r53 driver here, my girlfriend has a 2012 r56 and I wanted to buy her an intake for it for christmas. I use alta products but I heard that there was problems with the intakes (but I also heard its only with the pre 2011 charge pipes) Which intake is best?? all are around 240-260. Alta, K&N, or NM

If she has an S, then go AEM. Last xmas my fiancee bought me the AEM intake so it's a winner compared to the DOS I had prior.

I've had my new-to-me 08 MCS for about a month now and just installed the Alta Intake last week. I love it so far, with no issues. I am aware that people had issues with the turbo inlet cracking but nothing so far.

Depends on how much you want to spend on a noisemaker that doesn't give real world useable power....

If you want an intake you don't have to spend the big bucks the DDM street will do just as well as the others.
We don't recommend the alta as I've seen 2 of them come apart already. The NM intake is good if you need it to be CARB approved.

I have to agree with InjectedGT on this one! I purchased and installed the AEM CAI last June on my 07 MCS, lost some torque on the bottom and third gear has nothing past 3300 rpm's.

Just sold it on eBay in excellent condition for $250 including shipping. After installing my stock CAI it was quick to decide to sell my AEM CAI . Never looking back!

The aftermarket intakes do give you a cool noise though.

http://www.defendersofspeed.com/

Just throwing another option. =D

It is the turbo by the way

what do you mean they come apart? like i have an alta on my 03 and i love it, but like i heard the problem is only on the pre 2011 model r56? how are they still selling them if its breaking things?

also if i get the ddm will she not pass inspection? Is there any forum discounts?

I'm on mobile so can't see your location...inspections depend on where you live, where you take it, and how well they know the make/model. For me, a visual inspection won't fail for an intake as I'm not in a CARB state. They also don't sniff my tailpipe so I won't fail for the second cat removed unless they look specifically for it.

her car is registered in conneticuit

I've had the NM for about a year now....very high quality and the performance kick is nice as well, plus about 2mpg pickup. I went for the Carbon Fiber version because that was the look I wanted.

NM has engineered several items for the MINI and I've been to their shop (about 15 miles from where I live) and you can tell they are gearheads....and their products show it.

If you view my gallery there are pictures.

I don't have a CAI on my R56, so you can call "sour grapes" on this post if you want to... but with all the known issues of high under-bonnet temperatures on the MINI, along with distorted scoops, that we've seen on this forum, it seems to me that the last place you'd want to put your air intake is under the bonnet. The factory setup picks up air from up front, behind the grille, which seems ideal... how is the under-bonnet version better, aside from providing eye/ear candy? I mean if drawing cold air is the whole point, you're certainly not going to find much of it right behind the engine.

By the way, I've seen the one that pulls intake air through the bonnet scoop, which seems to make more sense if you're going to depart from factory spec.

Cheers,

Spridget

You have proof that you gained gas mileage by going to an open filter under the hood rather than the perfectly well performing stock intake?

DMTR,
First of all - unless your girlfriend is a rare gearhead, you are EXTREMELY unlikely to impress her with your choice of a Xmas present. The reaction is likely to be the opposite of what you expect!

Having said that, what problem are you aiming to address?

#1. OEM airbox is a true cold-air intake system. Cold air is plumbed from near the driver-side headlight. Hot engine bay air is being kept out. Few other R56 self-proclaimed CAI systems are anywhere near as cold-air as OEM. All are sucking in the engine-bay air that is guaranteed to be significantly warmer than ambient. Some attempt to partially utilize OEM air plumbing, some dismantle it altogether. Sad but true.

#2. If you do like the idea of an aftermarket intake, first pick between the types of filter elements available:
a). Gauze K&N/aFe (DDM, NM, VIP, etc)
b). Foam (Alta, M7, etc)
c). Paper (JCW OEM intake - also true cold-air plumbing).
Do you own research as to which one you prefer, and then pick the supplier that packages your filter element at the desired price point.

#3. If you want more noise, virtually all of non-OEM intakes will make more noise. Just pick the cheapest one and have a ball.

#4. If you want bling-bling looks with carbon fiber bits, prepare to pay through the nose. Pick whatever makes you happy.

#5. If you expect a major performance boost, don't get your hopes up too high. You will be better off looking at DME software updates.


Good luck,
a

Well....33.9 - 32.0 = 1.9.

32.0 was my average mpg in 2012 and 33.9 is my current 2013 YTD mpg.

If you want to fly out to CA, we can take a ride and you can watch the computer display give its calculation.....I do find that it's about 0.2mpg optimistic based on hand calculations when I fill up.

I agree with I had my DDM intake with a K&N open cone filter on, I averaged a whole 1.7mpg more compared to the stock setup. Nevertheless, I went back to the stock setup to retrieve my loss of low end torque.

That makes little sense - fuel is always matched to the amount of measured airflow entering the cylinders. Unless the new intake is choking the airflow (resulting in lower amount of fuel injected, and lower power), the intake by itself will have no impact on mileage.

The entire claim behind CAI's making more power is that their free flowing nature enabling pumping of more air into the engine. That, in turn, will be measured by HFM. DME will detect greater airflow and match it with greater amount of gasoline injected into the combustion chamber. Power would go up, mileage would go down.

In reality, the filter impact is minimal w/out other mods.
DME reprogramming is the only way you could achieve greater mileage by running the engine a bit leaner, but that introduces its own slew of consequences.

A LOT of other factors impact power and mileage: engine break-in, ambient air temperature, gasoline composition (many states switch to winter fuel mix with extra ethanol == lower mileage), driver's mood, etc, etc, etc.

a

Just a note on fuel mileage and summer vs winter blends... Winter blends use more butane as a source of cheap fuel and therefore you get increased emissions and worse mileage. Here in MO, state law requires 10% etoh and we can only get 100% gas 'for offroad or use in collectors vehicles only'. As of 2 months ago, they started looking into going to E15 for regular fuel.

i have an 07 s hatchback and i have the alta intake, hard pipe and boost tube and i love them and have absolutely zero issues out of them. i havent had any others so i might have a biased opinion. but just thought id chime in and let you know that theyve treated me very well.

I have put some sort of CAI on nearly every car I've owned with varying degrees of fuel economy increases....some hit 4mpg, some immeasurable, the NM give me 1.9mpg.

Take it for what it's worth. Just by saying "technical" stories about how it doesn't make sense, maybe it's because you don't understand. That's OK, I don't understand many things in life, but results are indisputable.

I have a K&N intake on my 07 MCS, i've had it on for a couple years now. At the time i got it, it was the cheapest one availble. i paid less then 200 brand new. it also has a metal box that the filter goes in so it's helps reduce the heat unlike the ALTA and NM which are exposed. I didnt notice any power increase or mpg increase. it just sounds and looks cool. If i had to do it again i would probably just get the JCW factory cold air intake. it seems like that one would give you the best performance upgrade.

Made my own for $15. Would never spend more than that. Sound is fantastic.. I'm sure unhood temps wise its not.

Its cooler here now (NJ). My IATs are 100% the same they were with the factory filter versus my E-bay Junk Mod.

I may build a shield for it... might even pin it to the underside of the scoop area with some sheet metal and push pins.. that and a tin bolt on shield for the turbo with a blanket should only cost a few bucks more.

Unless the stock intake has been proven to choke the engine at high RPMs (i.e.: BMW/Peugeot designers screwed up big time), -OR- your OEM filter is dirty or damaged, JCW or an aftermarket intake would not provide a performance upgrade. UNLESS you also remapped the DME and it is now programmed for higher airflow levels that stock filter can no longer deliver. There is a link somewhere to guys running multiple filters (OEM, drop-ins, cones, as well as NO FILTER AT ALL) on a dyno and observing at most 1% differences.

Having said all that, I am running a VIP intake (semi-shielded K&N that preserves and uses OEM cold-air plumbing) and love the sound of waste-gate opening, which was previously muffled by the OEM filter box.

Between Alta airflow pipes, the FMIC, the K&N filter (note - it's not 100% cold-air!) and Accessport programming, my engine seams to produce more power. I say seams because I have not dyno-ed the car, and only observed the increasing gap in my autoX times vs. the usual competitors. I can not attribute the performance to any one upgrade, but the cumulative effect was shaving another 1.5 seconds on a ~60 second course:
http://www.njbmwcca.org/services/fil....php?type_cd=R


YMMV,
a

P.S.: KW coil-overs are next, so the next season should be even more fun!