Hi all, Miami based mini fanatic here. I've has my MCS for almost a year now and i love it, gave it an Aem Intake around January and the car has been running great very happy with the product but last week i got a bit concerned. I planned a trip to meet up with my old friend up in Knoxville so i could ride the tail of the dragon. The trip was fun and the dragon was amazing (even if it rained half the time) But withing 2 hrs of my road trip I started smelling some burnt plastic. When i opened the hood i saw my intake start Melting! It was dripping on the turbo heat shield and smelled awful, spent the rest of my trip worried about the heat in that engine bay. Ended up putting on some heat wrapping on top to stop the melting. Anyone else encounter this problem? I remember reading on the forums that people who lived in Florida didn't have any problems with this intake.

 

Did you install the AEM turbo heat shield? Do you still have your OEM turbo heat shield in place? I have only read of the intake melting due to one of those shield missing...

 

I had the AEM on my R56 for two years and took it to the Dragon twice. No issues. Sounds like you’re missing the AEM turbo heat shield. I used that in addition to the stock heat shield.

 

I just have the stock turbo shield and removed the AEM shield due to potential issues with the valve cover melting. In AZ and 105°-110° temps and have had no issues with the intake duct melting.

 

You might try something like this on the plastic duct.

 

I've read all over the forums that valve covers were melting so i decided not to add the AEM heat shield. I only have the stock shield in place.

 

Honestly i'll probably go this route, just amazed no ones else has had this problem lol

 

This is exactly what I ended up using. I just installed my AEM intake + heat shield on my 2010 Clubman S 1,000 miles or so ago. Still concerned about the heat shield. The tape has a hard time sticking in the area right above the turbo, but ultimately it’s still holding on. According to OBDII MX+ Bluetooth + BimmerLink as well as another OBDII app I use (can’t remember the name), my air intake temps are around 95 degrees F (with ambient temps at 74 today).

Will post pictures here in a sec.

 

and all of you are REALLY feeling the difference in oomph to where you've preferred this AEM intake over the stock JCW set up with a panel filter?

 

Can’t say I felt a difference. I bought it because of the utilization of the hood scoop, and it looks cool when I pop the hood

 

It's also something that's good to have installed when you get a tune.