Mr Olympia
"These build journal entries are part of a Special Series on the development of the S85 CSL Style Carbon Plenum and S85 CSL Competition Complete Carbon Intake System and written in collaboration with Sal at Infinity Design.
In this entry, I flex. I finally receive the new, enlarged CSL intakes and document my unboxing impressions."
- Matt
8 months later.
In February 2023, I chatted about the 3D printed, enlarged CSL intakes I received from Sal. They were test fitted later in March to green light production. They started being delivered in May into June.
Unfortunately, my V10 bent a rod up in June, and I never got around to installing these. Sending out intakes to customers was prioritized.
With engine work on V10-002, Sal sent over a set of matte, enlarged CSL intakes.
I filmed and edited a trailer for this here. I like having fun with those, don't expect vlogs from me.
A reminder on why.
The previous entry "Levelling up" explains in details why these enlarged CSL intakes were developed. In short: it's for those who wanted the closest thing to the original BMW CSL prototype design with maximized air intake volume.
The volume difference is massive, adding up to 20% more air across the entire intake tract.
The cross sectional area is almost double the original OE+ design.
Unboxing notes.
Below you'll find my unboxing notes on the actual production units.
The modularity.
If you start from scratch by ordering the S85 CSL Competition Carbon Intake System - you are getting the CSL enlarged intakes right away along with the plenum and lower intake housings.
This CSL intake upgrade kit is designed as an upgrade for current owners of the S85 CSL OE+ plenum with the Sealed Carbon Intakes. There are 3x different variations on the upgrade kit whether you have the sealed intakes or not.
The kit has 4x main carbon components: the plenum side inlets (2x) and the sealed intake upper inlet tubes.
They do have a passenger / driver orientation. This is the driver side, as distinguished by the shorter section by the front of the engine.
It's mega!
My immediate reaction to removing the various layers of foam and plastic bags was just how mega these were compared to my previous OE+ kit.
You usually see these intake diameters on 1,000hp + turbo cars. It's impressive.
The new plenum enlarged side inlet still has a much smaller diameter than the enlarged sealed intake inlet tube.
The venturi effect - i.e. the air accelerating through this passage should make for incredible noises, and most likely power gains.
How can you not see Dyson's future portable vacuum cleaner design here. My imagination pays tribute to Sal's design philosophy - in some way.
The carbon work is supreme.
Infinity's carbon work has been progressively moving from Great to Supreme, having add every variations in Matte and Gloss of their V10 carbon intakes.
They always use pre-preg carbon cured in autoclave. It's aerospace grade: it's the lightest, strongest carbon manufacturing process industrially available.
It's light! I am not responsible for damages if if you'll hold it up like Simba - and drop it.
Sal uses 2x2 weave pattern as it best conforms to complex curvatures. It's also the signature M Performance pattern outside of carbon roof panels.
There is little to no weave deformation across the entire intakes. It's usually most difficult to achieve on round shapes.
The bolt holes on the side inlets are sharply cut. As this system is modular - there are many bolts. Sal's designs attempts to hide the side inlet bolts out of sight.
This does require a steady hand during installation, and must be done with the plenum off the car.
The pre-preg sheet's hold align with one another across the side inlets and inlet tubes. This level of attention to detail really soothe my OCD.
Few will ever notice, but as with most things: what you see, you can't unsee. Please, align your clamps :)
The optical alignment of the weave is perfect. I opted for matte clear coat. It is obtained by using a 2 component, catalyzed clear coat.
It is quite scratch resistant - but avoid testing it as matte finishes cannot be polished back to perfection.
The circular tab that holds the clamp is relatively thick, giving you peace of mind when it comes to installing and torquing down the clamp.
Let's zoom in.
Even the interior carbon work was slick. This was a massive improvement over my original sealed carbon intakes that had plies easily visible along with cuts made by the craftsmen laying the carbon.
It's better sealed.
The original sealed carbon intakes did not have a gasket between upper and lower housings - instead, it used the air filter's flexible plastic flange. I didn't experience air leak issues, nor have I ever received such feedback.
Still, Sal wanted to create a truly premium product, and the little things matter, including how it feels.
It did always felt and sounded a bit weird slamming two carbon parts together and sealing them tight with a metal clamp.
This time around, Sal glued a gasket to the flange. When you seal it with the air filter, it now makes a "thump" sound similar to soft closing doors.
Considering we'll be flowing more air, it's better to be safe than sorry. The gasket will hopefully, surely play a role in keeping the system pressurized, and air moving fast.
The auxiliary hardwre.
The kit comes with clamps, silicone seals and gaskets already glued and installed to avoid errors.
The clamps are worm style, easily adjusted for a tight seal.
You also get this unique plaque authenticating the kit. It's fitted at the front of the plenum.
The needed rivets are included.
I also added spare bolts for the lid and side inlets. I lost mine in the engine ordeal and the re-clear to matte. I will loop back on this entry to validate whether those are standard.
It's MAF-less! You'll need new IATs.
As the intakes are MAF-less, this will require new Intake Air Temperature sensors to be relocated down the bumper ducts for colder air reads.
The bung is gone - stay off the weeeeed!
The kit is not included and should instead be sourced from Turner. You need 2x.
It includes everything you need: the sensor itself, the connector to plug into the MAF plug connecting to the DME and the bolts and nuts to install it. I will touch on how to install it in a future entry.
AlphaN Tuning
I previously covered the requirements of AlphaN to run this CSL 1 piece plenum no matter the variant. I also touched on the differences between calibrations, and performance tuning.
You can read the full article here.
The larger inlets do not require a tune update as of now, and I do not expect them to. However, my replacement S85 engine will be fitted with Schrick 296/284 high duration cams and new valvesprings.
It will require a whole new AlphaN map to adjust to the considerable increase in head flow. Infinity has updated their remote flash tuning device and Sal sent over a new cable and device in preparation for the dyno tuning sessions
It's an iFlash device, commonly used by various tuners around the world. It's fast, and reliable.
It comes with the OBD2 connector and USB to connect with any PCs. Still no MAC support as far as I know.
This has been a long time in the making, and ironically, the last parts I was awaiting on to begin the V10 work on cams and refresh before it's back into the car.
Up next: it gets fitted and I documented the process specific to the CSL inlets.
I'll check for clearances, and how to install the IAT relocation kits correctly.New driving clips and impressions will follow as the new cam'ed V10 gets tuned.
Until then, you can source the V10 CSL Competition kit year long here.
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