88 300E Cold Air Intake Project

[Jesse88300e]

so i have been researching air intake options for my 88 300E because A: I dont like the look of the stock air cleaner B:i want to attempt to improve my performance. ive seen a few people pull this off but they placed the filter in an ugly position where there is little to no air flow my idea is to run my pipe over the valve cover and place the filter behind a custom heat shield near the passenger side head light. i was thinking of fabricating an air duct under the bumper to divert air to my filter. i think this may work and im gonna give it my best shot. has anybody else attempted this?

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[ptoro01]

If you search around, you'll find that you should keep it as is, but if you'd like to make it better, a snorkel is the only thing that actually works.

[Jesse88300e]

Originally Posted by ptoro01

If you search around, you'll find that you should keep it as is, but if you'd like to make it better, a snorkel is the only thing that actually works.

it seems that most of the info i found says it doesnt really make a performance difference, just visual. some people said that the stock cleaner muffles to sound of the engine and it sounds better without. I might try it just for the hell of it.

thanx for the info though, i'll look into the snorkle idea for sure.

[neanderthal]

You're NOT going to improve the performance at all.

You might improve the aesthetics (according to you) but at the loss of what?!?!?!

[Jesse88300e]

Originally Posted by neanderthal

You're NOT going to improve the performance at all.

You might improve the aesthetics (according to you) but at the loss of what?!?!?!

Wow calm down...didn't I just say that this will more than likely NOT IMPROVE MY PERFORMANCE.
This is something I am going to ATTEMPT, its just an EXPERIMENT on MY vehicle.

There are a lot of very nice, very helpful people on this site and I appreciate everyone who takes the time to answer my stupid questions. But don't act like I'm an idiot just because I wanna try something different.

[190E 16V]

Cold Air Intakes have been discussed, at length, before.

Try this link for a thread with the Poster Boy of Dysfunctional Posters, Zach1328.


300E performance upgrades

[Saijin_Naib]

Jesse, I'm toying around with the same idea. However, the important thing to note is that the w124 already comes stock with a cold-air-intake, so as noted above, improved performance is likely impossible.

All you can do is unrestrict it a bit by changing the airbox and make it a colder air intake (as I did) by insulating it with some high R-Factor insulation wrap. Another alternative is to use partitions to partition it off from the rest of the bay.

I'm going to work this summer on making a "track-kit" intake that will bypass the stock airbox and bolt straight to the throttle body. Reason? I want to hear the intake noise.

Go ahead & experiment

[Jesse88300e]

Originally Posted by Saijin_Naib

Jesse, I'm toying around with the same idea. However, the important thing to note is that the w124 already comes stock with a cold-air-intake, so as noted above, improved performance is likely impossible.

All you can do is unrestrict it a bit by changing the airbox and make it a colder air intake (as I did) by insulating it with some high R-Factor insulation wrap. Another alternative is to use partitions to partition it off from the rest of the bay.

I'm going to work this summer on making a "track-kit" intake that will bypass the stock airbox and bolt straight to the throttle body. Reason? I want to hear the intake noise.

Go ahead & experiment

Thank you. That's all I needed to hear. I like your track kit idea I'd be curious to learn more on how one could accomplish this. Looking forward to pics when you get started.

[neanderthal]

Originally Posted by Jesse88300e

Wow calm down...didn't I just say that this will more than likely NOT IMPROVE MY PERFORMANCE.
This is something I am going to ATTEMPT, its just an EXPERIMENT on MY vehicle.

There are a lot of very nice, very helpful people on this site and I appreciate everyone who takes the time to answer my stupid questions. But don't act like I'm an idiot just because I wanna try something different.

Suit yourself.
Those of us who have been on this board long enough have seen the millions of threads from new owners about increasing the power and all that. None of it works. You think AMG and everybody else bored out the engines because they wanted to go one step bigger or because there weren't significant gains by just changing the cam, the intake, and headers, using a high perfomance exhaust, like you'd do on a BMW or a Japanese car?

The M103 does NOT sound sexy. You're going to get more noise. It's not going to be sexy noise. If that is what you want, go for it.

[Saijin_Naib]

M104 sounds pretty hot though

You Tube

You Tube

Is the m103 really that different in sound?

[ptoro01]

I have a K&N in there, not for performance but cause its a cost-wise clean able filter, and yes it does sound a bit different. The engine vacuum isn't muffled as much. It's subtle enough, mostly on releasing the throttle fast, as it recoils..

If you want a colder engine bay, get a new fan clutch and hood vents....

As I keep repeating, fix the wear items! Your engine air intake will work its best if there are no vacuum leaks; all the rubber vacuum hoses, properly sealing valves, a good camshaft...

The M103 is different in not having variable cam timing, it screams as opposed to grumbles...

[neanderthal]

Way way way back when I used to be a mechanic, the shop manager and body shop manager raced a 300GE in rallies. This was in Africa.

That thing sounded marginally better than a tractor. Bone stock engine, modified intake and exhaust. The mods were more for water fording than power.

[RBYCC]

M103'S don't sound that bad..............

You Tube

You Tube

[chlippo]

Originally Posted by Saijin_Naib

M104 sounds pretty hot though
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRCVtjcyV8w

Is the m103 really that different in sound?

Brett i beleive the sound clip is from an HFM M104...totally diferrent story that our M104 CIS.

[2PHAST]

Originally Posted by 190E 16V

Cold Air Intakes have been discussed, at length, before.

Try this link for a thread with the Poster Boy of Dysfunctional Posters, Zach1328.


300E performance upgrades

**** me! That thread was painfull to read.

Someone needs to give Zach the

[190E 16V]

Originally Posted by 2PHAST

**** me! That thread was painfull to read.

Someone needs to give Zach the

We should make a "Sticky" of it, "Easy & Cheap W124 HP increases"

It just kills me what he has said...

ZACH wrote:
"Don't forget that I-6's are some of the most easily tuned engines ever made. Unlike most cars our engine bases' have plenty of room to stuff parts in there.
I've also been looking at getting the 5.0L V8 from the 500E, but idk how much that would cost."

[RHW]

Was a very funny run with Zach, some Beemer boards are now enduring same.