scoops and hydrolock

[val007]

Hey guys, I'm new here. I read everything about intakes and especially about the RPI scoops. My concern and question is: "Is it possible to get some water through the scoos (the RPI scoops)and hydrolock the engine if you drive fast in very heavy rain(which is very common in So FL) ? Thanks in advance for any inputs.
Val007, 2008 M3, DCT

[Krozi]

Yea I live in in SoFla too and had the same concern....2 summers later and no hydrolock I can safely say that it's fine. I even went through a touchless car wash where water basically gets rammed up the scoops into the airbox and I didn't have any issues... No worries here

And btw, keep in mind many cars already have scoops as part of the factory air intake...the older Mercedes C230 Kompressor for example has scoops as part of the airbox assembly...

[FStop7]

Well...

Look at the front of your car.

See the intake at the bottom of the bumper on the driver's side? That leads directly into the airbox. Shine a light in there and look up and you'll literally be able to see your air filter. If you're worried about ingesting water then the stock intake opening at the bottom of the bumper is much more of a risk than RPI scoops would be. Your car would need to be in water to the top of the engine bay for the scoops to ingest.

[val007]

Originally Posted by Krozi

Yea I live in in SoFla too and had the same concern....2 summers later and no hydrolock I can safely say that it's fine. I even went through a touchless car wash where water basically gets rammed up the scoops into the airbox and I didn't have any issues... No worries here

And btw, keep in mind many cars already have scoops as part of the factory air intake...the older Mercedes C230 Kompressor for example has scoops as part of the airbox assembly...

thanks for the quick reply, do you have the RPI scoops on your M3, what difference do you feel?

[val007]

Originally Posted by FStop7

Well...

Look at the front of your car.

See the intake at the bottom of the bumper on the driver's side? That leads directly into the airbox. Shine a light in there and look up and you'll literally be able to see your air filter. If you're worried about ingesting water then the stock intake opening at the bottom of the bumper is much more of a risk than RPI scoops would be. Your car would need to be in water to the top of the engine bay for the scoops to ingest.

Thanks for the detailed answer, that explains it better to me and makes me feel more relaxed about the scoops. I'll follow your instructions and will take a look at the car tomorrow at work.

[Krozi]

Originally Posted by val007

thanks for the quick reply, do you have the RPI scoops on your M3, what difference do you feel?

I installed them before I really drove the car so I don't really know the difference....plus they look sweet lololol

[stryker1]

Unless you go thru a monster size puddle full speed, otherwise bad downpour at high speed not enough water collects in those scoops to damage the system.

I would worry more about the intake below the bumper on the passenger side when going thru a large puddle vs the scoops imo

[2010e92m3]

I am interested also in RPI scoops. Is there any definitative proof at the track of improvement in times? Or only rolling road/high speed fan results.....