Are Dual Cone Intakes Worth It? - How to install Dual Cone Intakes on a BMW E90 DIY

In this video I'll show you how to install dual cone intakes from VRSF and talk about why they're not "cold air intakes" and also whether I believe they are worth it or not.
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This video is for entertainment purposes only. 50sKid assumes no liability for any repairs or modifications performed by the viewer as a result of the information contained in this video.

[@kar4tube]

FYI, Burger Motorsports DCIs are CA emissions legal. They come with a label displaying the mandatory EO number. I’ve passed two CA SMOG checks with no issues

[@50sKid]

That is good to know. Would have been worth the extra $10 lol

[@coltron8000]

In a recent DannyDC2 video he took his E46 M54 drifting. It had a single cone air intake in place of the stock intake box. His upper-radiator hose exploded near the expansion tank which is right beside the intake, completely saturating it which caused the engine to slurp a ton of coolant. Another hilarious reason to keep the stock intake.

[@kar4tube]

The expansion tank for an N54 is located on the opposite side of the engine compartment from the DCIs

[@cmongimme]

Wow, you've lost a bit of weight! Keep up the good work

[@nooniansoong6286]

Great vid, love the honesty, really great pointers. Will stick with the charge pipe upgrade. thx

[@miko4759]

I mean obviously theres no difference to achieve real results I need other mods such as mods to lower temperature (intercooler) some mods to improve air flow Soch as this intake down pipes etc then TUNE!!!! Engine wont suck more air if it's not tuned properly but those filters are ready to welcome that tune

[@Mtown_moop]

Clear, informative and to the point .. KZbin GOLD !!

[@jyo8914]

California, the land of plenty. Plenty of taxes & fees! Always enjoy your videos. Thank you for all of the time and work you put into it.

[@arkculite]

Whats the tube size you installed

[@Anythingyoulike2013]

Great to see you're around still. Used to watch your E46 videos. Hope you'll be doing something for the n55 one day :)

[@fist425ROBLOX]

Thanks for the video! Super useful, done mine in about an hour.

[@ozstriker4075]

IMHO all the aftermarket cone filters for the n54 engine's look horrible, I'd rather loose a few hp than have that

[@BEAMERNOOB]

i did testing on stock intake, i actually just posted a video if you wanna check it out(warning graphic language lmao) if the intake was restrictive that would mean a there would be a vacuum being generated inside of the clean air side of the box and there was no vacuum present under wot at 19psi peak. i also log higher ait's with dci vs stock air box. yeah turbo heats the air up a lot and intercooler cools it down but there is still a delta, the hotter it goes in to the turbo and intercooler the hotter its going to come out of the turbo and the less the intercooler will be able to cool it down. i also did testing on big fmic vs stock and with the larger fmic i actually saw higher wastegate duty cycles which means those little flaps are closing off more trying to make the turbos reach target boost since they are now filling a larger volume of air. this actually lead to timing corrections due to heat being held back and higher drive pressure! im trying to sell the upgraded fmic and my upgraded outlets as im planning to do the s55 water to air intercooler which is a much smaller volume of air to fill and a shorter run from turbo to intake, along with a 335D air box and coolant reservoir. i would agree the stock intake is restrictive at certain point but with an fbo car and stock turbos its not a restriction..

[@sdmerkr]

INJEN intake is CARB, though much more expensive. Looks the best IMHO.

[@piroozhr7968]

You will get dust build up all over engine bay cause the air is not ducted to filter. Pointless really. I removed them and never looked back...

[@wijnandhemelaar6180]

Hi, need some help with horrible engine rattle in my m54b30. Changed both cats, changed the double vanos, coils and sparkplugs, valve cover gasgets and didn't find anything wrong with disa and ccv valves. Inside motor was fine (used camera). Chain and guiders were fine. But still have a horrible metal marble rattle coming from the intake side, around cilinder 5. Did have some strange very thick black sludge just before I did repairs above. Any thoughts? Any would be very helpful. Wonderful channel you run.

[@johnhurter6773]

I can’t believe how much more involved this is on a 3 series. There is much more room in the engine compartment on the Z4. No need to mess with the cowl or wires across the top of the airbox.

[@whateverrrrrr123]

Yeah it’s all about money, screw th government!!!

[@scufelevation9237]

One popular mod on these is doing the e90 M3 cowl, can be a bit of a spendy mod but looks amazing in the engine bay and you don’t have to remove it every time you want to work on it but you get to keep the air quality that the stock one provides

[@darkwafflez_6190]

$700+ for BMW plastic but makes the engine bay look 10x better. Another alternative is just to cut up the factory e90 cowl and install the rubber lining.

[@scufelevation9237]

@@darkwafflez_6190 Yes agreed you can modify that one as well, if you don’t want to spend the money!!

[@andrewthompsonuk1]

If I see this sort of thing when buying a car I walk away. Better to keep it stock and replace the air filter more often with a BMW or equivalent quantity one...

[@kar4tube]

You’re missing out! 😅

[@SaucemanSauceman]

Plus don't forget about the stock n52 are perfectly calculated by bmw if you opt for more horsepower on 325 you should upgrade rods which are cast iron and get machined ones which can hsndle the more power.

[@hobolyf]

This video should have titled as "another reason to move from California"

[@jhncvngh]

Thank you mister jason buddy

[@Sikeslikescars]

I mean this as a friendly dig. But I find it ironic you just let the air intake flop around instead of replacing the bolts when you said if you can’t afford new hardware for a mod “you can’t afford it” 😂😂just playing.

[@blindguy...1275]

Not worth it.

[@eros9669]

Thank you❤️

[@-Dash-]

"California legal" 😂

[@50sKid]

😢

[@paperandmedals8316]

I like 50’s Kid but I can’t believe he went die the CAI bullshit in a N54 twin turbo. The cones are at the back of the engine, in the well left by the air filter box, with a hood closed on them. Where the air was being pulled from above the radiator, where is the air source now? Hood closed, splash pads under the car. Where is the replacement air source that was just removed. Drop a K&N filter in the filter housing if you’re for some reason thinking the car is starving for air.

[@jayparnes]

Pretty much my thoughts. Hot, low oxygen air to the turbos means lower boost pressure. I think the dual cone set up from aFe is a good option: air is still delivered through the snorkel, less air restriction and the filters are enclosed in an air box that seals against the hood. It doesn't sound as good as an open dual cone, but it works properly.

[@paperandmedals8316]

@@jayparnes 🤷🏻‍♂️people will argue with me. Look at some comments below. The filters literally have the hood right on top of them. Theirs seated in the area the filter box was in. So it’s surrounded by the engine and strut mount. Under the car has splash shields underneath. There is no air entering the engine bay on top of having multiple obstacles around the filters. But they are argue that I have no idea what I’m talking about. At the end of the day, it’s their car. You can’t argue with the confidently stupid.

[@codyatkinson]

What if you have the oxygen sensor coming off the air filter? Would you do this the same way. Mine is a 2000 323 I

[@Jamie-xz2oz]

On the E46, that's not an O2 sensor, that's the mass airflow sensor. A good aftermarket intake should have the right connection for it.

[@codyatkinson]

@@Jamie-xz2oz lol that's what I meant mass airflow. Getting over Covid brain is not working up to par.

[@JackRR15]

I love these. Performance wise I agree it's the same but noise wise, they provide some nice added "tuned" car noises so to say.

[@paperandmedals8316]

Yeah, hot air off the engine adds loads of HP

[@JackRR15]

@@paperandmedals8316 Frankly your comment is a tad ignorant. No it won't cause HP loss because of hot air on a turbo car, especially the N54. The air gets cooled down by the intercooler. And on this platform the aftermarket intercoolers are pretty big. So no, having a hot air intake won't cause an issue. If you have a naturally aspirated car sure I totally agree with you but here you are just wrong.

[@paperandmedals8316]

@@JackRR15 it’s not ignorant. I know how turbos work and I’ve had turbos. If air source didn’t matter BMW wouldn’t make the effort to pull air from the coolest source possible. You’re not the first dip shit to explain the intercooler to me, and you’re not the first dip shit I’m telling its stupid to pull the engine air from an enclosed, heated compartment. Closed hood. Splash pads underneath. Such a fresh air rich environment.

[@JackRR15]

@@paperandmedals8316 It is ignorant though because you still reply to me with the same thought even though I explained to you that you are wrong and how the hot air that the engine is producing doesn't matter. You're making a false issue here. Yes of course if the engine bay produced 850+ degree Celsius of heatness of course the intercooler can't keep up with that. No, having these cones do not decrease HP in any significant way period. Not point in going on with you when you throw personal attacks at someone trying to educate you. Have a good one.

[@paperandmedals8316]

@@JackRR15 first off my first comment to you was that it will not increase hp. You call me ignorant and say it will not reduce hp. You’re a dip shit because I didn’t say drop hp, I said it wouldn’t raise it. It’s called reading comprehension. Try it.

[@wankersonwhisky]

Appreciate your forays into the questionable mods and giving an honest opinion, rather than the forum hype for things like this that have a substantial placebo effect on the driver...

[@50sKid]

I hate forum hype!!