on order and have to admit to being nervous about cutting it!

Where are you based? If you are fairly local I can walk you through it when you are ready to install it. Are you aware you need the earlier style rubber throttle boots? The later engines such as the ones fitted to the E85/6 had different boots from build. Let me know if you need part numbers etc.

Thanks for the offer, but I'm in Perth, Western Australia.

Thanks for the tip on the rubber boots - I actually bought a set of the Karbonius OE-style plenum I have, so I'm sorted there. I've also ordered the rest of the parts from Schmiedmann as well as the IAT harness from Turner, so I think I'm set!

However, always good for a cross-check, so this is my list of parts:
Part Qty P/N
CSL IAT Sensor 1 13629899008
IAT sensor o-ring 1 13621743299
CSL Crank Case Vent Hose 1 11157833649
CSL Airbox Air Shut Off Valve 1 11617833647
Alpha-N IAT Harness 1 Turner
rubber intake mounts 2 11617830735
Hose clamp - plenum side 6 11617830306
Hose clamp - throttle side 63mm 6 11617831745
Rubber intake boots 6 11612466477
CSL OE filter 1 13727838625

 

[Justino]

Hi GT Spec

the part number for the rubber boots would be helpful if you can provide so I can scope those out.

Hi ///MC

On the Hack Engineering website pictures of the Karbonious there is a bottom feed connection also - has this been deleted now? I cant see it on the Karbonious website? I was going to get the piping and connect that up for extra air.https://www.hackengineering.co.uk/product/karbonius-csl-race-airbox-e46-m3/

I've also seen pictures with a section of the inlet cut-out - where it would be close to the grille inlet - is that no longer the case also? Can be seen here, and also the bottom feed pipe again. Do you think the side cut-out would be beneficial for the air entry given the grille intake on a Z4m? https://www.apmotorsport.co.uk/product-page/e46-m3-csl-carbon-airbox-karbonius-v2-race

 

[Justino]

This shows the bottom inlet pipe, and cutout

 

[///MC]

[ref]GT Spec[/ref], Mine is exactly like the pic

 

[///MC]

[ref]Justino[/ref], This is the old design as you can tell by the plastic trumpets. Now its all CF and the snorkel no longer have the cut and attachement opening. My air box is produced August 2023 and it is like the picture I posted above.