I have seen a few here as well as other sections (E55,CKL55,etc...) use that foil heat sheild stuff on the air intake housings.

What caught my attention was linuxfoo's post showing the underside of the air box covered in heat shield tape.

The idea makes perfect sense as the manifold is directly under this and probably throws of a good amount of heat for the air box to soak up. I am considering doing this to my car as I will be changing over to a set of green filters soon.

A concern I had was where does the heat go?? If it was reflected by the heat sheild tape then it would likely be directed enventually to the upper side of the engine bay as heat rises correct?

Also, there is a small gap between the air filter housing and the manilfod which is most likely usefull to disperse heat. I am not familiar with this heat sheild tape's caracteristics and if it is a thick material then this "gap" would be closer and would it be possible that it may trap heat? Now that the gap may be smaller, heat is more likely to be trapped below maybe creating the same or higher temps as original??? Actually, aside from thickness and air space would the reflective properties maybe direct heat back at the manifold causing higher manifold temps???

These few scenarios have me thinking. Has anyone done any temp. testing to see if the results are of value??? Not even sure how one would go about testing these temps... :p

Those with experience please tell...

I have an infared temp gun thing(brother's in HVAC) so maybe I could do some testing by shooting at certain points before and after installation of heat sheilding.

 

hey nitro, your thought process is pretty deep and appreciated, when i first did this mod awhile back, i only thought about reducing the inside temp for my air box and did not even think about the end result of the heat that may arise by reflecting the heat back to the manifold. during freeway speed, this might not be too of much of a probablem, however, it might during stop and go traffic scenario where there might not be enough outside air passing through the engine bay. it would be a good test to check the temp with an infared temp gun of the airbox with a modded one vs a non-modded one during idle and freeway drive and maybe day and night scenario as well, it would also be good to check the manifold temp on both. i am open to test this scenario in the BAY AREA with someone that has a stock airbox, we will also need an infared temp gun. anyone interested? this will provide valuable information for others to decide whether this is a good mod or not.

 

been there done that

 

what was the outcome? did it help or hinder performance?

 

"Your killing me smalls" - the sandlot

What was your conclusion bud????

Linuxfoo, I could do testing on my stock setup before installing heat sheild and then test temps afterwards. The downside is that I will have to depend on identical weather before and after installation.

I'm determined to find the answer to this.

 

yeah, ideal scenario would be have two cars follow each other and test, that way we get a more accurate figure. but if you plan on doing the thermo-tec, measure temp before and after perhaps even just to get some figures. also the heat shield does not touch the intake manifolds, there still is a gap between the two. thnxs Nitro.

 

i thermotech wrapped the bottom of the airbox on my past C43, as well as thermotech wrapped the intake tubes and i think that power delivery was more consistant, especially in a warmer climate!!!

 

can someone get a picture of this, I would like to do this mod....

 

hey benzoAMGpower thanks for your confirmation! i also do feel that power delivery is more consistent because the car still feels torquey even after its been driven for awhile.

 

check out the "green filter for c43" thread, i have some pics there.

 

here you go. Try the thread under E55AMG (W210.W211)
Hotter than normal Air Intake Temps 09/03/05