Build journal: a special series

From a myth, to a prototype, to reality.

In 2009, BMW M built a one-off prototype of a BMW M5 CSL based on the E60 M5 V1 to celebrate its 25th year.

Amongst many must-have components, the engineers at BMW M developed a complete carbon intake prototype in short order.

It was never released.

In this Special Series, I take a dive into the backstory, development, installation and impressions of the InfinityDesign S85 CSL Carbon Plenum.

Enjoy,
- Matt / @m3_epoustouflant

Read the special series

Spec your plenum

S85 CSL OE+ Carbon Plenum

Factory Direct Process

EuroConnex Exclusive

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Pure induction sounds.

The sound is taken from a Sennheiser MK400 microphone on top of the A7ii. No under the hood trickery.

Listen

Mandatory Engine Mapping

The carbon plenum runs using Alpha N as the engine mapping protocol. No rewiring nor new sensors is needed on the OE+ variant.

Read my Alpha N notes

It's counterintuitive, but it fits.

In this journal entry, I cover the hardware requirements and the plenum's counter-intuitive installation process.

Read the installation notes

Upgrade to the Competition Spec

The side inlets and sealed intake inlet tubes can be upgraded to complete the intake kit to original CSL specifications.

Learn more

Sal @ InfinityDesign

Legacy knowledge.

InfinityDesign's unique product design and engineering is crafted by the grand-daddy of the most popular S85 products and tuners to hundreds of S85s: Salmen.

As a former Evolve co-owner, he headed engineering & development for all products.

He notably signed off on numerous popular V10 products: e-tronic exhaust systems, headers, cat deletes, carbon intakes along with the V8 supercharger kits & tuning maps during the 2000s until he exited the company in 2015.