Jakpro1

Someday I dream of trying this cowl type of method like the guy did in the SLK.

Just can't imagine the cash it would take to custom make all this. Bet it would smoke though.

The airbox is now mounted above the battery for 2 reasons, The highest air pressure point on the vehicle is at the base of the windscreen and it also happens to be a good source of the coolest air possible.

newton22

Your car won't see rain anymore though.

lkirchner

This thread made me very curious. As you know I installed the Renntech airbox on my SL55 and after reading the various comments I started to get that sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. Over the weekend I had the SL and my wife's E55 side by side in the garage so I raised the hoods to see the comparison. The lower tubes are the same but the upper portion of the Renntech box appears wider, is definitely higher and naturally the y connector at the back is eliminated on the Renntech box. I would think that the larger volume and the smooth connector would increase airflow or at least that is what I hope. I await the results with baited breath and a feeling of disillusionment starting to set in.

vrus

Lou,

I've sent you a couple of PMs before and tried emailing you.. Not sure if you are getting them or not, but, this is what I was talking about.

I know you are probably a VERY busy man, but, I have to say that it will help EVERYONE alot of you could do a little work for us if possible..

I broke down and ordered it because that was the only way I was going to get straight answers.. Everyone I talked to about this EXPENSIVE Renntech system would avoid answering my questions.. I wont speculate as to why...

I really do hate to impose, but, it would be a TREMENDOUS help to everyone at this point if you could possibly take off the top CF cover and just snap a bunch of pictures of it from the top, the bottom, and take pics of the bottom airboxes also.

Post as many pics as you can in different points of view of each piece.

This will confirm if they really are using stock airboxes, and, MAYBE, just MAYBE you can save me $5,100 worth of nonsense and alot of time in testing their box.

I'll make a promise that I'll get you one of the CF Airboxes we are developing at a really good price and we can sell off your Renntech box if you wish.

*** THE TEAM REALLY NEEDS YOU!! ***

lkirchner

Victor,

Unfortunately I am leaving on a business trip in about 3 hours and will not return until late Friday. If the pics are sent this weekend will that be sufficient?

Sorry about the timing.

Lou

vrus

Thanks Lou!! Looking forward to the pics!

Have a safe trip!

Jakpro1

(MBWorld Crowd chanting).."LOU!!! LOU!!!!LOU!!!!"

Announcer, "This is it ladies and gentlemen, it all comes down to this. Lou steps up with the digital camera, he presses the button.....now he's posting the pics and it looks like the Renntech box isssssssssssss"

......to be continued.

Griffin337

I was just down at the local MB dealer and they have a Renntech SL600 in the showroom.. They happened to have the hood up.. I didnt have my camera and it was the v12 motor but as far as i could tell it looked like it was just the upper pieces, similar to what vrus was talking about.. So if the v12 version looks like this.. i can only speculate that ours will be the same..

vrus

I suspect I am right about my hunches... I've talked to one guy who has an N/A motor with Renntech airbox system and he said bottom boxes are STOCK.

Now, Griffin checked the SL600 motor and bottom boxes are STOCK.. I saw pics of M113 motor and the bottom boxes look STOCK, and lastly Lou checked his and they look STOCK.

I'll tell you what bugs me the most about this whole thing.. It isnt so much that they charge $3800 for their CF RENNTECH Airbox system (Ok.. well it bothers me a bit because that is ridiculous as far as I am concerned).. It's that they purchase BRAND NEW ***STOCK*** MB AIRBOXES and include them in their kit when they ship the "Renntech" Airbox system to you... Do you know why they do this?? TO MAKE IT LOOK BETTER to the customer.

How impressed would you be if you opened up the box and saw just 1 simple piece of the top airbox CF and knew you paid $3,800 for it?? Probably not as impressed as if you opened the box and saw 2 new shiney airboxes, 2 new filters, and a CF top cover.

That's what really bugs me... Why didn't they just ship the top piece and forget about sending you STOCK MB Airboxes?? Heck, you already have those installed in your car, why make the customer go through the trouble of taking them out, just to put Renntech's (or should I say MB's) back in??? CRAZY!!!!!!!!

I'll bet no one who has purchased this system even noticed that while they were taking out their stock MB stuff that they were actually reinstalling the same damn thing and they could have saved themselves half the install time.

I'd love to have a Renntech employee chime in and explain why this is... I'd just love to hear the explanation...

Wait until you guys see what I get built for $1500 - $1700....

Jakpro1

Sometimes I joke a bit too much and for that I apologize you guys....

Okay, this Renntech thing is really making me think of new ideas.

I guess I just can't get this cowl idea out of my head.

As you look at the stock E55 hood, there is a full row of airvents right by the windshield.

I am always a huge fan of "out of the box" thinking. Is there any conceivable way to convert one of the vents into an air intake. I know that someone mentioned about rain, but how did Chevy do the Chevelle and other ram air cars. I guess I just have this image in my head of a cutout in the hood right above the Y Pipe with huge pipes pumping fresh air straight down into the motor.

That would totally free up the Air Boxes for the SLR intercooler setup (heh someday).

Man I just wish I had the skills like those custom fabricator guys on TV. I would just be going nuts with this car.

Thanks for letting me share my crazy ideas.

vader

Its good thinking too Jakpro. Those grilles that are already on the hood don't do a hell of a lot for cooling underhood or anything else to my eyes. Vic I know you are looking at every possibility. Since seeing the pics of the SLR air intake I wonder if somehow with minimal cutting, some type of pancake ducting from the hood grille area can be routed and incorporated into the new CF airbox...or maybe look into if there is enough room to come over the radiator support with some type of pancake duct and have the inlet locate in the area of the top of the grill when the hood is closed.....not a lot of room anywhere but maybe there is a way to get a better inlet for the CF box. Rain would not necessarily pose a problem since a drain hose of some type can be plumbed to drain it away. Hell they did it on Shaker hood MoPars and others. Hey I was suppose to sit back and just enjoy driving this car...now you guys got me thinking crazy.

Grumpy666

Why should your life be easy . . . . .

vader

Guess you're right....now since I slept on it..I doubt many people want to cut up anything to get better air flow ! Stock locations are probably best ...

vrus

Jim,

I've actually worked and thought about this quite a bit. There are a few issues with making this work (at the base of the windshield) and the majority of people out there wont want to do what is necessary to make a viable solution.

1) The hard brake lines run right by the firewall on both sides where the gromet is that the intake pipe runs through to go to the TB.
2) The air conditioning/cabin carbon filter is located in that big black plastic box that is occupying the space where the air filter is supposed to go. You would have to remove that cabin filter altogether.
3) The issue of direct water falling onto the filter (this is minor and can be corrected with some creative thinking)
4) You have to hack up the firewall and enlarge the opening to be able to get an 80mm pipe through it.. I believe the gromet is only 2" in diameter.

Below you can see a pic of what that same setup is like on the E55.

vrus

I don't think it will work.. The SLR has a bit more height room than we do and its nose is elongated enough to allow the airbox to sit in the space between the engine pullies and the radiator.

On the E55 with the shorter nose and cramped engine, there is no way an air filter box can sit in that location... You could probably force something to fit in there, but, it wouldnt be neat or make access to other engine components too easy.

newton22

I came up with this idea a long time ago. I mean, it only seems logical as the TB is so close to the vents. A lot of American cars with the scoops don't have their air intakes placed up against the scoops or openings. Usually they are placed near it, but not close enough to gulp in rainwater.

Victor, have you ever thought about going "down"? Usually, there is a good amount of cool air near the bottom grille or under the car, but you would have to avoid puddles and stuff after rain. And you would probably have to wrap them headers in thermo.

vrus

Yeah.. I've talked about it before.. Was playing around with an idea I saw on an E39 M5.. Wanted to run the scoops down to the front either next to the fog lights or the center grille where my evosport cooler is.

When I am done with the TB & testing, I will switch back to intake testing while the CF guys work on the mold for the airboxes.

vrus

Brand new Airbox assembly that I ordered from Germany arrived this morning. Dropping it off at the CF company so they can get going with measurements and start working on the mold.

Forward...

vrus

Those of you guys that seem to think Renntech is a great company... Well.. They are starting to tick me off... I'll never spend another dollar on any product they make!!

They take the money IN FULL for an airbox... They DONT WANT to provide a ship date... They REFUSE to cancel the order and refund the money. They WONT provide status on where the airbox is in the manufacturing process. WTF???

Soo.. Do you guys think this is acceptable treatment of a customer? Do you think that such a prestigious company should act this way? They charge top dollar for everything they sell.. They should provide TOP DOLLAR customer service and customer experience too!

Maybe they are worried I'll get my hands on it, test it, and reveal to everyone that it doesnt do what they claim??? If so, just refund the purchase and I'll be on my way...

Maybe they think I want to copy it??? If that's the case... Don't worry Renntech!!!! I am not interested in your design. After all, 3/4 of your design is STOCK MB PARTS!!

That's probably how Renntech is able to get *** THEIR *** stuff warrantied at any MB dealer.. They use MB PARTS for everything they call *** THEIRS ***.

<RANT OFF>

Griffin337

Well that sucks!! I would have expected more.. Does anyone have any contacts there??? Can anyone pull any strings??

SleeperX

Victor,
My apologies as I am only now seeing this reply. I have been fairly busy this week. I am actually getting the bottom of the airbox covered in thermo wrap tomorrow so we will take pictures of the airbox before we cover it. The CF aribox does not have the stock airboxes beneath it. It is a whole new assembly all the way to the intake tubes.

vrus

Yeah... Considering order was placed 7/18/2006. 3 weeks and NO STATUS updates, NO DELIVERY date, NO nothing.

Taking someone's money and not providing a delivery date for a product is considered Fraud where I come from. I guess its time to sick the lawyers on them...

vrus

No problems Steve..

Are you absolutely sure the bottom half is not stock?? The intake tubes and bottom airboxes look completely stock in the pictures that I have seen.

Please take many pictures and either email them to me privately or post them openly.

I am also waiting for Lou to do the same... Maybe something changed in their design??? I am completely uncertain at this point and just want some clarification...

Not to mention that others who have this system on V12 cars and on a 5.5 N/A car told me they were stock bottom airboxes.

SleeperX

The intake tubes weren't replaced. I assumed the airbox is different because the factory airbox is sitting in my garage. However, I too am a little concerned, as they could easily buy stock boxes glue the carbon fiber piece on top and sell it as a total package. I will know tomorrow as I will take pictures and take a close look side by side with the stock box.

dragonAMG

LOL... you're probably right.... HAHAHA