"In this Special Series, I document the development, unboxing, installation, performance gains and sound clips of the E60 M5 & E63 M6 sealed carbon intakes. 

In this entry, I cover my unboxing impressions of the gloss & matte finished of the S85 sealed intakes kit."
- Matt

The components. 

The box was shipped UPS yet I wasn't anxious at all. The beauty of any carbon intakes is their lightness and relatively ease of shipping. It was bubble wrapped, with foam wrapping paper added as well. 

I found and listed the following parts included in the package: 

The reverse cone filters. 

The filters are immediately noticeable due to their size and bright red color. They are absolutely massive at 170mm in diameter.

Their dimensions don't come across across pictures. 

The cone shape is distinctive, and designed to optimize flow.

The filters are oiled. You can see the slight oil residue on the filter by the darker red hues. 

The carbon housings. 

The carbon housings are made using pre-preg & autoclave'd processes. It's the lightest and strongest process to make carbon. The weave is 2x2, ideal for its complex curvatures.

The lower carbon housings were designed to fit with the OE air ducts in order to create a fully sealed system. 

I used the gloss version pictures as it shows off the quality of the carbon work. 

Even though the lower housing will be hidden away, weave quality is unchanged. 

The upper side duct fits into the chassis and is fed air from the kidney grills. They have small tabs designed to fit the OE plastic chassis fittings. 

The bottom duct is fitted into the bumper duct. Seen here at the top of the picture.

The upper housings have MAF fittings directly fitted into the carbon - an innovative design feature unseen in any other V10 intakes. 

The upper housing have slight indentations to seal with the plenum side connectors.

Small touches matter and the clamps are one of them. The prototype version of the sealed intakes were fitted with bare metal clamps, black clamps were spec'ed for production.

Accessories. 

The finish dilemma. 

First things first - the finish quality itself is great. I saw no visibly clear coat imperfections: no dust specs, no clear coat popping.

Gloss clear coats have depth whereas matte clear coats do not. The carbon work is crystal clear and the finish is smooth to the touch while it made weave deformation more noticeable on matte. Matte does hide away scratches better and the finish is slightly more rough. 

Gloss looks better: it pops. 

I hate detailing engine bays, my M5 sees winter use and my DIYs often have me scratching parts for dubious reasons. Matte was my pick. 

Up next: I remove the OE intakes along with assembling & installing the sealed carbon intakes and its accessories.