Dinan 20-22 BMW X1 xDrive28i Cold Air Intake

Through a bevy of flow bench testing, it was quickly determined that the biggest hindrance to improved flow on the stock intake was the factory snorkel. Unfortunately, the snorkel was also the piece that would cause the largest increase in cost to a potential kit. As a result, it was quickly abandoned as a potential area of improvement. Instead, attention was turned to finding a way to introduce a secondary inlet for additional airflow. With limited room to work with, traditional secondary ducting was not possible. This, in turn, led to multiple experiments being conducted on the effectiveness of a possible open-air inlet on the upper lid. With different shapes, locations, and sizes of openings being tested, the goal was to ensure that the added secondary inlet did not cause any unwarranted side effects such as an increase in air temps in the system. This is commonplace with open-air intake systems where lots of overheated engine bay air is utilized in the intake tract. The results of these tests showed that a 12 square-inch opening for additional air on the opposite side of the upper lid from the engine provided a perfect balance of additional volume to assist the factory snorkel all the while not causing an increase in turbo inlet temperatures. This was the case regardless of testing conditions (single/multiple gear pulls, constant speed, 0-100mph runs, etc.).