New TMS CSL Carbon Intake for UNDER $1.5K. Whats the catch?

[ANILE8]

Is this too good to be true or what am I missing here?

TMS CSL Intake

Product Details

The BMW E46 M3 CSL is an iconic piece of BMW history. These cars came equipped with a special CSL Carbon Fiber intake, capable of sucking in massive amounts of air, that also had an impressive appearance under the hood. Unfortunately, for those of us here in the states, these cars were exclusively available to European markets. The Carbon CSL intake box is still available but carries a staggering price tag.

That's why the experts here at Turner took it upon themselves to take the original CSL intake and make it better, and importantly, more affordable. Through rigorous research, development, and testing of this intake, Turner has created their perfect version of this coveted piece, that flows more freely than the original version. Flow bench tested in-house at Turner, the Turner CSL-Style intake flows almost 20% more air than the OEM M3 Factory intake. This CSL-Style intake also uses the Factory CSL Air filter, as well as factory CSL intake boots. Because of the nature of the size and design, the MAF sensor will need to be deleted, and the car WILL REQUIRE CSL INTAKE TUNE.

This is a great way to give your engine bay a very unique look, as well as make noticeable power gains paired with a CSL Intake Tune in your E46 M3.

This is a PRE-ORDER offering for the CSL-Style Carbon Fiber Intake. Estimated Delivery April 2020.

[F360C]

I ordered mine last November when they had pre-order. I just got word that the intakes are inbound to Turner so it should ship to me in the next couple weeks.

I wanted this intake over the other CSL options because of the way they designed the inlet. Normal CSL intakes have a flange for the electonic flap but i wont use (nor do i think we can) use the flap. I found some guys that made some custom CSL intake with bigger inlets and were able to make quite a bit more power. Seems like Turner found the same thing and was able to profile the inlet like a velocity stack to get better flow.

[86Zed]

Interested to see first hand feedback of the build quality, fitment, etc.

[Michael9218]

Makes me a little nervous when I see the carbon fiber TB trumpets. I would think the shape of those would be very important. And what looks good isn’t what works well. Very curious to hear how these dyno.

[JimBob0047]

Waiting on my preorder as well!

[Terraphantm]

The catch is it's a new product that's been untested, and they're deliberately making some design changes compared to the real deal. Sure they say it's an overall improvement, but who knows for sure?

[3002 tii]

Originally Posted by Terraphantm

The catch is it's a new product that's been untested, and they're deliberately making some design changes compared to the real deal. Sure they say it's an overall improvement, but who knows for sure?

Did they offer details on said changes or was it just mentioned in context of delays?

[Terraphantm]

Originally Posted by 3002 tii

Did they offer details on said changes or was it just mentioned in context of delays?

I don't know the full details, but you can tell from the pictures alone that the trumpets are a different shape / length. Generally shorter stacks = shifting power band to higher RPMs. Not sure that's desireable here considering the stock stacks still make power to red line.

[JimBob0047]

It's Turner motor sport gentlemen. They have extensive race experience. Should be a quality product.

[Vanne]

Should be a fine product. Much better than some of the others ive seen.

[XMetal]

Originally Posted by JimBob0047

It's Turner motor sport gentlemen. They have extensive race experience. Should be a quality product.

The old Turner Motorsport may have some creds behind their parts development. The current Turner Motorsport Race team is no longer associated with the parts business. The parts business has been sold to ECS Tuning. This intake is most likely developed and sold by ECS Tuning...so you can understand people's skepticism toward this intake.

[mmm-five]

Is this specifically for the Z4M, or just for the S54, as I notice this has the same IAT sensor location as many other e46 variants (i.e. on top of the intake which doesn't fit on under a Z4M bonnet), that has to be blocked and relocated?

[F360C]

Originally Posted by mmm-five

Is this specifically for the Z4M, or just for the S54, as I notice this has the same IAT sensor location as many other e46 variants (i.e. on top of the intake which doesn't fit on under a Z4M bonnet), that has to be blocked and relocated?

IAT is not on the top... those are the are the air lines. The IAT is located in the front of the intake near where the oil filter housing is.

[No_Dominion_2]

If these end up being a quality alternative to more expensive options, it would be a great thing for the Z4M community as a whole. I'm willing to bet there are a fair number of people with these in their cart just waiting to pull the trigger after some independent reviews pop up.

Hopefully the kit they ship comes with a crankcase vent hose that has the North American dongle on the end for the extra required connection so people can avoid having to Frankenstein one that works like a lot of us have.

Fingers crossed for those of you brave enough to jump on the preorder...

[Willy Sea]

Originally Posted by XMetal

The old Turner Motorsport may have some creds behind their parts development. The current Turner Motorsport Race team is no longer associated with the parts business. The parts business has been sold to ECS Tuning. This intake is most likely developed and sold by ECS Tuning...so you can understand people's skepticism toward this intake.

My understanding that it is NY private equity money that has acquired the assets of ECS Tuning, Turner and Pelican (and probably other shops too), and that while there is a bit of interchange between the companies, trading autonomy was retained.
Ironically we received our new ARC8 wheels today(supplied thru Turners), and I noticed that the sellotape binding the boxes together was branded ECS.
These airboxes are a smart looking bit of kit, quite fancy one, and for us here in the colonies the Turner unit is about 200 buck cheaper than the Karbonius item.

So for us its a real consideration.

[86Zed]

Originally Posted by No_Dominion_2

If these end up being a quality alternative to more expensive options, it would be a great thing for the Z4M community as a whole. I'm willing to bet there are a fair number of people with these in their cart just waiting to pull the trigger after some independent reviews pop up.

Agreed. This is a bucket list modification for my car however the funds required would go a lot further towards an upgrade final drive ratio - a modification I wager would be much more noticeable while driving.

[Vanne]

Hmm.. for the extra 200, I'd probably go the Karbonious box. It's a solid bit of kit, with lots of happy buyers. No gamble there. But I bet it's a lot more than 200 once you add shipping.

[JimBob0047]

Originally Posted by Vanne

Hmm.. for the extra 200, I'd probably go the Karbonious box. It's a solid bit of kit, with lots of happy buyers. No gamble there. But I bet it's a lot more than 200 once you add shipping.

More like extra $500. The full carbon kabonius box alone is around 2k. Turner is selling the full conversion kit for 2k, I'll take my chances.

[Vanne]

Agreed, for 500 I'd go this one too.

[ANILE8]

What do we all think about the nose cone being so much shorter than the Evolve intake or the Karbonius with snorkel extension?

There looks to be no flange to mount any additional extension that might be available in the future from Turner.

[Vanne]

its neither here nor there. The snorkel bit does absolutely nothing if you don't have the flap. (which we don't) if you want to fab something that reaches down further towards where the oem intake would come through the wall, then by all means, but I think it does nothing. That said, youd be well off building something like an airbox that separates the air coming in, with the air that is heat soaked around the engine bay.

[DRedman45]

I got the shipping confirmation on mine the other day, it is set to arrive Sunday.