UPDATES AT THE BOTTOM OF THE POST
So yesterday I installed my ny aFe intake and I LOVE IT.
I'm going to go over some thing with the installation, sound, performance and then videos.
Installation:
Installation as a whole wasn't too bad. It took about 1 hour to fully install. I was happy with the look of the cover because it gave the fully installed intake a sleek look. The little aFe emblem on the silver metal housing was a nice touch as well. Thats some of the pros I saw in the installation. Now lets talk cons. First this instructions they give you are for a 330i and they are SOOOO vauge. This is not a 128I only part and therefore I was forced to do a little mod. The black metal housing goes on a frame in your engine bay which is supported by screws already there. The problem with that is one of the screws has a clamp on it which holds the radiator hose. I had to remove that clamp and now the hose is somewhat dangling. My buddy who knows more about cars said it should not cause a problem but I still don't like not having that clamp on. I believe its there for a reason. The hose is now touching the housing and could cause a chaffeing problem so I will have to buy another peice of rubber to protect it. I also noticed that where the plastic tube connects to the metal housing there is a gap. They give you a gasket but it's not enough. It doesn't look warped but its not right. There is a gap and that can cause a filtration problem. I might take a heat gun and try and make it flush. A bigger gasket wouldn't help because all the screw holes are flush. Besides all the it went in pretty easy. I hate the instructions though.
Sound
AMAZING sound above 3k RPM. I general its a lower growl and you would absolutly notice the difference with the hood open. In the car /w hood closed its not as noticable at idle. As soon as you step on the gas is a tad bit louder and then its like a joy ride from there. At about 2k is when you start to notice it and then 3K you start to get excited. 4K is orgasmic and 5-7k is amazing. I may over exagerate a bit but I was assuming this mod would make little to no inprovement on sound. I was way wrong. I would suggest this part to anyone as of right now.
OK lets go over crusing. NO DRONE at 60-70mph 6th gear. There is mid drone cruising at 105-115mph in 6th gear but almost none below and above that. Overall you will love it.
Performance
I believe its too early to tell being that I just got it in the car yesterday. I don't notice any less so that is good. I'm so taken by the sound so it automatically seems better. I'll go more into this as I get the part broken in(not broken).
Videos
I took about 5 or so videos and will be putting them on ASAP.
Conclusion: I love it. It sounds amazing and I hope it will be even better with the exhaust and a possible ECU Flash of some sort.
Not The Power Box
UPDATE: 07/01/10
OK now the Drone is a little louder. Still its mainly at around 4k RPM (3.5-4.5ish) But I don't do much driving cruiseing at that RPM range. Its only annoying when you are cruising. Its less annoying when you are going down hill but worse when you are going up hill. Keep in mind to attain this drone I was going between 96-115MPH ish so unless you cruise that high then you are fine. I still love the autobahn though =P
UPDATE: 07/5/10
Yikes the drone is getting on my nerves. This is only because I usually cruise at about 98MPH on the Autobahn. 60-70MPH is still no drone so thats good for you guys in the states. Can there be any adverse affects from drone beside the sound. i.e. vibration damage or something like that.
VIDEOS:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NmGpL-n7dk8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cROP21DOV9M
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=86c5tl7vmXQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BG-ng9fP81E
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q2-SMtwbYGc
UPDATE: 07/08/10
Well its been a couple more days so I thought I would give another update. The drone I spoke of before is completely avoidable and whoever is crusing, meaning long periods of time, at around 4k RPM is a little
IMO. I mean city driving you are going up and down all the time in RPM and that is where the sound of the intake is great. They call it city driving because its a lot of stop-n-go traffic. You don't "cruise" in the city.
Anyways, I have been noticing the throttle response and I like it. The response is nothing to brag about though. It also has a somewhat power increase at about 3-6krpm. I read that it takes a bit to break in the part so maybe I am noticing it more since it's broken in.