Quote:
Originally Posted by Ron1n
Is the heat shield necessary? Could one just get the intake and run it that way, or is there some risk involved?
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The heatshield isnt necessary, per se. However, when I ran the open element filter without the heatshield, my car would occasionally go into limp mode. Based on what I could determine, this was not caused by high intake temperatures but rather by turbulent air that kept the MAF sensor from getting an accurate reading. In this case, the heatshield plays an additional role aside from blocking hot air - it lessens the turbulence of the incoming air from outside the car. Keep in mind that the setup keeps the stock intake pipes (MAF pipe/sensor assembly and pipe to turbos - as there is almost no gains to be had by replacing them) but removes the restrictive air box.
I've noticed by talking to a variety of 335d owners that our cars pretty much have minds of their own. Some people cant run their JBD at more than 65-70% without throwing SES lights or going into limp mode, while I can run mine at 100% all the time without any issues. You may be able to run an open filter without a heatshield with no issues, while I couldnt.
I would highly doubt that there are any serious risks to running an open element filter without the heatshield. At worst, I'd guess you may just throw an SES light or go into limp mode. If you have a BT cable, you should be able to monitor/clear it.