Simota air intake for M54 3.0i Z4 - query...

[tomTVR]

TomTVR - can I ask a small request? Any chance you could record and post an in-car video of the noise? That's more important to me than what it sounds like to anyone else - call me selfish but I'm the one driving the car and an intake system would be purely for my aural pleasure and nobody elses

I will see what i can do. Do you have the sound generator mod? I have 50% foam removed and from the cockpit it is hard to distinguish the two sounds until 4500rpm when you really start to hear the intake scream. I must admit the difference is much greater from the outside. That it unless you give it some beans in a tunnel or even when overtaking - you can hear the echoe bouncing off other cars

I have to say this all seem a lot of time and money for no real return? Still each to his or her own.

x2

It sounds fantastic in the flesh. For me this one of the most important things to have from a sports car (after looks and performance), so well worth it for me

 

[a11y]

Thanks tomTVR. I already have approx 50-75% of the foam removed from the sound generator and still find it a bit quiet at times. I do like the sound of what you describe though as it wouldn't become too intrusive in normal use, i.e. below 4.5k revs, but really makes the noise when driving more enthusiastically at higher revs.

I'm with you the noise aspect - absolutely essential in a sports car IMO. It's one of the reasons I'd not have a 4-cyl Z4 (no offence intended to those owners) - they just can't compete with a 6-cyl for aural pleasure. It's one of reasons I still desire something that makes a great sound, namely a T350C or a Vauxhall Monaro, but I KNOW the Z4 M54 engine can be made to sound better than it does as standard plus it makes more sense as a car for me!

 

[Dreamer]

I have to admit TomTVR that does sound very nice

 

[Rudd]

Ally, from a design POV i would say that this looks pretty sh1t.

it doesnt fit very well around the cold air feed and will be suckin in warm air from the engine compartment, not a massive amount becasue of the position but still some.

looking at the cone it looks like anyold bogo K and n cone, so why not put on something like a pipercross venom (that i have on) and put the pipe through the cold air feed duct.

i think t would be exactly the same, if not better because of the cold air, and would cost a fair bit less.

oh and tomTVR, that engine bay needs a little bit of a clean

 

[a11y]

Rudd, I think the design flaws you're commenting on are mainly because it's not designed to fit the Z4 - I found a pic of it on the E36 330i (which is the kit tomTVR has used as it's closest matching) and it's a perfect fit with no warm air being drawn in. I'd happily trade a very very very small amount of performance for a bit more noise, but I wouldn't put up with measurable performance loss, and I very much doubt I'm a good enough driver to notice even the loss of e.g. 5bhp.

How does your Pipercross Venom compare noise-wise with the Simota? It's the noise I'm obviously interested in. I presume its the universal one you have?

 

[Rudd]

yeah its a universal one, but to be fair even the 'non universal' ones are the same, the only difference is that they include fitting collars of different sizes.



i put mine on without the need for a collar then routed the pipe through the cold air feed duct (a little tricky because of the shape) and have my own version of an rpi on.

the noise is noticable, you get the burble of the induction kit when your foot is down. it doesnt sound like a halfords cheapo special IK though, more refined than that.
you also get more noise from the exhaust, something my brother noticed when i put it on.

compared to the simota, i dont know, i presume a little more noise from the Simota because the cone is more exposed.

as for performance, a big fat 0 IMO but just like you i did it for the sound.

 

[a11y]

Thanks for the info Rudd.

TBH I've not looked into an air intake system any further with my insurance company yet as I've got too many other outgoingings for the next couple of months - damn campervan is gutting me, plus I'm after winter tyres for the Z4 soon. But I'll keep all this in mind when I get around to it.

 

[Rudd]

cool,

what camper van you got? i thought you were into roughing it in the back of a van

 

[tomTVR]

Another crummy video, this time the cameraman had his finger over the microphone for half of it. You get the gist though!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32T263kf6eI

I have since turned the carbon fibre shield around 180 degrees and taped up the gap to prevent any warm air going in. I think it may have blunted the sound a tiny bit. I am going to go out and do some in-gear acceleration tests standard, simota and simota with tape on it. Then video the sound of each to compare.

TBH this is nitpicking as i couldnt notice the difference in power anyway!

 

[a11y]

cool,

what camper van you got? i thought you were into roughing it in the back of a van

http://www.z4-forum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=18924&start=15#p284543 - was still roughing it up until about 3 weeks ago, van's currently still at the conversion workshop getting the roof cut off and an interior put in

Another crummy video, this time the cameraman had his finger over the microphone for half of it. You get the gist though! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=32T263kf6eI

Thanks for posting that, it does still sound pretty good. Argh, I need to stop looking at these as it's not going to happen quite yet (if ever). I've sort of got a deadline of mid-Oct to get a Simota cheaper from the US: my mum's relatives are coming over from Maryland then and I'm putting them up at mine, could ask for a "gift" to be brought over

 

[Rudd]

Cool project ally,

it Will look cool when its finished and the colour coded bumpers look great.

i cant wait to see the finished thing, im into using a motorhome but that looks like an awesome custom project

 

[powerontap]

Am I right to believe that the engine oil will in fact get dirtier much quicker with one of these aftermarket toys fitted?

 

[a11y]

Am I right to believe that the engine oil will in fact get dirtier much quicker with one of these aftermarket toys fitted?

I've read a bit online about this and the general consensus is that a crap one will affect oil quality, but the likes of the Gruppe M and the Simota (which is an almost 100% copy of the Gruppe M - it only has subtle enough changes to avoid a lawsuit lol) should not have any effect on oil.

 

[Rudd]

It would depend on the quality of the filter.

the aim is to allow more air to pass through. an inferior filter, say a £10 ebay one, would allow more dust and dirt into the engine which is obviously unhealthy.

K&N have one of the worste reputations for the passage of dirt whereas pipercross use a 3 layer foam filter to get out all of the nasties. they also use an oil to trap some dust etc.

if you fit a good quality aftermarket one then i would say there is no danger, if you buy cheap crap then you get what you pay for i guess.

 

[klarky]

There is a post on here somewhere that links to a test of oiled filters, I think the outcome was that the oem paper filters were best at keeping the muck out.