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

[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]

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.

[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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[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.

[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?

[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

[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😅

[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.

[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.

[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 😂

[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?

[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.

[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?

[jpy1980]

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

I don’t think there is anything really bad with the Alpha N tune. Hassan’s tune on my car was fine, fun and pulled hard. The Alpha N tune just has some quirks or “characteristics” that make it different from the MAP route. It’s perfectly fine for the lay “tuners” if there is ever a thing. I’m sure the MAP route would be better overall, but for ease of use, alpha N is fine. If you are in an area where you have to SMOG your car often, an alpha N tune would be the best route since all you have to do is uninstall the box, slap your old one back on and flash your OEM tune. Super easy.

[ugaexploder]

I don’t think there is anything really bad with the Alpha N tune. Hassan’s tune on my car was fine, fun and pulled hard. The Alpha N tune just has some quirks or “characteristics” that make it different from the MAP route. It’s perfectly fine for the lay “tuners” if there is ever a thing. I’m sure the MAP route would be better overall, but for ease of use, alpha N is fine. If you are in an area where you have to SMOG your car often, an alpha N tune would be the best route since all you have to do is uninstall the box, slap your old one back on and flash your OEM tune. Super easy.

that makes sense. i remember when i found out Hassan runs alpha-N, it really made me scratch my head because it seems like everyone bashes alpha-N versus MAP sensor route.