I finally pulled the trigger on a performance mod and I couldn't be happier with the choice that I made. After lengthy forum research I decided to go with a C&L Racer CAI from Brenspeed with their 93 Octane tune. It was a tough decision but I changed my original choice and went with Brenspeed over Bama because of the customer service concerns that I have read about and because I am a big advocate of receiving excellent and timely customer support. I can't tell you what tuner is better but I can tell you that I am very happy with my Brenspeed custom tune!

Install - The CAI install went well and the kit from C&L was of the highest quality. It was easy to complete but the instructions were pretty bad, if you can find them hidden in the MAF housing box. They didn't flow properly, atleast twice steps were skipped in the instuctions and it was assumed that you would complete that step. I could have installed in 1/3 of the time without them but I am maticulous and wanted it to be perfect. After the CAI was hooked up, I turned my attention to the tuning portion of the install. SCT does not supply instructions with the X3, which was surprising, but instructed me to go to a pdf file online. This was also very easy and it took longer to read the instructions then it did to install the tune. Plug in the tuner under your steering wheel and follow the directions on the X3, program vehicle, select tune, custom or preprogramed, it is easy and takes about 3-4 minutes.

Impressions - After firing the car up, I immediately thought that the car sounded different, not drastically but only in a suttle way and I could tell because I was stock for so long; my car sounded pissed off and that sounded good. Little did I know that this was just the beginning. Newbies without a tune but considering one should know that I was very pleased that the car did not have any residual effects (check engine lights) from the tune but drove like it was stock up until you get to 3,000 rpms; this is about when you crap your pants for the first time. When I accelerated I noticed that the car lurched forward at 3,000 rpms and started to pull harder than ever when stock. The roar it had at high rpms was awesome and I realized that I had just gotten into a new car, this was no longer the car I had driven stock for over a year. I also noticed a sucking noice when hitting the gas. My car was sucking in gobs of air, which was noticable by the "pssst" sound it made every time I tapped the gas and lastly, the throttle delay is gone, thank goodness and I can now burp my car when in neutral.

I hope this write-up is helpful for anyone considering a CAI + tune but is not sure of what to expect. I am very pleased with this purchase and would recommend Brenspeed to anyone.

 

Congrats! Welcome to the world of mod addiction- let the madness begin.

 

Thanks Tom! When I opened up my goodie box from Brenspeed, I noticed a Vista Blue S197 with white strips all over Brenspeeds publications. It was nice to see your car on their catalog and business cards and it sure looks good!

 

Congrats!! Everybody loves their intake/tune.
I haven't heard anything bad about Bama's service. I called him for an update tune, he was as nice as could be and the tune was in my email the next day and loaded with out issue. Oh well.

 

Thanks! They like to use my car only because their shop cars (they have four) are all Silver and basically all stock in appearance- total sleepers. Brent's personal car is all stock on the outside except for window louvers I believe, but inside it has a full roll bar, etc. and runs in the 10s through the quarter mile! So when it came time for publication, etc. they wanted to use mine since it has a little extra appearance mods. I get nothing for it though- other than the usual standard great service and awesome tunes.

 

Congrats on the new mod addiction.

 

I have heard that Doug is a great guy and an awesome tuner but that sometimes he gets so busy he can't get back to folks as soon as they would like him to.

Anyway, I can tell you that it is fun as hell driving this car right now!

 

SWEET!!