i know it says it in the title
but just forget about the k&n.
focus on the DDM & aFe.
lol.

so i have read nearly all the threads (or almost all) regarding those 2 different intakes and some others. but what i still can't decide on is which one is better for the money? i mean they're both about $185-$190, practically the same price.

i really would like to know...
a) hp & tq gains of each intake
b) good & bad [anything] of each intake
c) foam or fabric filters? (i read a thread that all DDM intakes come with k&n filters, right?)
d) easy to clean/install?

HELP!!

feedback on this would be greatly greatly appreciated.
thank you.

 

I cant speak for the DDM, but I have an AFE and am very happy. Installation was incredibly simple. All you have to do is take out the stock box, two screws, two bolts and a clip where the intake attaches to the box. The AFE then slides right in and uses two bolts to attach, and a hose clamp to hold the huge pleated fabric cone in place.

I notice a big increase in performance, and the throaty sound is great. Horsepower ? Who knows, main thing is that you feel it.

For a while I couldn't make up my mind which of the two to get, The AFE or DDM. In the end I am very happy with my choice.

 

thanks matter!
i really appreciate the help.

 

Same here. I can't speak for the DDM, but I LOVE my aFe!!

I totally agree with matter, that the installation was simple. If you have an 04-05 with manual transmission, make sure you get the kit with the modified heat shield. It'll have the corner at the bottom removed so that it doesn't interfere with the reverse light switch on the transmission box. I'm sure that by now, they've all been updated, but you never know what's in somebody's old inventory.

Flowsource was my vendor. I got a great package that included the heat shield, two filters and a cleaning kit. Having the spare filter is great. I don't have to rush cleaning the spare.

The sound is great at the 3500+ RPMs. I'm not sure if there are HP gains.

 

nice!
thanks for the help dickdavid.

 

I also has the aFe, & really love it. In low rev like under 3,000 it just sounds like stock but when you start giving more gas to over 3,500rpm then you'll hear it coming like a beast running from far away then while rev up to 6,000 I would say the whole block around will hear you. And my MC b4 this CAI, no matter how you pump up the gas, it still slow pick up. But now, you can tell the engine really breath a lot better & the car picks up a lot quicker when starting even with AC on (hp I won't say it get increase). And I am sure the gas milage is getting better too but once you have this install, you won't gear up b4 3,000pm so I would say mileage pretty close to the same. At first I plan to buy the DDM because of the foam filter but just happened ther was a memeber here selling an aFe so I grabbed it & installation was very straight forward like matter said, anyone can do that.
I like this little mod alot cause it always surprise people by riding from dead quiet slow to loud roar fast. Pretty funny~

 

COOL.
dang everyone's been talking about aFe.
all the threads i'd se about DDM say the same thing about it as you guys are saying about aFe. lol. and they compare DDM to Alta. i guess cuz of te foam filter.

but still!
tanks for all the feedback!
but like, whats the diff between the foam and fabric filter?

(for looks though, aFe might be the one for me, but i still have yet to deide.)

 

AFE = $170 + free shipping
http://www.autopartswarehouse.com/se...l&N=1674&Nty=1

DDM = $185 + $15 shipping = $200
http://autoxcooper.com/ddm_justacooper.html

Or there is this one, currently $50
https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ct/1036/cat/22

 

Don't mean to hijack the thread but why does it seem like no one ever looks into the ProMini intake? I like the metal sheild that the cold air tube from the grill feeds into. Any thought's would be appriciated as I'd like to look into a good intake as well. The sound is mostly what I'm looking for as I'm sure from what I've read that the intake's aren't going to be much of an inprovement over my drop in K&N.

 

thanks for all the help guys.
now i can decide on which itnake to get when the time is right.

lol thsi thread is a good source of aFe intake info.
i already know all i need to know about DDM.
so from now on its just personal preference.

now all i need is money...

 

I've read and read on this subject and have came up with another question. The new intake from K&N is fully shielded and also draws cold air in from the factory cold air inlet. What I'm wandering is, with this fully shielded filter have the same or similar sound as an open HAI? The system I'm looking at is the Apollo Intake 57i by K&N.

 

The way you described it, it sounds like it's for the R56 Cooper. For the R50 model, the KnN does not have any sort of shielding like the aFe or DDM.

 

I did the product search on the K&N website for a 02' Mini Cooper and this was on the bottom of the the list.

http://www.knfilters.com/search/prod...?Prod=57A-6006

 

A while back I was looking to purchase my CAI. I was on Promini's website and came across their intake and the aFe. I called Promini and talked to one of their techs. We talked about the craftsmanship, the price, and others regarding the two. He actually suggested the aFe. I love it and since then, I've changed the filter to an Alta foam filter. Just a couple of tweaks and alls good. The reason I changed was the pain of washing and oiling the aFe filter. I thought it would be a lot easier with the Alta filter.
Just my two cents....

 

I know you said to forget about the K & N ...
But did you know (especially because you are in CA)
That the K & N is the ONLY C.A.R.B. aproved one out there ???

 

Well I just bit the bullet and ordered the aFe intake for my car. I really hope I made the right decision as it seems it's the one that most people like on the forum. Should be popular for a reason! I'll find out by the end of the week I hope!

 

We have the Way/DDM intakes on both our MINIs. Very happy with the performance, and sound

Mark

 

I love my DDM intake. Build quality seems very good. Sound is amazing, and performance seems to have improved. I like it, but I cant say there is anything wrong with the AFe, I just went with the DDM because I go to school near their shop, and had heard good things

 

You can also avoid this "pain" by acquiring the oil-free dry filter option for your aFe. I went this route for the same reason and I'm quite happy with the performance. Very easy to clean too. Here's a link -

http://www.afefilters.com/pressrelea...ProDrySOER.htm

 

When I talked with the aFe customer service, they said the oil filter performs bit better than the dry one cause the dry one still made from paper & paper don't breath better than the oil one. But you avoid the mess though.

 

Not an MC, but on our MCS we made 267 whp and we have the K&N intake on.

 

It's a toss-up, IMHO... We run the aFe intake on our Cooper (yet to be dyno'ed again, post head/cam/header), and we put down 112 whp/112 ft/lbs with the aFe and Borla cat-back... I think we're, uhhhhh, well above that now (don't have a guess, but it's considerably sweeter than it was!) - dyno charts to come of the new setup, post RMW-tune next Friday (just in time for a track weekend!).

 

nuhuh dude!
afe is also carb legal.
its true!

i asked flowsource and they said that just recently afe became carb legal and theyre in the process of making stickers and wahtever.

 

My intake came in today and I installed it after work. The job was easy and very straight forward! The intake its self seems to be very well made and the filter that came with it is the new Dry filter. All in all I'm happy with the purchase but was impressed with the fact after returning from a 20 mile drive I popped the hood and had the nomal under hood heat but the filter area was very cool. In fact, the filter its self was cool to the the touch. No significant boost in performance but that was expected, although the sound it produces is very pleasing. I'll recommend this product to anyone looking for a nice add on, a little more sound but not expecting a lot of performace gains!!

 

The BMP/Promini intake sounds amazing. Not sure what the others sound like, but, I've had mine on for about 15 months now and it's been hard to keep my foot out of it. As for performance, no giant gains. I can't say BMP as a company has impressed me very much though... Customer service has been a bit less than ideal. FWIW-

http://www.motoringfile.com/the-mini...romini-intake/