Just Finished: Active Autowerke Intercooler Install

cuban335i · 12-29-2009, 09:15 PM

Holy shit that was a hard install

... granted i did it by myself and without a lift, rhino ramps or anything (on a slammed car that has about 3-4 inches of clearance)... there is literally no space to do anything down there.. the hardest part is cutting the thick metal clamps off the old pipes and putting on the new replacement ones... i have no idea how i did it.. the pipes themselves barely fit in there nevermind trying to tighten them and everything.. on a scale of 1-10 in difficulty i'd give it a 9... if i used a lift it'd probably be a 4 (i just didn't even have enough space to take out the whole undertray and i couldn't even fit my face under the car at all)... finally when i thought i was done with that it was almost impossible to get that gigantic intercooler in the small space bmw gives you... and bolting it down was another impossibility by myself (it took forever)..

all in all.. it took me 6 hours to take off the front bumper, uninstall the oem intercooler (which looks terrible and is really light and crappy), install the AA FMIC, and put back on the bumper... it probably would have taken 1/3 of the time if i had a lift and an extra set of hands but i wasn't trying to pay to use the lift and my cousin couldn't come by today to help..

About the intercooler: it is beautiful!!! it is like a work of art... and well worth the money.. i haven't tested the car yet but i will tomorrow and get back to you guys on how it feels with diverter valves and the new intercooler and the bump up from map 5 to map 7... i'm really excited..

i would totally reccommend this to someone.. but just don't do the install like i did.. get someone to help, and use a lift or rhino ramps AT LEAST... and the cutting wasn't that bad, just was hard to do with my inadequate tools (oh yea... have better tools than i did

)... but even with all the pain i am happy i installed it and didn't have to pay anyone to do it..

sorry i don't have any pics now.. too tired to upload them.. maybe tomorrow

MShao825 · 12-29-2009, 09:24 PM

Can't believe you didn't have the car on a lift or at least jacked up. You're a wild man, but props on getting it done at all let alone in just 6 hours

Donald-335i · 12-29-2009, 09:46 PM

nice..

but how in jesus's name did u do without any kind of lift/ramp etc,?!?

cuban335i · 12-29-2009, 09:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mshao825

Can't believe you didn't have the car on a lift or at least jacked up. You're a wild man, but props on getting it done at all let alone in just 6 hours

haha thanks.. i'll never do that again though.. it was one of those one time things

Quote:

Originally Posted by Donald-335i

nice..

but how in jesus's name did u do without any kind of lift/ramp etc,?!?

lol i have no clue... that's the main reason why it was probably one of the hardest things i've ever done.. i literally could not see what i was doing half the time i just had to feel around, my head wouldn't fit under the car at all.. easily the hardest install on my car..

balance · 12-29-2009, 10:14 PM

i thought if you take the front bumper of its easy and you dont need a lift??

cuban335i · 12-29-2009, 10:34 PM

^ that's what I thought.. trust me you never ever want to try it without a lift..the pipes that connect to the intercooler that you have to cut off and install the new ones, you literally have no room to work.. if they were a cm wider they wouldn't fit at all..

328i · 12-30-2009, 12:45 AM

Ramps are dirt cheap, you should buy some and save yourself a headache the next time you need to work on the car. Nice job getting it done without any though.

Jonny550 · 12-30-2009, 01:40 AM

unbelievable nice work.

BOOSTED4DR · 12-30-2009, 12:41 PM

congrats would like to see a DIY...

reno808 · 12-30-2009, 01:33 PM

why didnt u just jack up the car and put up 2 jack stands. Bam problem solved. I am sure someone would have lent u a jack and jack stand. let me know next i'll let u borrow the set or my ramps. or my lift but you would have to come over for that lol

12-29-2009, 09:15 PM	#1
cuban335i Brigadier General 229 Rep 3,550 Posts Drives: 535i xdrive Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: central NJ iTrader: (18)	Just Finished: Active Autowerke Intercooler Install Holy shit that was a hard install ... granted i did it by myself and without a lift, rhino ramps or anything (on a slammed car that has about 3-4 inches of clearance)... there is literally no space to do anything down there.. the hardest part is cutting the thick metal clamps off the old pipes and putting on the new replacement ones... i have no idea how i did it.. the pipes themselves barely fit in there nevermind trying to tighten them and everything.. on a scale of 1-10 in difficulty i'd give it a 9... if i used a lift it'd probably be a 4 (i just didn't even have enough space to take out the whole undertray and i couldn't even fit my face under the car at all)... finally when i thought i was done with that it was almost impossible to get that gigantic intercooler in the small space bmw gives you... and bolting it down was another impossibility by myself (it took forever).. all in all.. it took me 6 hours to take off the front bumper, uninstall the oem intercooler (which looks terrible and is really light and crappy), install the AA FMIC, and put back on the bumper... it probably would have taken 1/3 of the time if i had a lift and an extra set of hands but i wasn't trying to pay to use the lift and my cousin couldn't come by today to help.. About the intercooler: it is beautiful!!! it is like a work of art... and well worth the money.. i haven't tested the car yet but i will tomorrow and get back to you guys on how it feels with diverter valves and the new intercooler and the bump up from map 5 to map 7... i'm really excited.. i would totally reccommend this to someone.. but just don't do the install like i did.. get someone to help, and use a lift or rhino ramps AT LEAST... and the cutting wasn't that bad, just was hard to do with my inadequate tools (oh yea... have better tools than i did )... but even with all the pain i am happy i installed it and didn't have to pay anyone to do it.. sorry i don't have any pics now.. too tired to upload them.. maybe tomorrow __________________ Current: '13 F10 535i xDrive - lightly modded for now Previous: '12 e92 M3 Melbourne Red/Bamboo - ADV.1 ADV10, Volk TE37SL, OSS, Innotech F1, Arkym, iND '09 e92 335i Alpine White/Saddle Brown - fully modded
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12-29-2009, 09:24 PM	#2
MShao825 Go Terps! 53 Rep 1,375 Posts Drives: 2009 SSII/FR E92 M3 Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Jersey City, NJ Gaithersburg, MD iTrader: (2)	Can't believe you didn't have the car on a lift or at least jacked up. You're a wild man, but props on getting it done at all let alone in just 6 hours __________________
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12-29-2009, 09:46 PM	#3
Donald-335i Banned 191 Rep 3,588 Posts Drives: The Hoes Crazy! Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Central NJ iTrader: (13)	nice.. but how in jesus's name did u do without any kind of lift/ramp etc,?!?
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12-29-2009, 10:14 PM	#5
balance Colonel 122 Rep 2,090 Posts Drives: F32 435i Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: OC iTrader: (6) Garage List 2014 BMW [0.00]	i thought if you take the front bumper of its easy and you dont need a lift?? __________________
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12-29-2009, 10:34 PM	#6
cuban335i Brigadier General 229 Rep 3,550 Posts Drives: 535i xdrive Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: central NJ iTrader: (18)	^ that's what I thought.. trust me you never ever want to try it without a lift..the pipes that connect to the intercooler that you have to cut off and install the new ones, you literally have no room to work.. if they were a cm wider they wouldn't fit at all.. __________________ Current: '13 F10 535i xDrive - lightly modded for now Previous: '12 e92 M3 Melbourne Red/Bamboo - ADV.1 ADV10, Volk TE37SL, OSS, Innotech F1, Arkym, iND '09 e92 335i Alpine White/Saddle Brown - fully modded
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12-30-2009, 12:45 AM	#7
328i Colonel 148 Rep 2,932 Posts Drives: E46 ///M Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: central NJ iTrader: (15)	Ramps are dirt cheap, you should buy some and save yourself a headache the next time you need to work on the car. Nice job getting it done without any though.
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12-30-2009, 01:40 AM	#8
Jonny550 Brigadier General 241 Rep 4,936 Posts Drives: 2012 550i Xdrive Join Date: Feb 2009 Location: Jersey Shore iTrader: (14)	unbelievable nice work. __________________ [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC] .
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12-30-2009, 12:41 PM	#9
BOOSTED4DR Captain 29 Rep 932 Posts Drives: 07 335i Join Date: Oct 2009 Location: BK,NYC iTrader: (6)	congrats would like to see a DIY...
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12-30-2009, 01:33 PM	#10
reno808 Banned 10 Rep 345 Posts Drives: Fiat Panda Join Date: Mar 2009 Location: C&C Motorsports Garage iTrader: (2)	why didnt u just jack up the car and put up 2 jack stands. Bam problem solved. I am sure someone would have lent u a jack and jack stand. let me know next i'll let u borrow the set or my ramps. or my lift but you would have to come over for that lol
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