Time for an update on our F30 intake project! Check out the continued progression of our development below!

Airbox Base Fabrication

We left off last time with the completion of our intake pipe fabrication that leads to the airbox. Next on the list: assembling our airbox and refining the design to the appropriate shape we wanted to achieve.

We started with the base of the box, which will be utilizing the factory air duct to acquire a cool stream of airflow.

A few bends and we had the basic shape in steel form.

Open up the argon tank and fire up the Miller! This piece was tacked up and fit into position on our test vehicle.

We decided to make this a two piece box, differing slightly from our other airboxes. Typically, our boxes comprise a dual piece unit, but the lid is just a single flat face. In this design, we were a bit creative and opted to go with a large lid that mounts to the base with discreet hardware.

To start this design we added a mounting edge to our existing base as well as a hole for the intake tube to pass through. Check this out mocked into position with and without the air filter installed.

Notice our use of weather-stripping around the pipe inlet to reduce the chance of noise from vibrations.

Once fitment was perfected, this unit was fully welded.

Airbox Lid Fabrication

Next we needed to fabricate the lid for this box. This piece would slide over top of the base and would be secured into the rivet nuts shown on the base. We tackled this component in a different fashion than usual. The design was first modeled in Solidworks and then transplanted onto paper templates to be cut and bent into shape. For complex components with multiple bends, this makes the fabrication process far quicker.

Once tacked together, a large portion of our initial prototype was complete. Check it out!

Here’s a look at this setup installed in our test vehicle!

Airbox Bracket Fabrication

One of the last features needed for this airbox system was a form of support to hold the box in position. We used a peg on the passenger side to fit into the stock grommet mount. An additional point toward the driver side of the box was needed for additional rigidity.

We started brainstorming ideas for the design of this bracket and came up with some cardboard templates.

After reviewing our options, we went with a more square design to match the contour of the box itself. Below is our printed template ready for bending, cutting, and shaping.

The basic shape was cut, bent, and placed into position!

We then made a few modifications to the box mounting points and bent up our final prototype.

Gussets were then added to provide improved strength and rigidity for this mount, and we bolted up our final bracket.

We already knew our BMW F30 intake system looked fantastic within the engine bay of the F30. With our final prototype design fully complete, it was time to see if our intake system would produce any improvements in both intake sound and power output.

Dyno Runs

We strapped our test vehicle to the Dynojet and began making pulls. This particular vehicle was equipped with a aftermarket tuning device, and we would be checking data both with and without this software as a means to compare the stock intake system to our prototype design.

We captured pulls with each system installed to compare the sounds of both systems. Check out the compilation video below!

You can certainly hear the difference in our video, but in person the tone changes are even more audible. By using a larger cone-style filter in our airbox, intake sound is much improved over the sound of the stock setup.

Dyno Data

After all those runs, of course we want to know what kind of power gains we achieved. First, a look at the stock tune dyno plot comparison.

As you can see, actual power gains for the Mishimoto BMW F30 intake were negligible on the stock tune. Let me shed some light on what happened during testing.

The N-series engine is a unique animal and produced various numbers until settling into a consistent string of power output. The results in the plot above were an average of three runs for each setup, collected once the vehicle began to produce consistent runs. Yes, we could use a low run from the stock intake and a high run from our intake and show some nice power gains, but that would not give us an honest assessment of our system.

Additionally, we modified the intake tube diameter throughout the testing process to investigate any differences in output. We attempted these tests with 3.00” and 3.25” piping to see if any MAF changes resulted in power gains or decreases. We were also curious if the pipe size increase would improve flow and make an impact. Strangely enough, no changes occurred in power output at all. On other intake systems, these changes to the piping normally result in some movement of power, either up or down. We can infer from this that the MAP sensor is the primary contributor to addressing fuel mixture, while the MAF may function as an assistor.

Next, we loaded up the aftermarket tune and continued on with our next round of testing for the BMW F30 intake. The plot from the dyno tests is shown below!

First thing to note, the aftermarket tune added a nice bit of power for the F30: around 30 whp and 50 wtq were added with the tune. In similar fashion to the stock tune testing, we saw only minor power gains in fairly sporadic areas of the plot. A few spots showed around 4–5 whp gains, and numerous additional areas showed 1–2 whp gains over the stock system.

So why would we not see gains? Our filter outflows the stock unit by a large margin and utilizes the stock air duct. Also, our airbox design is more free-flowing and less restrictive than the stock unit. It is very likely that the stock engine management is playing a role in power output, and that the stock and OTS tunes are not using the better-flowing intake to the best advantage.

So What Are The Benefits?

The Mishimoto BMW F30 air intake system doesn’t add substantial power … so why would you need one? We have three reasons for purchasing this intake. If you are seeking maximum power gains per dollar spent, a tune is going to be a better investment for you.

Intake Sound

As you can tell from the video we posted above, this BMW F30 intake certainly provides improved sound, most notably during turbo spool. This is even more apparent during road use as opposed to dyno testing.

Intake Aesthetics

Our BMW F30 air intake is very different from the stock airbox system as well as any other system on the market. We’ve developed a unique system that is aesthetically pleasing. When you open the hood of your F30, this intake will stand out as a nice, clean addition to the engine bay.

Pro-Tune Potential

Although we may not have made significant additional power on the stock tune and only minimal gains on the OTS tune, we are confident that the additional airflow of our intake system can be used to advantage with a pro-tune specifically for the vehicle.

Coming Up!

Now that product testing was complete for our BMW F30 air intake, we needed to construct a final prototype to confirm fitment. Check back next time for a look at our final prototype installed on our test vehicle.

With testing and data collection complete, we assembled our final prototype BMW F30 air intake to confirm that the full kit fits flawlessly prior to starting production. We have been pretty excited to see this unique kit come together. Check it out in its final form!

Final Intake Images

Our final prototype BMW F30 intake was cut from a sheet of metal using a waterjet. Once we had the template cut to our drawing and model specs, we bent each piece appropriately.

First, the base of our airbox.

Next we tacked up the airbox lid!

Once everything was in proper position this unit was fully welded.

These welds were then ground down for a smooth finish.

A splash of paint later and we had our prototype airbox completed! Check it out!

We also cut out our mounting bracket and bent it into shape!

Final Test Fit

Now for the all-important final-product test fit. We brought our test vehicle back in once more to verify our design and to be sure that all components fit into place as designed.

First, out with the stock intake!

Check out a few final shots of the installed Mishimoto BMW F30 intake!

This prototype fit perfectly and looked right at home in the F30 engine bay. Our completed test fit was a success! Install for this setup is relatively simple, requiring only basic hand tools and around an hour of your time. Not a bad way to spend a Saturday morning!