ER Charge pipe fitment

[Blaumph]

Hey guys,
I recently got an ER charge pipe for my 35i and could not get it to fit. When the pipe was fully sealed with the throttle body, it was quite off at the intercooler piping side. Also it didn't seem to lineup just right with the mounting bracket. Anyone get this to fit with the stock intercooler/piping?

[Twix]

Is that charge pipe designed for a 3er or a 1er? I think I've read on these forums somewhere that the intercooler has a smaller inlet than the other 35i cars. You could always get a house that fits and cut it then slip over the new pipe and seal it all with silicon. I had to do that for my thunderbird intake

[paradoxical3]

I have the ER chargepipe and it does fit. It's just a pain in the ass to get it to line up (all of them are). Do not be afraid to use some force, just be careful not to crack the plastic intercooler piping.

The biggest tip I have is spray the outside end of the pipe and the inside of the rubber sleeve with some hairspray or quick detailer. This acts as lube to allow you to reposition the pipe more easily, but will dry up and help seal after a minute or two.

The way I install it is:

1. Put the rubber sleeve on the plastic intercooler piping first.
2. Install the throttle body end of the chargepipe with that metal C clamp
3. Rotate the chargepipe and force the plastic sleeve over the end.
4. Move it around until it fits and you can install that bolt that secures the chargepipe to the mount.

[Blaumph]

Originally Posted by Twix

Is that charge pipe designed for a 3er or a 1er? I think I've read on these forums somewhere that the intercooler has a smaller inlet than the other 35i cars. You could always get a house that fits and cut it then slip over the new pipe and seal it all with silicon. I had to do that for my thunderbird intake

I ordered it from BMS. I actually thought it would be one of their own CP's but they sent me an ER CP. As far as I know, ER makes only one CP for E platform 135/335's.

[Blaumph]

Originally Posted by paradoxical3

I have the ER chargepipe and it does fit. It's just a pain in the ass to get it to line up (all of them are). Do not be afraid to use some force, just be careful not to crack the plastic intercooler piping.

The biggest tip I have is spray the outside end of the pipe and the inside of the rubber sleeve with some hairspray or quick detailer. This acts as lube to allow you to reposition the pipe more easily, but will dry up and help seal after a minute or two.

The way I install it is:

1. Put the rubber sleeve on the plastic intercooler piping first.
2. Install the throttle body end of the chargepipe with that metal C clamp
3. Rotate the chargepipe and force the plastic sleeve over the end.
4. Move it around until it fits and you can install that bolt that secures the chargepipe to the mount.

That's actually pretty much the same steps I did when I tried to install it. Except I used WD-40 as lube on the rubber tubing. It was so far off on the IC side, I decided to try and see if it would come close to lining up without the rubber tube.

With the throttle body side attached properly, the intercooler side of the charge pipe was about an inch off to the side and almost right up against the IC pipe. I couldn't see how it would be possible to put the rubber tubing far enough onto the IC pipe that I could then put the CP into it.

I'm gonna give it another try this weekend and take some pictures as well, as I assume I'm gonna fail again. Thanks for the replies so far guys! I appreciate it.

[paradoxical3]

Originally Posted by Blaumph

That's actually pretty much the same steps I did when I tried to install it. Except I used WD-40 as lube on the rubber tubing. It was so far off on the IC side, I decided to try and see if it would come close to lining up without the rubber tube.

With the throttle body side attached properly, the intercooler side of the charge pipe was about an inch off to the side and almost right up against the IC pipe. I couldn't see how it would be possible to put the rubber tubing far enough onto the IC pipe that I could then put the CP into it.

I'm gonna give it another try this weekend and take some pictures as well, as I assume I'm gonna fail again. Thanks for the replies so far guys! I appreciate it.

It's actually really hard to explain, but the way the pipe is bent is that you can kind of twist it and it works. It's all about the angle of the pipe.

I know exactly what you mean when it looks so far off on the intercooler side, but the trick I use is to try to force the mounting hole for the bolt to line up. When you first attach the pipe to the throttle body the pipe will probably be at the wrong angle to put the bolt through the hole. If you twist the pipe to make the tab on the pipe match the bolt mounting hole, it will be easier to force the silicon sleeve on. But make no mistake, I definitely had to use some force to get the sleeving on.

[Twix]

Sounds like this piece is machine made. Hammer fitted.

[Blaumph]

Update:
Finally had a chance today to work on the car. It wasn't easy but I was able to get the CP on there. I didn't think it would be possible to bend that rubber tube almost 90 degrees and twist/feed the CP into it, but it worked. Thanks again for the advice Paradox.

While I was at it, I decided to install the flex fuel wires as well. Took a drive to the closest e85 station, which unfortunately is about 25 miles away. Anyways, holy mother of god.... I was hitting 18psi. I thought map 5 only went to 16psi or maybe 17. It was pretty damn impressive on the butt dyno.

Only issue I'm having with the CP so far is finding how tight the clamp needs to be on the rubber tube (DP side). The rubber tube won't stay flush to the lip of the DP tube and seems to be slowly working it's way off. I've had to adjust and retighten a couple times so far.

[wantm135i]

ive been looking at the charge pipe at burger for the n55 and the chargepipe that er sells. the charge pipe that er sells n55 looks longer. is this so? looks like it

[Blaumph]

Originally Posted by wantm135i

ive been looking at the charge pipe at burger for the n55 and the chargepipe that er sells. the charge pipe that er sells n55 looks longer. is this so? looks like it

I don't know how long the BMS charge pipe is compared to the ER. But I thought the same thing from the pictures. I actually ordered the BMS CP through Burger, but they shipped me an ER pipe. Apparently the BMS CP's are on backorder. Anyways, when I first tried to install it, I thought for sure there was no way it would fit. But it does, and it's probably a good thing that there isn't much of a gap between the two pipes. Less rubber tubing being made to handle all that pressure.