CSL Air Intake / Cats delete / Mufflers delete - thoughts on these mods?

[eggman51]

Hi Folks,

I'm slowly doing some mods on my 2006 Z4 M Roadster. I'm planning a few things for late winter / spring and doing some research in advance. I'm on the west coast of Canada in Vancouver and the car is a daily driver, currently with 80,000 km.

Intake Mods

I absolutely love the sound of the CSL air intake mods. But I understand these also require an Alpha N Tune mod, which seems like it can be a bit problematic.

I also believe that a CSL + Alpha N Tune mod gets into the $4000 range, so this is a fairly expensive upgrade.

I've looked at the Eventuri intake which brings *some* of the CSL intake sound, doesn't require a special tune, and is in the $900 range.

The Eventuri intake mod seems like a decent affordable step in the right direction. Thoughts on this?


CATS & Muffler delete or Exhaust mods

I've contemplated adding headers and removing the cats & mufflers. I'm not clear if this requires a special tune - does it?

Will deleting the Cats & Mufflers drown out any sound gains from an intake mod?

There's a lot of options on exhaust systems, but I was thinking about Epic Motorsports headers, deleting the cats and removing the mufflers. I think this also gets into the $4000 range.

I'm not really after horsepower gains, I just want the most raw sound I can get

Thanks in advance for any insights / thoughts / feedback.

Cheers,
Eamonn aka eggman

[pungo]

Not a fan of hearing the sound of the intake sucking in air or a loud droning exhaust system, especially if there's not a large gain in HP. Spending that much money just to make the car sound different (louder) just doesn't make sense to me, adding more performance does.

[W///]

Originally Posted by eggman51

Hi Folks,

I'm slowly doing some mods on my 2006 Z4 M Roadster. I'm planning a few things for late winter / spring and doing some research in advance. I'm on the west coast of Canada in Vancouver and the car is a daily driver, currently with 80,000 km.

Intake Mods

I absolutely love the sound of the CSL air intake mods. But I understand these also require an Alpha N Tune mod, which seems like it can be a bit problematic.

I also believe that a CSL + Alpha N Tune mod gets into the $4000 range, so this is a fairly expensive upgrade.

I've looked at the Eventuri intake which brings *some* of the CSL intake sound, doesn't require a special tune, and is in the $900 range.

The Eventuri intake mod seems like a decent affordable step in the right direction. Thoughts on this?


CATS & Muffler delete or Exhaust mods

I've contemplated adding headers and removing the cats & mufflers. I'm not clear if this requires a special tune - does it?

Will deleting the Cats & Mufflers drown out any sound gains from an intake mod?

There's a lot of options on exhaust systems, but I was thinking about Epic Motorsports headers, deleting the cats and removing the mufflers. I think this also gets into the $4000 range.

I'm not really after horsepower gains, I just want the most raw sound I can get

Thanks in advance for any insights / thoughts / feedback.

Cheers,
Eamonn aka eggman

Cat delete + muffler delete would be a horrible idea IMO. It would be way too loud and drone. Do it right.

[Mtxzptlk]

If you want the CSL intake sound, I suggest you find a Gruppe M or Eventuri intake, the sound is about the same, with less volume compared the a full on CSL style carbon airbox.

I've had a Gruppe M and a CSL style Evolve Intake and I can say that the Gruppe M is good enough to get that sound. The Evolve kit will cost you under $4k, but you also need to account for labor if you're paying a shop to install it for you (2 - 4 hrs depending on their experience).

Note: if you have an aftermarket exhaust, it will drone out some of the induction sound from the intake.

[StickMon]

If you just want a lot of sound, just delete the mufflers and not the cats.
It'll be plenty loud, and you don't have to worry about codes and tunes.

[RossBMWZseries]

If you only go for the catless headers, you will get a bit of sound but also POWER. You may get (probably will) the SES (check engine light), which can be removed with a tune (also may get more power) or you can just take sleepless nights knowing that light is on.

If you only remove the mufflers then you’ll only get sound and maybe some weight off the OE cans. No tune needed here.

If you go for catless headers and remove mufflers then you’ll get power and sound. Yes you’ll need a tune to remove the check engine light and get the most power out of the mods.

The cold air intake will definitely give you some loud noises, some will argue that it’ll give you a bit of HP, remain the same, or even take some HP away. Most do it for the sound. No tune needed for Eventuri. Will it be drowned out by mufflers? Most likely.

Only mods I have are Euro catless headers, 100 cell cat S-Pipe, OEM X pipe (which will replace with Rogue Engineering to remove the resonator), and RPI mufflers. I have no cold air intake and no tune, but that’s the plan. My car is loud, but I’m 32 years old and handling the drone just fine, for now...

[Vanne]

My car is loud, but I don't hear much of the loudness when I am wearing a helmet. Esp with no roof liner, that made the most difference.. if your just after sound, remove the roof liner, see if you like that



(In all seriousness, I ABSOLUTELY love my CSL intake, and I wouldent be without it now. Period.)

[ZeD4Mr]

Hey Eamonn,

I'm local to you and there're a few of us around town, all with different setup. You're welcome to meet up and hear them in person...

.

.

[Mirko]

You wont hear the intake if you remove cats and muffler delete.

I can't hear my eventuri with my headers, xpipe and stromung mufflers. I know a member here had same exhaust as me but had a CSL intake and couldn't hear his intake inside the car. I could hear it from outside but dont think he could from inside.

You can hear my car coming down the track due to eventuri and hear it going past due to exhaust. However inside the cabin I just hear my exhaust.

[KevinC]

The S54 emits glorious sounds without needing any embellishment. I like the fact that they toned down the factory exhaust vs the E46 M3. I wouldn't change a thing. But that's just me.

[RossBMWZseries]

Originally Posted by Mirko

You wont hear the intake if you remove cats and muffler delete.

I can't hear my eventuri with my headers, xpipe and stromung mufflers. I know a member here had same exhaust as me but had a CSL intake and couldn't hear his intake inside the car. I could hear it from outside but dont think he could from inside.

You can hear my car coming down the track due to eventuri and hear it going past due to exhaust. However inside the cabin I just hear my exhaust.

THIS right here. Other than popping the hood open and seeing a cool carbon fiber intake, the sound the car makes won’t be heard by the driver but by others when they see/hear you coming. Which I think is pretty cool. Ultimately, we modify our cars to OUR own liking, but personally I’d want my car to sound good overall to everyone from all directions.