3D Printed Carbon Fiber Polycarbonate Intake (Louder intake noise)

[Cronenberged]

I would be happy to buy one when you have the complete kit finalized.

[TeddybearCup]

(1) E46 M3 at BHF, 1:21.65 - YouTube
Posting the latest track day, where it ran great.

Car was going faster at the end of the front straight compared to last year. Looked to be about 8 mph faster at the end. 1.4 second lap time improvement (previous best at the same track was 1:23.05 with me coaching a bit from the passenger seat), on end-of-life tires too. Would say a lot of the change was due to the driver, but I do believe the switch from K&N to this intake made the car run better on track.

I am pretty hopeful in getting a heat shield I can sell sometime in september.

EDIT:
Got a prototype sheet metal piece in finally and the bends were made in the opposite direction from what I needed. Sets me back a week or so, but getting close to being able to confirm a design.

[Albino09]

I would be happy to buy one when you have the complete kit finalized.

Second!

[TeddybearCup]

Update:
I've had the first functional prototype on the car for the last week or so. (delay after I messed up which way the bends had to go) Had to cut a bit extra for a plastic pipe my scanner didn't pick up but otherwise, gaps are on point after adding in the loop end seal and it follows the chassis sheetmetal very closely on the right. The scanner came in clutch for that.
Sound hasn't been muffled, possibly improved a bit, from having a bit less strain on the intake. That might be placebo though.
Currently back to driving the car each day to and from work, and it's still a blast to drive.

Personal thoughts on the design:
I really like how the shield design ended up. Unlike the Eventuri shield, it actually captures the airflow from the front duct and the bottom duct really well, and it goes higher up and actually does a decent job sealing against the hood. It's not airtight, but it's a whole lot better than the Eventuri shield.
Having had the K&N, having this style of rubber trim is much more effective than the stupid rubber that came on K&N's shielding. That thing barely held on to the shield, much less pressed against anything.
For the stock elbow, having the shield sit on the filter rubber means it's not going to add strain to the plastic intake or mess with reverberations there.
My only concern is owners with silicone boots. Silicone boots have different angles and lengths and I can't account for all their placements. The way I have this shield designed and mounted means it can move around a bit and flex as needed (I deemed this necessary because engines move under load and I don't want to add strain to the system from a super firm setup. This flex might be enough for some variations in mounting with silicone elbows.

What's next:
It's been a busy time in life for me, though it's finally starting to ramp down. I just sold my E36 M3, picking up another car, and wrapping up the track season here in Wisconsin this month.
My wife and I have been playing a whole lot of Baldur's Gate 3 and I'm troubleshooting some fueling issues with my Z, but should have a revision to account for a few tweaks to the shape and some production runs ready later this month.
Those will be black, because raw aluminum looks too out of place in the engine bay. I will be playing with a few edge trim options for the pass through hole.

Availability:
Estimating I'll have the heat shields available around the end of this month. I'll be offering them first to existing intake owners, though expect I'll quickly just have them available overall.

[Albino09]

Update:
I've had the first functional prototype on the car for the last week or so. (delay after I messed up which way the bends had to go) Had to cut a bit extra for a plastic pipe my scanner didn't pick up but otherwise, gaps are on point after adding in the loop end seal and it follows the chassis sheetmetal very closely on the right. The scanner came in clutch for that.
Sound hasn't been muffled, possibly improved a bit, from having a bit less strain on the intake. That might be placebo though.
Currently back to driving the car each day to and from work, and it's still a blast to drive.

Personal thoughts on the design:
I really like how the shield design ended up. Unlike the Eventuri shield, it actually captures the airflow from the front duct and the bottom duct really well, and it goes higher up and actually does a decent job sealing against the hood. It's not airtight, but it's a whole lot better than the Eventuri shield.
Having had the K&N, having this style of rubber trim is much more effective than the stupid rubber that came on K&N's shielding. That thing barely held on to the shield, much less pressed against anything.
For the stock elbow, having the shield sit on the filter rubber means it's not going to add strain to the plastic intake or mess with reverberations there.
My only concern is owners with silicone boots. Silicone boots have different angles and lengths and I can't account for all their placements. The way I have this shield designed and mounted means it can move around a bit and flex as needed (I deemed this necessary because engines move under load and I don't want to add strain to the system from a super firm setup. This flex might be enough for some variations in mounting with silicone elbows.

Sounds great! Just as an FYI, some of us do not have Xenon headlights and I see you had to trim your shield to fit within the available space. If you look at the Turner version above, they get around headlight variation by running the shield against the strut tower. I understand the volumes you'll be talking about here do not need to accommodate everyone, but just something to keep in mind as you offer these to the public.

[TeddybearCup]

Sounds great! Just as an FYI, some of us do not have Xenon headlights and I see you had to trim your shield to fit within the available space. If you look at the Turner version above, they get around headlight variation by running the shield against the strut tower. I understand the volumes you'll be talking about here do not need to accommodate everyone, but just something to keep in mind as you offer these to the public.

Oh, didn't realize that was a variation to account for! Thanks for making me aware.
I may go ahead and release this tweaked version and print an insert to fill in the gap without the casing in place. That way, I can get higher volumes made to save on cost and just add the insert for people who need it.

[nikh23]

following for updates on the shield. just picked up one of your pieces locally and interested in purchasing the shield when you're ready to retail it.

Also saw this while perusing Vortex's website. Any thoughts if it would potentially fit your unit?

https://vortex-performance.com/shop/bmw/3-series/e46-m3/performance-air-intake-heat-shield-for-bmw-e46-m3-new/

[Kdubski]

Off topic but does anyone produce an aftermarket eventuri style brake duct air scoop?

[TeddybearCup]

following for updates on the shield. just picked up one of your pieces locally and interested in purchasing the shield when you're ready to retail it.

Also saw this while perusing Vortex's website. Any thoughts if it would potentially fit your unit?

https://vortex-performance.com/shop/bmw/3-series/e46-m3/performance-air-intake-heat-shield-for-bmw-e46-m3-new/

This doesn't fit, not enough space by the filter area, and hole isn't quite in the right spot either. The shield needs to slant inwards to provide the room necessary. I bought one way long ago to see if it was an easy adaptation. Vortex does make an aftermarket scoop! It's also very affordable.

[TeddybearCup]

Been well overdue on an update, really sorry for missing my estimates over the last few months. I started spending more time with family for the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays and didn't work much on 3d printing related projects. Got another family vacation coming up, but have had a few inquiries over email on the heat shield.

First production version of heat shields are in, and I got packaging figured out (big 14" box!) as well as trim, a mix of fat rubber D loop seal and a 3d printed insert so there's not metal to intake contact during install.
Initial shields will be raw aluminum, because Sendcutsend charges an arm and a leg to anodize or powder coat, and it's below freezing here so I can't paint them myself. So early adopters will need to DIY paint if you want them black.
It mounts through a single screw on the bottom, and the whole piece has some flex, to reduce strain on the intake and elbow from engine movement on power. I

nstall IS a bit of a puzzle: You will need to have the intake, filter, and shield all loosely together, the elbow off the manifold, and be careful moving the shield and intake combo in. You might be able to get away with the shield in first and then assemble the intake and filter from either side of the shield, but it basically doubles install time.

I'll have these up on my site by end of the month, but priority will go to people who already bought an intake.

[Johnvu]

Been well overdue on an update, really sorry for missing my estimates over the last few months. I started spending more time with family for the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays and didn't work much on 3d printing related projects. Got another family vacation coming up, but have had a few inquiries over email on the heat shield.

First production version of heat shields are in, and I got packaging figured out (big 14" box!) as well as trim, a mix of fat rubber D loop seal and a 3d printed insert so there's not metal to intake contact during install.
Initial shields will be raw aluminum, because Sendcutsend charges an arm and a leg to anodize or powder coat, and it's below freezing here so I can't paint them myself. So early adopters will need to DIY paint if you want them black.
It mounts through a single screw on the bottom, and the whole piece has some flex, to reduce strain on the intake and elbow from engine movement on power. I

nstall IS a bit of a puzzle: You will need to have the intake, filter, and shield all loosely together, the elbow off the manifold, and be careful moving the shield and intake combo in. You might be able to get away with the shield in first and then assemble the intake and filter from either side of the shield, but it basically doubles install time.

I'll have these up on my site by end of the month, but priority will go to people who already bought an intake.

Hell yeah! I will be ordering whenever these go live! Thank you!

[BigRussia]

Hey all, I'm actually selling a lightly used silicone elbow version of the 3D Printed Intake here:
https://nam3forum.com/forums/forum/c...dward-printing