Z4M Aftermarket Airbox

F

FD3S

Member
It is more than 10 months that I own by beautiful car and I am still so in love with it.
Driving it all those months one thing that I miss, is the aggressive sound of other M's. The solution would be simple if I would change the exhaust system with something more sport. The problem is that I travel and I don't want to sacrifice the quiet long trips that I am able to do right now. So I was wondering if it worths to change the air intake.

From my search the solutions are:
1) Eventuri Intake -
http://www.eventuri.net/products/z4m/
Power Gain from 11 to 15 hp with Alpha N remap.
If you do not want remap it can work also like this.
Price: Around 900 Euros

2) CSL Airbox OEM
Great sound.
It is to rare to find and expensive.
Price: From 3000 euros and up.

3) CSL Airbox type from Evolve
http://evolveautomotive.com/engine-ecu_656/csl-carbon-airbox_693/
Price: 3000 Euros.

4) CSL Airbox type from Karbonius
https://www.facebook.com/karboniusAirboxCSL/
Price: -

5) CSL Airbox type from Bimmerworld
http://www.bimmerworld.com/Intake-Fuel/Intake-Systems/Carbon-Plenum-Airbox-CSL-120MM-Kit.html
Price: 2500 Euros

5) Airbox froM VAC
https://store.vacmotorsports.com/vac-carbon-fiber-race-style-airbox-bmw-s54-p743.aspx
Price: 2600 Euros.

6) Z4 GT3 Racing Airbox
Very rare to find.
Price above 6000 euros.

I hope my list will help also others.

The question is simple? Does it worth to buy a genuine OEM Airbox used or you go for aftermarket?
Also what is the cost of a tuning to Alpha N?
Also how is compared Eventuri with the CSL Style airbox?
 
doesn't say where your from buddy, so ill assume UK, Evolve is probably the best bet mate, they're local and they have a good product, both box, and now tune too, and they have group buys every now and then.. (not talking about Eventuri) , so you may get a good deal there..

Karbonius, has a very, very sweet box, its an identical copy of the OEM CSL intake, but goes for around 2.5k euros, add 1000 US for your tune and another 400 US or so for the other bits n pieces required to make it work.. (4kUS or so) plus shipping :D

no idea on the other boxes, there are also race boxes floating around out there with no internal filter..

the easy thing about the Eventuri is you can get some nice sound, without loosing your MAF. (means you don't need a mafless tune)

Cheers, that probably added more questions than it solved :D

Enjoy.. I love the mod, its probably the nicest one I've done. :D
 
Vanne said:
doesn't say where your from buddy, so ill assume UK, Evolve is probably the best bet mate, they're local and they have a good product, both box, and now tune too, and they have group buys every now and then.. (not talking about Eventuri) , so you may get a good deal there..

Karbonius, has a very, very sweet box, its an identical copy of the OEM CSL intake, but goes for around 2.5k euros, add 1000 US for your tune and another 400 US or so for the other bits n pieces required to make it work.. (4kUS or so) plus shipping :D

no idea on the other boxes, there are also race boxes floating around out there with no internal filter..

the easy thing about the Eventuri is you can get some nice sound, without loosing your MAF. (means you don't need a mafless tune)

Cheers, that probably added more questions than it solved :D

Enjoy.. I love the mod, its probably the nicest one I've done. :D
Click to expand...

Vanne you are one of the reason that I have to empty my pockets after seeing your thread.... :)

Btw yours is OEM, how did you manage to find the OEM? Also what is the cost of a new one OEM?

I am located in Greece so my choices are limited. My mechanic is selling an OEM used for 3500 euros but I think it is too expensive for a used airbox.

The Eventuri sound is comparable to the csl airboxes?

Thank you for your time.
 
Greece, perfect. Close to Lisbon, portugal where Karbonious is located. So shipping will be cheap. Mine is not Oem, but Karbonious OEM copy. There are a few threads on here that have compiled carbon airbox info. Just be aware, depending on your final goal for your car, if increase in power is your goal, please do have a look at FI. Higher horsepower numbers are much cheaper to attain going Forced Induction routes.

Cheers :driving:
 
If that original airbox is in perfect condition I'd almost be tempted to say sod the expense and go for it. 3.5k seems a lot, and it is (!) but they're so rare and are arguably the defining part of the csl experience so I can't see them getting any cheaper in the years to come. In fact, if you could get it for 3k then it would almost be worth buying it and wrapping it up for 10 years!

The eventuri won't be as loud as a full airbox but it's far simpler to install and way cheaper to buy. It's a great alternative and definitely the (more) sensible choice. Think of it as 50% of the airbox for 25% of the cost.

Another option is the open trumpet conversion from PSDesigns. If you want noise then this is supposed to be like an airbox turned up to 11! I seem to remember the guy who developed the kit having to spend a long time on tuning before he saw any gains but quite a few are running them now and they seem to work.

http://www.psdesignsglobal.com/velocity-stack-conversions/
 
Vanne said:
Greece, perfect. Close to Lisbon, portugal where Karbonious is located. So shipping will be cheap. Mine is not Oem, but Karbonious OEM copy. There are a few threads on here that have compiled carbon airbox info. Just be aware, depending on your final goal for your car, if increase in power is your goal, please do have a look at FI. Higher horsepower numbers are much cheaper to attain going Forced Induction routes.

Cheers :driving:
Click to expand...
I have seen the solution of Forced Induction and the ESS solution seems very tempting since I can find the package for almost the same price as the Airbox (without the tuning) and from what I read the car is still a pleasure to drive.
But then I am afraid that you open the door to hell. New brakes to be able to stop it, strutbraces, new suspensions, bigger tires and the fuel consumption goes very high. Also having always to put 100+ octane fuel.
That means a budget of over 12.000 euros. This is something I am not willing to support at this moment. Also I believe that if you go this way you have to do it the right way and do it all at once and for good since safety comes first.
 
beanie said:
If that original airbox is in perfect condition I'd almost be tempted to say sod the expense and go for it. 3.5k seems a lot, and it is (!) but they're so rare and are arguably the defining part of the csl experience so I can't see them getting any cheaper in the years to come. In fact, if you could get it for 3k then it would almost be worth buying it and wrapping it up for 10 years!

The eventuri won't be as loud as a full airbox but it's far simpler to install and way cheaper to buy. It's a great alternative and definitely the (more) sensible choice. Think of it as 50% of the airbox for 25% of the cost.

Another option is the open trumpet conversion from PSDesigns. If you want noise then this is supposed to be like an airbox turned up to 11! I seem to remember the guy who developed the kit having to spend a long time on tuning before he saw any gains but quite a few are running them now and they seem to work.

http://www.psdesignsglobal.com/velocity-stack-conversions/
Click to expand...

I believe 3k can be easily achieved. 2k would make me happy to do it though. :oops:
Since there are on the market solutions like the Karbonius etc, the price will drop even for the OEM's.

Do those things have a mileage that stop working?

The PSD looks very interesting too. Thanks for the advice. Also it looks to have a strong sound. Do you know anyone from the forum that has it and I can ask his opinion about it?
 
I've seen carbon parts discolour with age but I don't know if they become more brittle with repeated heat cycles so couldn't say if an airbox has a 'service life'. I'd look in to it for peace of mind/curiosity but I doubt there is any real risk of one failing.

I don't know of any z4m running the open stacks but there are a couple of people on the m3cutters forum, Including the owner, who might be able to help.
 
i found out the hard way... F.I does indeed open the doors to hell.... the car needs a huge amount of changes if you plan to drive the thing properly for a sustained period.... stick on a stock z4m and you'll probably smash the car up sooner rather than later, the brakes and suspension simply cant cope, nor can the cooling ( oil particularly), engine mounts, tyres, the list goes on... BUT.... once its all dialled in... good lord..

i naively stuck the kit on the bone stock car and soon realised that wasn't going to work, i then spent the next few years painstakingly turning the car into a very focused machine that gives nothing but joy.
 
Beedub said:
i found out the hard way... F.I does indeed open the doors to hell.... the car needs a huge amount of changes if you plan to drive the thing properly for a sustained period.... stick on a stock z4m and you'll probably smash the car up sooner rather than later, the brakes and suspension simply cant cope, nor can the cooling ( oil particularly), engine mounts, tyres, the list goes on... BUT.... once its all dialled in... good lord..

i naively stuck the kit on the bone stock car and soon realised that wasn't going to work, i then spent the next few years painstakingly turning the car into a very focused machine that gives nothing but joy.
Click to expand...

Beedub when I hear ESS or FI your car comes to my mind. I have read a lot of your posts and were very helpful to understand through your story that the ESS kit is a non go for me right now. Maybe if i bored my car, to do it but since then it doesn't make sense to put all that money.
I believe what makes sense is to make small upgrades that will make my rides more joyful. Right now I want to have something more loud but discreet at the same time and I believe airbox is the answer.
 
Whats the cost of an original bottom half airbox, has anyone opened up the front of of it for more airflow into filter, could be an inexpensive alternative, breakers yards etc.
 
True I was not aware of that solution. I will update my first post.

Does anybody has review for the GruppeM solution?
 
FD3S said:
True I was not aware of that solution. I will update my first post.

Does anybody has review for the GruppeM solution?
Click to expand...

I have one fitted and find the noise utterly addictive. I don't believe I have a decent video but intend to record one on the way to Silverstone Classics this year.
 
JAD said:
FD3S said:
True I was not aware of that solution. I will update my first post.

Does anybody has review for the GruppeM solution?
Click to expand...

I have one fitted and find the noise utterly addictive. I don't believe I have a decent video but intend to record one on the way to Silverstone Classics this year.
Click to expand...

Does it require remaping? Also do you know how is the sound compared with the CSL airboxes?
 
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