<E36> Snorkel Intake May not Work

[Clint Huff <bikepro@xxxxxxxxxx>]

If you have the snorkel intake on your E36 M3, you may want to determine if
its working like you think.  I've found that the air flowing through
the brake duct actually creates a vacuum in the snorkel, rather than providing
air to the air box.  The snorkel is sucking air out of the air box, rather
than 
providing additional air.  Here's how to test this:

Remove the air box, leaving the snorkel installed.  Use a leaf blower to
blow air
through the brake duct.  Hold a small piece of paper at the top of the
snorkel tube
where it enters the air box.  When you release the paper, it will be sucked
into the
snorkel, and out the back of the brake duct.  

The air flow through the brake duct is creating a vacuum in the snorkel
tube.  I suspected
this when I first installed this thing a few months ago.  But since it
enters the brake
duct at a slight angle, I thought it would be enough to force air into the
tube, but such
is not the case.  

The same is true if you have a cone filter, and have made your own snorkel
using some type of
duct work.  If the air duct is inserted straight into the brake duct, air
flow through the
brake duct creates a vacuum in the snorkel tube.  If you pull the snorkel
further into the
brake duct, and position the end of the tube faces forward and air flows
directly into it, it works
as you would expect -- providing more air.  This of course blocks off most
of the air going to
the brake.  To solve this problem, poke some holes in the back of your
home-make snorkel tube
so some of the air entering the tube can flow out the back to the brake.
When you test this with the
leaf blower, air will be flowing through the tube to the cone filter, and
some will be going to the
brakes.  If you want more air to the brake, just poke more holes in the
back of the tube.


By the way:  if you still haven't added a clutch stop to your E36/5 Speed,
pay a visit to my web page
at http://www.he.net/~bikepro.  If you go to the "Other BikePro products"
page, you'll find instructions
on how to make one.  Or, how to order one already made.

Clint 

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