Project E36 323is: Building the Poor Man's M3, Part 5 – Intake and Software
In Part 4 of our Poor Man's M3 project, we added a more serious soundtrack to our 323is with the help of a Corsa exhaust. A great side effect was that it also happened to give a boost to our horsepower output. That brought us from 141.1 wheel horse power (whp) to 146.8 whp, and it increased our torque output from 142.9 ft/lb to 149.5 ft/lb. Better breathing is always a good thing, so we decided to get a bit more flow to the exhaust with a Stage 1 Turner Motorsport Performance Package, which includes an aFe intake and Shark Injector performance software.
Above is a view of the complete Stage 1 Turner Motorsport Performance Package, which includes the Shark Injector software module, aFe intake tubing and adapter, Pro 5R oiled cotton gauze filter, aFe heat shield, rubber seals and all the necessary hardware for installation.
The Pro 5R filter has 5 progressively finer layers of oiled cotton gauze mesh allowing for maximum airflow while protecting against dust and dirt on paved roads and highways. It's a reuseable filter element which needs only a shake and rinse to be cleaned, as well as occasional re-oiling.
This is the simple yet complex Shark Injector which provides the software for the Stage 1 Turner Motorsport Performance Package. The Conforti tune it carries is customized for the aFe intake system, and it allows you to flash the ECU from just about anywhere (more on that in a moment).
Wait, what's this? The car already has an aftermarket intake, you say? Well, yes… As you can see above, the the car owner took it upon himself to install a home-made do-it-yourself intake after our exhaust article. He simply couldn't wait, so this solution was conceived after finding some random, decade-old Mustang 5.0 parts lying around the garage. It's very likely that a few drinks were also involved in this scheme. It did fit, however, and it wasn't stock, so it must make more power, right? That's the big question…
