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RAM Air Cautions - snorkels?
There has been a lot of traffic on E-36 M3/325i ram air systems running a
duct from brake vent to air box. I have not done this to my E36 yet, but I
engineered a nice ram air system for my E30 than runs from the brake ducts on
the factory spoiler up to the stock air box inlet nozzle - which is easy to
remove/put back by the way and uses a factory replacement KN filter. The
so-called snorkel that leads to the AFM on the E30 is longer than on the E36
- - this is as someone recently said a "flow-straightener" and should not be
removed - even in the case of the E30 where it might "appear" to restrict
flow - it does not - it organizes the higher ram air flow and accelerates it
into the AFM. For the E30 this is probably the best system short of a custom
airbox. I tried it without the snorkel and could tell the difference. There
is a lot more room to work with in the E30 for fashioning ram air systems.
The caution is this - my lowered E30's ram air intake is 7 1/2" off the
pavement and it is common in Florida to get street flooding in
urban/developing areas that is easily a foot deep. With a ram air system in
place you simply can not drive at any speed above a crawl into a flooded
street. Water being a fluid like air will fill your air box and impact on the
filter- the filter might block the water to a degree - but what you have to
avoid is coming up on a flooded street and hit it at 30 or 40 mph or even
higher before suddenly saying oh-my-god. Also if a long stretch of flooded
road is encountered you have to be extremely careful crossing even at low
speeds. Luckily I had my first mental lapse on water only about 8-9 inches
deep at a low speed recently - I got water in my air box but not enough
force/volume to go beyond air filter. Now I realize that if I come upon a
flooded road I need to stop - easily disconnect ram inflow at front of air
box and "recycle the water.
Bart "Hoods Up"