razorfish228

Does anyone know if the resonator on the SuperCharger look the same as this one off of a SLK 350?

I'm trying to figure out if I can find it on mine and take it off.

Young Doc

SLK350 doesn't have a supercharger.

TheBossman

Ok I will finish this....here is our only true CAI we can get.....like it or you dont but it'll work and you cant get 'colder' than this

razorfish228

My mistake. Its from 2003 SLK230.

StillKickin

I understand that the current airbox is superior but I want the sound of the custom intake, my friend has one on his BMW 528i and it sounds incredible, even if I lose a tiny bit of power from the intake grabbing up hot air the way it sounds is worth it....would the using of both those lil air scoops and removing the baffles and a K&N drop in make it sound different? and I read something about the engine twisting and thats why they dont use a solid tube? either way if your in NYC PM me because I wanna try this whole thing closer to spring

Young Doc

Well, its kinda silly to trade power FOR sound. Usually its the other way around - more sound AND more power and perhaps better gas milage to boot. If you want more sound AND a bit more power do the following:
1. Remove the baffles on the top of your airbox lid, they are there for sound deadening, do a search and you will find instructions. Just use a razor, its easy.
2. Replace the stock filter with a K&N filter (this would help a little with sound and power as paper conical filters don't flow nearly as well as oil and gauze conicals)
3. Replace the cloth pipe with 3" ABS plastic. Use fernco coupers or silicone couplers and a little creativity to do this - its not that difficult. DON'T open the 2nd intake scoop as it will loose any "tunnel ram" effects of the long 3" ABS section. Not to mention that the tubes will be of unequal length and have screwy airflow dynamics. The resonance from the long free flowing solid tube should make for a nice intake sound, less heat, cleaner look and better flow.
4. Remove the plastic grid before the MAF unit. Be careful not to damage the metal honeycomb behind it, or drop plastic shavings in the intake. I would imagine this would increase the overall flow capacity by at least 10%

All this might be good for 10-15 RWHP combined. Maybe more. Also its fairly simple and different mods can be done in a stepwise fashion, time permitting. I am very busy and in a different part of the country otherwise I would help out.

r3v1ls

Wow that's a very optimistic number. You'd be lucky to even get 5RWHP increase from that mod.

StillKickin

Where can I get a replacement airbox lid, so that i can swap a new one in when I give the car back being that its a lease, i wouldnt do the plastic grid before the MAF mod, seems a little much once again considering its a lease car. The pipe seems like a decent idea, however is there any truth to the engine twisting enough to work against that? And, if I have to take in the car for service would I have to return everything to stock? Can those same silicone couplers be used to put something like a K&N Typhoon intake?

Young Doc

From all FOUR mods, not one. Another small point of interest is that the guys with the K&N alone are dynoing at LEAST 10RWHP more than the paper conical guys. Big gains from a filter, I know. I have had my old DSM dyno +7 RWHP from JUST replacing the paper conical with a K&N conical.

I welcome you to prove me wrong, I really do. I know it sounds crazy - but the data stands (DynoJet):

M271 w/K&N stock - 160-170+RWHP
M271 w/Paper stock - 150-155 RWHP

Estimate: M271 w/my mods listed above - 170+RWHP

Young Doc

Rigging up a K&N Typhoon intake to the stock setup would perform/look like crap. We already have a potentially enclosed cold air conical ram-air system that is far superior.

There is no truth to the engine twisting enough to break the ABS if you use silicone or fernco couplers. The rubber/silicone would allow for adequate flex. Worst case is that the airbox end of the snorkel will pop out and you will push it back in. Give your engine a good rev and watch the motion of the engine. Keep this in mind as you fabricate your solid pipe setup.

The dealer won't notice/care about the baffles on top of your airbox or the very minor mods listed above. Unless its a real hack-up job I doubt they would even notice as long as everything is clean and factory looking.

NOTE: The right side of the airbox is designed to let out any water/debris sucked up by the intake. This makes it VERY safe to run with a solid pipe and higher velocity air charge, especially with a K&N filter which has intrinsic water resistant properties.

StillKickin

Extremely helpful responses, thanks everyone, Im going to try the solid pipe setup and if at all possible try and connect both of those intake scoops, after New Years, and before school starts so that I have time to find parts that I can potentially use. Ill try to document it and see if anything actually comes of it. If not performance wise at least sound wise, where would I be able to Dyno my car in NYC/Brooklyn area and how much would it cost? If I can Id like to dyno the car stock, with just the K&N and then with the solid pipe so I can post actual numbers up for everyone to see.

C180KsportP

Do you have any pictures to show ? kind of lost just by reading it. tks
It's amazing for that much of HP increase tho .

drexappeal

Young Doc, you have any pics of the piping you changed out? I know what it looks like stock, but curious how the replacement abs piping looks and also trying to visualize what you removed before the MAF?

I've already swapped the filter and done the baffle thing, but can't really feel any change. If you're saying I'll gain 15 HP at the wheels for adding the abs piping and removing a piece before the MAF, I'm curious about that, but need to see the proof from the dynos and pics that this has actually been done already. Not really willing to risk messing up the Benzo unless I actually see the proven data.

Thanks in advance.

drex

Sauceboy01

There you go, took the words right out of my mouth!

Young Doc

The actual feel of a 10-15HP gain will be very discrete, especially when you are modifiying a slightly pressurized system. The gains are most noticible at speed. Again, mod gains are not simply additive, they are synergistic. Meaning that a combo of small mods could yield higher gains than the gains of each individual mod added up. I don't claim to be an expert on modding the M271, I am just applying principles I have picked up from years of hot-rodding on other cars.

To actually get a decent feel for the mods you can get a downshift around 70mph - whenever the intake charge is slightly pressurized. With the solid pipe/!baffes/!plastic premaf screen/K&N you should be able to hear and feel a slight difference from the stock setup.

I wish I could help out more, but I am busy w/ 18 hour days and studying for boards until mid june. As far as modding goes it really is a trial and error process and as a community we need to brainstorm and analyze ideas. You can't make an omlet without breaking some eggs - and I understand everyone's reluctance to mod their hard earned cars without definitive proof of gains on a good sample size of cars.

If I get time I will try to post a writeup of the solid pipe and !premaf screen, however these are quite simple mods that even novices can do with a little creativity. As these are not internal mods the risk of doing damage is very minimal.

As far as individual gains, I think the plastic premaf is the biggest restriction. Do this test - take a light and shine it into the plastic premaf. Behind the premaf screen you will see another metal screen*. The total cross sectional area is reduced by AT LEAST 10% by that chunky plastic. You look at it and be the judge. Maybe someone here will be kind enough to actually measure and document the x-sectional area of the orifice with and without the plastic grid there.




*This is a honeycomb shaped metal screen that is for laminar airflow. The grids are so thin that it hardly restricts airflow and it contributes to more accurate measurements by the MAF. Plenty of hotrodders take this metal honeycomb out and it is controvercial - I wouldn't recommend taking it out unless you want to be a guinea pig and let us know how it goes.

Outland

Bull**** detector!!!!

r3v1ls

I've been waiting for Outland to pitch into this thread for quite sometime. Almost any member here with modding experience will vouch that a new air filter will barily do anything.
But if you can prove this wrong with some actual DYNO chartsm go ahead and do so :p .

StillKickin

Well Ive taken the first steps into replacing the cloth pipe with PVC, Home Depot sells 10 feet of PVC no matter what so I have plenty for anybody in the NYC area that wants to do this after me if in sucessful. The couplers I got say for drain/sewage use only, will the withstand the heat in the engine bay?
After I replace that cloth pipe and put in the K&N Filter tommorow I will also take out those baffles. The cloth pipe appears to be in need of a ripping out. Ill have to go to the parts department and buy a replacement for when I take my leased car in for service, I might buy another airbox lid just in case as well.
I dont know where to get Dynos and dont really want to waste money on it. Im not expecting gains in power that can be felt, however, Im hoping something will come of the sound.
If all else fails Im going to buy a K&N intake system with one of those heat shields and get it as close to those intake scoops as possible so as to not pick up too much hot air from the engine bay.
Ill try take pics as I go along, If there is a noticeable enough sound difference Ill try to make a small video. If there is no noticable sound difference or throttle response I will prolly just return everything to stock.

richardsayzz

just threw in a K&N ...just curious has anyone actually got a fouled maf from the k&n

Sauceboy01

If you did some more research you'd find out that the MAF errors were produced by people who re-oiled their K&N's to heavily after cleaning them.

TNblkc230wz

The 320s and 240s use the second air scoop, so the parts to open it up are available.