Going from K&N Intake to Karb CSL Box with Alpha N Tune back to K&N

[ugaexploder]

Agree. I had a VF intake on my car that was pointless. Went back to stock and enjoyed the convenience of throwing away paper filters much more. That being said, we put an Eventuri on my buddies Z4M and I'd say it's a 4-5, halfway to a CSL box and a surprisingly good compromise. Nice balance of sound between intake and exhaust. Given the associated hurdles and costs of PROPERLY converting to a CSL box, probably a better solution for most people. I would never ever EVER run AN tuning and if it came down to that, I'd rather leave the stock MAF setup.
MAP or bust...

FWIW I am installing the OE flap with CSL airbox just to have the option to quiet things down because I am also fond of how the stock S54 intake sounds too.




Didn't think about the sound pipe they have! That might be a good addition... do you have a link?
To my point above, Z4M+Eventuri is a great setup.

doesn't Hassan at HTE run alpha-N on his own car?

[jvit27]

Quick review for those with a cone intake system thinking about moving to a CSL box:

The sound difference is night and day. Like super loud, especially since I have a vert. Very guttural. On a scale of 1-10 with 10 being the loudest, the K&N intake is about a 2-3 while the CSL is a 10. The CSL box grumbles/growls down low and it howls up high. Can't even hear my Eisenmann muffler haha There is an intake rumble everywhere in the rev range.

I thought I'd like a louder intake, but I may be in the minority saying I like a better exhaust note than an intake note. I may want to get rid of the CSL box after I get my SMOG check. That's really the only reason I took it off and now I'm not sure if I want to put it back on.

Agree. I had a VF intake on my car that was pointless. Went back to stock and enjoyed the convenience of throwing away paper filters much more. That being said, we put an Eventuri on my buddies Z4M and I'd say it's a 4-5, halfway to a CSL box and a surprisingly good compromise. Nice balance of sound between intake and exhaust. Given the associated hurdles and costs of PROPERLY converting to a CSL box, probably a better solution for most people. I would never ever EVER run AN tuning and if it came down to that, I'd rather leave the stock MAF setup.
MAP or bust...

FWIW I am installing the OE flap with CSL airbox just to have the option to quiet things down because I am also fond of how the stock S54 intake sounds too.

Got my hands on an Eventuri recently and now I find myself wanting more of that addictive sound. Aside from the OEM Karb option I recently got in touch with that guy in Germany that makes a clone of the Z4 intake elbow with a sound pipe that connects through the firewall.

No bling factor and comparisons to modern fake speaker sounds are to be expected, but as someone that prioritizes driver enjoyment above all else hearing that beautiful sound in the cabin has been a gamechanger after 10+ years without it.

Didn't think about the sound pipe they have! That might be a good addition... do you have a link?
To my point above, Z4M+Eventuri is a great setup.

[WoGGo]

Got my hands on an Eventuri recently and now I find myself wanting more of that addictive sound. Aside from the OEM Karb option I recently got in touch with that guy in Germany that makes a clone of the Z4 intake elbow with a sound pipe that connects through the firewall.

No bling factor and comparisons to modern fake speaker sounds are to be expected, but as someone that prioritizes driver enjoyment above all else hearing that beautiful sound in the cabin has been a gamechanger after 10+ years without it.

Link to "that guy in Germany" please?

I didn't think you could use this in the E46; do you have a video of this sound pipe being installed on an E46?

[bavarian3]

Oooo I get it now. So the DTCs are when it shows as “not ready” or “ not complete”

so if you disable it, then it will show green?

Why isn’t everyone else talking about this then and still going through the drive cycle?

because folks like Tbonem3 don't believe us 😂

[dukeofchen]

So would the procedure be: back up my current flash, then load it into Martyn's tool. Then just click on

Disable SAP DTCs
Disable Cat Efficiency DTCs
Disable Rear O2 DTCs

and after it flashes and I start the car, it should all be green? Mind you this is on a car with all OEM US headers.

Yep that did the trick for me. If I remember correctly, I let it idle on the first cold start for ~1min to allow the secondary air pump to run (as prescribed in the drive cycle) and then that code set to ready as well. Evap won't be set but that's the one code that's allowed to be incomplete per the regs.

[jpy1980]

Not everyone has martyn's tool/a laptop set up for diag. At least that was me for the longest😅

So would the procedure be: back up my current flash, then load it into Martyn's tool. Then just click on

Disable SAP DTCs
Disable Cat Efficiency DTCs
Disable Rear O2 DTCs

and after it flashes and I start the car, it should all be green? Mind you this is on a car with all OEM US headers.

[dHam_Slow.46M]

Oooo I get it now. So the DTCs are when it shows as “not ready” or “ not complete”

so if you disable it, then it will show green?

Why isn’t everyone else talking about this then and still going through the drive cycle?

Not everyone has martyn's tool/a laptop set up for diag. At least that was me for the longest😅

[kook]

Which Supersprint exhaust?

Supersprint Sport, this one here.

https://www.supersprint.com/en-ww/bmw-e46-m3/supersprint-performance-sport-exhaust-bmw-e46-m3-63-5-mm/rear-exhaust-oo-80-right--oo-80-left.aspx?ID=27405

[jpy1980]

In my case I enabled:

Disable SAP DTCs
Disable Cat Efficiency DTCs
Disable Rear O2 DTCs

After that basically everything went green on the first cold start once the SAP ran through its startup sequence.

Oooo I get it now. So the DTCs are when it shows as “not ready” or “ not complete”

so if you disable it, then it will show green?

Why isn’t everyone else talking about this then and still going through the drive cycle?

[dukeofchen]

oooo I have Martin’s tool. Where can I get that done in the app? I don’t see that option. Right now my Cats are the only thing not ready. The only part I see is to disable the cat efficiency and I need to enable it.

In my case I enabled:

Disable SAP DTCs
Disable Cat Efficiency DTCs
Disable Rear O2 DTCs

After that basically everything went green on the first cold start once the SAP ran through its startup sequence.

[karter16]

The only time I had any issues was when I was getting out of a tight slow speed situation, like backing up and moving forward into a parking space. You just have to give it a bit more gas to keep the revs up in order for the car not to die. It's also a little herky jerky if you give it too much gas. Anyways, once again, not that bad!

Yeah these are exactly the sorts of situations the MAP sensor impacts most. As others note you can get a very good result with AlphaN (with VE tuning, etc) but not quite as good because the DME can't compensate for environment/real world changes.


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[jpy1980]

For me it'd be more for enjoyment of the sound more than anything, because with all of CA's restrictions I've more or less written off power mods. Swapping the airbox isn't that big a deal once you get the hang of it, so while it would be annoying I think I could justify it considering the cost of entry is quite a bit lower than a proper CSL box after you account for ancillary parts and tuning.



FYI you can use Martyn's tool to force cat, evap and oxygen sensors to ready and avoid all the drive cycle shenanigans. Just breezed through CA smog this way.

oooo I have Martin’s tool. Where can I get that done in the app? I don’t see that option. Right now my Cats are the only thing not ready. The only part I see is to disable the cat efficiency and I need to enable it.

[dukeofchen]

I dunno man, if you're going to go through all that trouble installing the OEM Karb box, might as well go all the way since you're gonna have to take it off for smog anyways. It won't pass visual.

For me it'd be more for enjoyment of the sound more than anything, because with all of CA's restrictions I've more or less written off power mods. Swapping the airbox isn't that big a deal once you get the hang of it, so while it would be annoying I think I could justify it considering the cost of entry is quite a bit lower than a proper CSL box after you account for ancillary parts and tuning.

All in all, if I didn't have to SMOG the car every 2 years, I would definitely keep it and maybe I would do the MAP sensor upgrade. But as this is my first SMOG after installing this ( I bought the car 2 years ago), dealing with the uninstallation and also now trying getting all the SMOG sensors (Cat, EVAP, Oxygen Sensor) ready (its a difficult process. Hard to do the drive cycle with a busy family life and LA traffic), I'm kinda over it haha.

FYI you can use Martyn's tool to force cat, evap and oxygen sensors to ready and avoid all the drive cycle shenanigans. Just breezed through CA smog this way.

[jpy1980]

My car with an OEM CSL intake was on an Alpha-N tune for years, from 2010 to 2022, and to be quite honest it was a bit of a pig. I knew it had some tuning 'problems' but just endured it because of that glorious CSL intake/Supersprint muffler combo. In 2022 I decided to make the switch to MAP sensor tune and the difference is night & day. The car is more refined, smoother, no jerkiness & other crap, fine at very low speeds and so immediately responsive now. It's far more pleasant to drive, I wish I had never gone with the Alpha-N tune, maybe that's all they had back in 2010, I can't remember. I also went through 4 different mufflers trying to get the intake/exhaust sound I wanted before I finally settled on the Supersprint, I personally think it's the best muffler for these cars also, again just my opinion.

Anyway, ditch that Alpha-N and switch to the MAP sensor tune. Trust me, your car will be bloody brilliant after that. Honestly the difference between Alpha & MAP is night & day, I'd switch to MAP before changing your whole setup. CSL intake with MAP sensor tune is THE best mod one can make to these cars imo. If I was buying another E46 it would be the very first mod I'd make to the car. 👍👍

Which Supersprint exhaust?

[jpy1980]

Those f'ing oetiker clamps man, the first few times it took me hours to figure out a body position laid across the engine bay and get a small set of pliers placed perfectly on the nubs.

I'm guessing there's a better tool out there, but hopefully I won't be fussing with them anytime soon until I get myself an OE style Karb box.

Haha, I totally get what you are saying. I was making sweet sweet love to the fender and engine bay trying to get these on and off.

I think Rogue El Diablo lost hp compare to stock on a HPF car (turbo with around 5-600whp). They tested couple differents exhaust setup back in the days.

Not sure it's that noticeable on a close to stock NA engine tho.

Yea I heard that too, but I honestly don't care about eeking out so much horsepower. After I got my EV, chasing horsepower on an ICE became a joke. Now I just want theatre and drama when I drive. like wringing my s54 and let it howl. I think I just want a different howl, such as the exhaust.

Got my hands on an Eventuri recently and now I find myself wanting more of that addictive sound. Aside from the OEM Karb option I recently got in touch with that guy in Germany that makes a clone of the Z4 intake elbow with a sound pipe that connects through the firewall.

No bling factor and comparisons to modern fake speaker sounds are to be expected, but as someone that prioritizes driver enjoyment above all else hearing that beautiful sound in the cabin has been a gamechanger after 10+ years without it.

I dunno man, if you're going to go through all that trouble installing the OEM Karb box, might as well go all the way since you're gonna have to take it off for smog anyways. It won't pass visual.

My car with an OEM CSL intake was on an Alpha-N tune for years, from 2010 to 2022, and to be quite honest it was a bit of a pig. I knew it had some tuning 'problems' but just endured it because of that glorious CSL intake/Supersprint muffler combo. In 2022 I decided to make the switch to MAP sensor tune and the difference is night & day. The car is more refined, smoother, no jerkiness & other crap, fine at very low speeds and so immediately responsive now. It's far more pleasant to drive, I wish I had never gone with the Alpha-N tune, maybe that's all they had back in 2010, I can't remember. I also went through 4 different mufflers trying to get the intake/exhaust sound I wanted before I finally settled on the Supersprint, I personally think it's the best muffler for these cars also, again just my opinion.

Anyway, ditch that Alpha-N and switch to the MAP sensor tune. Trust me, your car will be bloody brilliant after that. Honestly the difference between Alpha & MAP is night & day, I'd switch to MAP before changing your whole setup. CSL intake with MAP sensor tune is THE best mod one can make to these cars imo. If I was buying another E46 it would be the very first mod I'd make to the car. 👍👍

Since I have a pre 2003, I would need a new computer right? What would be the steps to change it to a map sensor tune from an Alpha N? Don't I have to do something with the fuel pressure rail or something, pin my ECU and stuff?

Just curious which Alpha N tune(s) were you guys not happy with. The HTE tune I have with Karb box is spot on. There's no jerkiness, no lag and smooth all around. Pulls hard all the way up.

I thought this would be a stop gap until I did full MAP conversion but with how it runs and cost of parts plus needing an HP DME I can't justify it.


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I have the HTE tune. It's really not that bad, but the OEM tune is just that much smoother. Daily drivability with the HTE tune is fine and fun (pulls like a freight train). The only time I had any issues was when I was getting out of a tight slow speed situation, like backing up and moving forward into a parking space. You just have to give it a bit more gas to keep the revs up in order for the car not to die. It's also a little herky jerky if you give it too much gas. Anyways, once again, not that bad!

I bought this tool before dealing with the intake after watching a few videos, was pretty straight forward after you understand how they work.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0002SREB8...sin_title&th=1

Yea this tool definitely helped me take the clamps off!


All in all, if I didn't have to SMOG the car every 2 years, I would definitely keep it and maybe I would do the MAP sensor upgrade. But as this is my first SMOG after installing this ( I bought the car 2 years ago), dealing with the uninstallation and also now trying getting all the SMOG sensors (Cat, EVAP, Oxygen Sensor) ready (its a difficult process. Hard to do the drive cycle with a busy family life and LA traffic), I'm kinda over it haha.

The car is very quiet though. hahah. smooth but quiet. =)