Madness CAI install with plod's cowl hack
 

So I finished installing the Madness CAI on my car last night. What should have been a 30 minute project turned into about a three hour project, haha. Between having to borrow a couple tools I didn't have, wrestling with a spinning screw, and making a little extra ghetto modification of my own, it took a while, but I’m pleased with the results.

I got the complete Madness kit – filter, shield, cowl mod, and cleaning kit – new in the box for $170 (normally $270, see link: http://www.madnessmotorworks.com/mad...ir-intake.aspx) from a guy on Craigslist who had sold his Mini. He said he bought the intake a couple of years ago, and I guess the package was different back then, because as you can see from the pics I have the Green air filter instead of that blue Madness one on the current product page. Other than that, the kit appears to be identical.

The modified Madness cowl is identical to the original Mini cowl except for a few inch diameter hole drilled in it, so I thought hey, why not expand the hole? I took a hacksaw to it and basically took the entire back off (see pic of hacked cowl next to Mini original) (here is what the Madness cowl began life looking like: http://www.madnessmotorworks.com/mad...-cowl-mod.aspx). Not sure how much difference it makes, but I figure it’s a good idea in theory and can’t hurt. If anything goes wrong, I can always slap the original back on.

So far everything is working… nothing caught on fire, nothing blew up. :lol: I’m happy with the results. You can definitely hear the whoosh of air and the whine of the supercharger, and the engine revs noticeably faster when you floor it. My only concern is that the whole setup doesn't look to be firmly sealed off from the engine, especially lower right, by the ECU box, so that may be something I'll want to address down the line if I want to use this unit to its fullest potential. But, overall, $170 well spent. :nod:

Looks good, had that style for a while myself but the only flaw I think that design of CAI has is that they rely on the bonnet making a seal on top when closed, mine was not very tight and I believe it was sucking more hot air from the engine area than pulling cold air from the cowl area. I opted to switch out to a Dinan CAI. You might want to keep an eye on your plastic overflow tank also, from the pics it looks like you could possibly be having a leak at the center seam which is extremely common with them,if you notice white streaks from that seam replace it.