Unofficial Eventuri vs Karbonius Plenum/Intake Comparison

[kcdedric]

Well here it is: an unofficial visual/install/sound impression of the Eventuri vs Karbonius plenum/intakes from someone who has installed both in the same car.

The setups for my comparisons were as follows:
Eventuri:
- CF Plenum
- CF Elbow/Filter
- Stock Airbox Lid

Karbonius:
- CF Plenum
- CF Intake
- CF Airbox Lid
- Macht Schnell (MS) Filter

Visual:
Pieces from both companies feel very high quality. The Eventuri undoubtedly has a better “finish” because of its use of a thicker clear coat. The Eventuri stuff is completely smooth across the outer surface with no imperfections whereas in the Karbonius pieces you can tell the clear coat is thinner. Because of this, you can see some imperfections in the surfaces of the Karbonius pieces (think pinholes and CF texture).

Weight:
All of the carbon bits from Karbonius are lighter than the Eventuri counterparts. If I had to guess I’d say the majority of this is due to Eventuri’s thicker clear coat on everything. Here are the weights broken down by component.

Stock:
- Plenum = 11lbs 4oz
- Elbow w/o Filter = 1lb 6oz
- Airbox Lid = 1lb 12oz
- MS Filter = 2lbs 2oz

Total = 16lbs 8oz

Eventuri:
- CF Plenum = 7lbs 10oz
- CF Elbow/Filter = 2lbs 4oz
- Stock Airbox Lid = 1lb 12oz

Total = 11lbs 10oz

Karbonius:
- CF Plenum = 6lbs 0z
- CF Elbow = 10oz
- CF Airbox Lid = 12oz
- MS Filter = 2lbs 2oz

Total = 9lbs 8oz

Fitment:
When I purchased the Eventuri I had an issue with the angle of the PCV inlet on the bottom of the plenum. I sent the plenum back to Eventuri for repair and when I got it back the fitment was OEM-like. The Eventuri intake is a little tricky in part due to the dust shield on the bottom of the filter and getting the angle just right, but overall a straightforward install with no issues.

The Karbonius plenum installed easily the first time with the lower cowl off. The angle of the IAT sensor attachment isn’t the same angle as the OEM plenum, but I had just enough slack in the connector to get it attached. The elbow of the Karbonius is where things start to get a little tricky. I initially wanted to try the ITG filter, but there was no way it would fit with my 2009 airbox nub so I retained my MS drop-in filter. It takes a few tries to get everything fit up but I managed to get it all in place. Then the issues began. The Karbonius airbox lid just does not fit like OEM no matter how you try to get it into place. My issue was specifically with the front corner where the air duct for the grills connects to the lower/upper airbox. The hole for the screw at that corner on the Karbonius lid does not line up with the lower airbox hole and the OEM screw is too short. I was able to slip that small elbow over the top/bottom pieces, but the fitment still isn’t ideal for the OCD. And I still need to source a longer screw.

Sound:
I’ll start by saying that I was expecting the Karbonius to be significantly louder than the Eventuri due to the lighter weight, but that wasn’t actually the case. The best way I can compare the two is that the Karbonius is more raw, throaty, guttural V8 race car whereas the Eventuri is more refined and exotic. I think it would be similar to how most people compare the Corsa vs Eisenmann Race mufflers. The tone differences don’t come across in video extremely well, but trust me it’s there. I think the Eventuri actually owes a lot of it’s exoticness to the elbow/filter design.

The Eventuri feels as though it gets increasingly louder all the way to redline. The Karbonius growls from any RPM and is more prevalent at lower RPMs than the Eventuri is. But by comparison, the Karbonius almost seems to fall a little flat towards redline where the Eventuri is just shrieking.

Both are unique and the sound really comes down to your overall preference. At the moment I still haven’t made up my mind as to which to keep. Not a bad problem to have, right?

Pictures:




Videos:

[Browntrash]

Nice. Thanks for doing this. What exhaust system is this... stock?

[akkando]

Nice thank you. If I get the eventuri intake I'll probably get the lid too, because..... 2020

[kcdedric]

Originally Posted by Browntrash

Nice. Thanks for doing this. What exhaust system is this... stock?

Stock x-pipe with MPE.

[slcook54]

Great comparison, thank you.

[M3SQRD]

The plenum + intake sound is influenced more by the filter than the elbow design. Using a MS filter with the Karbonius setup absolutely alters its sound. A better comparison would be using the complete Karbonius setup (which you weren’t able to) or the same filter on both setups. Including the weight of the (heavier?) MS filter in the total weight of the Karbonius setup also isn’t a true weight comparison.

[redline9001]

Get them on dyno and keep the one that make hp....

[Redd]

Would you say the Eventuri has a higher pitch sound than the Karbonius?

[DanMpower]

Thanks for the review!

To my ears, at least according to the sound clips the Karbonius sounds a bit better and more exotic actually.

Too bad you aren't in SoCal or else I would help you with the comparison by adding in the CarboProject Plenum Export Version or what I refer to it as the "Banshee version". This thing freaking SCREAMS and drowns out even my Eisenmann Race + X-PIPE/HFC combo.

[kcdedric]

Originally Posted by M3SQRD

The plenum + intake sound is influenced more by the filter than the elbow design. Using a MS filter with the Karbonius setup absolutely alters its sound. A better comparison would be using the complete Karbonius setup (which you weren’t able to) or the same filter on both setups. Including the weight of the (heavier?) MS filter in the total weight of the Karbonius setup also isn’t a true weight comparison.

I recall people in the Karbonius GB thread saying the ITG vs paper filter difference in sound was basically non-existent. I don't think the MS filter would be that different from those two. The Eventuri elbow has a different filter mounting design that is incompatible with other filters, so we'll never see an apples to apples comparison there.

Originally Posted by redline9001

Get them on dyno and keep the one that make hp....

8-10whp at best is pretty minor. This is more about the sound for me.

Originally Posted by Redd

Would you say the Eventuri has a higher pitch sound than the Karbonius?

In short, yes. But it's really only a noticeable difference at higher RPMs.

Originally Posted by DanMpower

Thanks for the review!

To my ears, at least according to the sound clips the Karbonius sounds a bit better and more exotic actually.

Too bad you aren't in SoCal or else I would help you with the comparison by adding in the CarboProject Plenum Export Version or what I refer to it as the "Banshee version". This thing freaking SCREAMS and drowns out even my Eisenmann Race + X-PIPE/HFC combo.

The sound clips are pretty accurate from a volume perspective, but the tone just wasn't captured the way you notice it in person. The Karbonius is deeper and more throaty, especially at lower RPMs. So much so that at a certain RPM I actually felt the resonance of the induction through the car which I must say was awesome. BUT, I think back to the tone of the Eventuri at higher RPMs and it makes me want to put it back on. I'm curious about the Karbonius plenum + Eventuri elbow/filter - maybe the best of both worlds? The CF weave wouldn't quite match and that would drive my OCD crazy so I think I'm better off not trying it

[Icecreamfoo]

It would be interesting if you can line up another Karbonius car with the non-"M V8" plenum design.

From one of the prior conversations I had with the builder, there are actually sound differences between the original plenum design that has just the BMW roundel and the later-added design that carries the M V8 logo.

[tlow98]

Thanks for going through the effort kcdedric ! This is great.

I'm digging that race-car Karbonius on the microphone.

DanMpower Would be great to hear yours too! Maybe ask the OP what he used for a mic and where he placed it?

Again, really appreciate these kinds of comparisons!

[Not Sure]

awesome job, kcdedric. i have the eventuri plenum and intake elbow. love it. slightly jealous of the karbonius' lighter weight, though.

[kcdedric]

Originally Posted by Icecreamfoo

It would be interesting if you can line up another Karbonius car with the non-"M V8" plenum design.

From one of the prior conversations I had with the builder, there are actually sound differences between the original plenum design that has just the BMW roundel and the later-added design that carries the M V8 logo.

That is interesting, thanks for sharing! I wonder if the BMW roundel version allows for less flex up top and thus a more throaty sound.

Originally Posted by tlow98

Thanks for going through the effort kcdedric ! This is great.

I'm digging that race-car Karbonius on the microphone.

DanMpower Would be great to hear yours too! Maybe ask the OP what he used for a mic and where he placed it?

Again, really appreciate these kinds of comparisons!

Sound clips were taken with an iPhone 12 Pro being held by a passenger in the passenger seat. Nothing fancy, windows up.

Originally Posted by Not Sure

awesome job, kcdedric. i have the eventuri plenum and intake elbow. love it. slightly jealous of the karbonius' lighter weight, though.

At least the heavier weight of the Eventuri plenum is mostly at the bottom. That's how it felt holding one in each hand anyways. I really was surprised how much lighter the Karbonius plenum was though. 1lb 10oz is not insignificant for a piece of that size, and to still be slightly larger is pretty remarkable.

[DukeofAlexandria]

I feel like this topic has been beat to death ha.

IMO, $2.5K+ for some sound (which is negligible if you have a louder exhaust setup) and only 6-10HP is just....that's just insane to me.

That's nearly half way to a new out of the box SC kit, I just can't get behind stuff like this. Sure it looks cool, but it's more aesthetics and I'm more of a practical usability type of guy.

To each their own I suppose, good luck!

-Duke

[BayE30]

Originally Posted by DukeofAlexandria

I feel like this topic has been beat to death ha.

IMO, $2.5K+ for some sound (which is negligible if you have a louder exhaust setup) and only 6-10HP is just....that's just insane to me.

That's nearly half way to a new out of the box SC kit, I just can't get behind stuff like this. Sure it looks cool, but it's more aesthetics and I'm more of a practical usability type of guy.

To each their own I suppose, good luck!

-Duke

not everybody mods for power gains.

i love the N/A aspect of the s65, and have always admired the induction noises of past M cars utilizing CF manifolds. For people like me, these CF plenum were a no brainer.

[UBERV8]

Originally Posted by DukeofAlexandria

I feel like this topic has been beat to death ha.

IMO, $2.5K+ for some sound (which is negligible if you have a louder exhaust setup) and only 6-10HP is just....that's just insane to me.

That's nearly half way to a new out of the box SC kit, I just can't get behind stuff like this. Sure it looks cool, but it's more aesthetics and I'm more of a practical usability type of guy.

To each their own I suppose, good luck!

-Duke

I kind of feel this way too, but I also have a feeling it's one of those "don't knock it til you try it" things were it's actually 10x better in person.

[wyatth]

Great stuff! Do you feel one tone matches the MPE a little better? Thinking Karbo ...

[kcdedric]

Originally Posted by wyatth

Great stuff! Do you feel one tone matches the MPE a little better? Thinking Karbo ...

I'd agree with you. The induction resonance of the Karbonius plays really nicely with the natural resonance of the MPE in the 3.5-4.5K range. Both plenum choices make significantly more noise WOT than the MPE alone though.

I think my next experiment will be to remove the bottom section of the cowl entirely since I'm already running the BMS cowl filters and my car doesn't see rain. I really want the Karbonius to be a little louder at high RPMs and then I think it's my perfect setup.

[wyatth]

Right on. I love the MPE but it is quiet.

[akkando]

Originally Posted by DukeofAlexandria

I feel like this topic has been beat to death ha.

IMO, $2.5K+ for some sound (which is negligible if you have a louder exhaust setup) and only 6-10HP is just....that's just insane to me.

That's nearly half way to a new out of the box SC kit, I just can't get behind stuff like this. Sure it looks cool, but it's more aesthetics and I'm more of a practical usability type of guy.

To each their own I suppose, good luck!

-Duke

We already had this conversation on imgur when you commented on my pic dump.

The induction noise from the plenum drowns out my Corsa muffler at full throttle. If it's not weird people spend money on an exhaust for sound, I don't see why spending on the intake system for sound is weird. Also it's not hard to come across a car with a loud exhaust, but 8 throttle bodies make the induction sound really unique on this car. I think it plays to this car's strengths to amp up the induction noise.

Yea you could take the money spent on making the car sound great and put it toward performance, but you could also just buy a car that's faster than 2008 platform that was never cheap power to begin with. I mean you could have just bought a 335i and throw on some bigger turbos and a tune and come out ahead on performance and price.

[kcdedric]

Update: took off the bottom section of the cowl and went for another test drive with the Karbonius. Verdict: I don't think the intake noise could possibly get any better. I mean, my god.

I'll let the video do the talking: