Type of modification on your E90

[Calvin Tan]

I think it is safer to let professional like speedworks to clean and oil the K&N air filter. And I have observed the period we should clean the K&N air filter, due to our dusty and polluted air. The filter will usually gets very dirty every 15,000 to 20,000km.

 

[leforte]

Most people after install K&N, FC worsen because they have the tendency of pushing their engine a little more which they now can.. RFi (Right Foot intelligence) still applies..

But keeping the K&N clean is very important as the oil picks up dirt fast and clog the filter. For a JDM, Speedworks washes and oil your K&N for less then RM9 but our e90 dunno la... so difficult to open (more than 10 screws).. My Avanza K&N can be taken out within 10 sec.. and I wash my K&N in the kitchen using Dynamo and oil it with 2T oil.. religiously every 10k km

Another thing you all need to be careful when using K&N... after the filter element, there located our ultra sensitive air flow sensor. Excess of K&N oil will wet the sensor making it less sensitive.. please do some research on overcoming this.. which I still have no clue except spray it with carborator cleaner.. I have one at home to clean my Volvo 940 air flow sensor and throttle body.

Avanza no such problem because the K&N is seated on top of the throttle.. excess K&N will be sucked directly into the intake manifold and burn in the combustion chamber.. I think my Avanza no air flow sensor also..

This is my air flow sensor..

K&N oil will inevitably coat itself onto the sensor and u can't run a K&N without oiling it. Imagine oiling this sensor... how much sensitivity loss would you suffer? Bear in mind warranty issue..

astroboy,
You should stop using carb cleaner to clean you MAF as it will destroy the maf housing and sensor.

why? carb cleaners are basically solvent with a high flash point requiring a longer time to dry and it leaves some oily residue, your maf is the hot film type and it doesnt use a burn off function to clean itself after switching off the car.

the carb cleaner, due to its high flast point or drying time will get absorb into the maf plastic housing and dries out the platiciser within it making it brittle and as a solvent , silicon compound in the MAF will just get disvolved and drip onto the MAF sensors and the MAF will get contaminated and over time it will just fail.

PLEASE use a dedicated MAF cleaner to do the cleaning in future. there is only one brand in the market and its produced by CRC. it dries up fast with no residue and its plastic safe.

 

[mnas]

hey guys, from my experience, i wont recommend using any aftermarket filters in our hot/dusty environment. had my previous harrier's MAF sensor hot-wire coated with dust/soot after using the "super expensive high performance airfilter"...damn..

 

[turbology]

Good thing about K&N filter is you never need to replace them. It save $ over time.
K&N filter pretty good. I heard bad thing about HKS "mushroom".
Your personal bad experience with aftermarket high performance filter must be unique. Care to share the brand and reason for failure ?

 

[David Yong]

Hi Calvin, is your pricing inclusive of installation ?

 

[astroboy]

astroboy,
You should stop using carb cleaner to clean you MAF as it will destroy the maf housing and sensor.

why? carb cleaners are basically solvent with a high flash point requiring a longer time to dry and it leaves some oily residue, your maf is the hot film type and it doesnt use a burn off function to clean itself after switching off the car.

the carb cleaner, due to its high flast point or drying time will get absorb into the maf plastic housing and dries out the platiciser within it making it brittle and as a solvent , silicon compound in the MAF will just get disvolved and drip onto the MAF sensors and the MAF will get contaminated and over time it will just fail.

PLEASE use a dedicated MAF cleaner to do the cleaning in future. there is only one brand in the market and its produced by CRC. it dries up fast with no residue and its plastic safe.

Darn..... now I have to think of a way to re-plasticise my plastic.... luckily not in my E90... I only used the carb cleaner once and it in my old man's 14 years old Volvo..

Will get the CRC MAF cleaner soon..

Product flyer: http://www.crcindustries.com/files/MAF Flyer FINAL 2.pdf

Thanks for the pointer..!

And I have no idea if our E90 runs a hot wire MAF... but looks like one la even though I don't see the wire only an obvious glass diode.. ??? because the other type is Vane type which has moving parts.. :smokin:

 

[leforte]

astro boy,

your e90 is running on a hot film sensor as with most car nowadays. carmakers find that the older type hot wire sensor too delicate and costly to maintain.

 

[E46Fanatic]

This is always the misconception.
A good & clean filter is as good as any filters for "fuel saving" purpose.
K&N filter NEVER claim an increase in fuel economy.

http://www.knfilters.com/faq.htm#1

Yes they seem very responsible when it comes to this benefit. As stated in the FAQ many folks who use their filters are claiming better FC, incl our E90'ers who are having the 3.0 ltr N52. In the past my JDM 1.6 Dohc Vtec also saw an FC improvement with the aftermarket intake. If anything this benefit is minimal and wont be the sole reason I'd go with the filter

 

[Calvin Tan]

Hi Calvin, is your pricing inclusive of installation ?

Yes, it is :burnout:

 

[astroboy]

Thanks leforte for the pointers... which accidentally leads me to discovery of the following website... DIY cleaning an M5 MAF.. from the photo, the MAF probe look identical to mine..

http://www.louv.tv/cars/m5/MAF/

 

[Calvin Tan]

Will get the CRC MAF cleaner soon..

Bro! any idea where to get this?

 

[astroboy]

I think I know where to get the CRC spray but let me make a trip there to confirm.. how many botol you want?

 

[David Yong]

Guys, when wanna convoy to Calvin's place for the filter installation ??

 

[astroboy]

I want to tag along to busy body also.. So do u all want to keep your OEM filter? It makes good R&D stuffs to my auto lab..

 

[Calvin Tan]

I think I know where to get the CRC spray but let me make a trip there to confirm.. how many botol you want?

Just one

 

[E46Fanatic]

Guys, when wanna convoy to Calvin's place for the filter installation ??

I'll get my steering lock fixed first hopefully sometime early next week. Its still acting up after the firmware upg, and haven't had time to get it sorted. Spoke to Danc his problems also came back after the SW upg. I'll head over myself to Calvin's place after. I saw the map its near AB segambut?

Eh, let us know when you collect your car from AB so we can go together-gether! I don't mind giving you a ride to AB to collect car since you work near my place.

 

[Juan Powerblow]

I'll get my steering lock fixed first hopefully sometime early next week. Its still acting up after the firmware upg, and haven't had time to get it sorted. Spoke to Danc his problems also came back after the SW upg. I'll head over myself to Calvin's place after. I saw the map its near AB segambut?

Eh, let us know so we can meet there together-gether. In fact, I don't mind giving you a ride to AB to collect your car since you work near my place.

 

[bmrocket]

I'm ready boys..Say when!

 

[astroboy]

How come David's car in AB again meh? What happened?

Received a mailer last night from BMW. There's an invitation for Advance Driving for a fee of RM1,700 and a list of sport upgrade for E90 at 41% discount.

1. M-Sport kit
2. 18" new design rim Style 19(something), 2 design..
3. Aluminum pedals
4. Rear spoiler
5. i-Pod interface

after discount: RM20,888

 

[Juan Powerblow]

Hey fellas, Redbaron just called me to confirm the Sapura Auto car clinic is on. I believe many of y'all have signed up for it. Well, he also said the clinic will cover mostly on E90s, E60s and E87s. So, if y'all still interested, please be there Saturday, 9.30 am. For me, I had intended to go but made another engagement when I was unsure whether this event is going ahead or not. I'm now trying to reschedule that other appointment.