Posted this long ago on bimmerpost, figured I'd bring it over here as well.
I wanted a Mr.5 style intake, but was not satisfied with the 3" flanges currently available on the market. Metal flanges were extremely difficult to find, most are plastic. The easiest to attain is the Spectre plastic flange, which looks insanely cheap and low quality to me. Even if a metal flange can be found, odds are it has very sharp corners and are less than aerodynamic.
For the above reasons, I chose to buy a section of 6061 Aluminum tube and have a friend of mine mill it down into a nice flange. Notice the chamfers on all inside edges, which should cut down on turbulence exiting the pipe.
Attachment 17258
I then used Silicone II household/RV/Auto gasket maker/sealant to affix the flange, as it has a very high temperature rating (400 deg F), is waterproof, grease and oil resistant, stays rubbery and will never crack.
Attachment 17259
Attachment 17260
For the filter, I chose the AFE 24-91016 with a 3.5" ID mounting, 6" base, 5.5" top, and is 5" tall. The second pic shows the CP-e pre filter I got free with one of my orders... A bit small for the filter I used, but it works :)
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The adapter I made for the filter has a nice long chamfer, which mates up to the filter's inner curved transition quite nicely. In the future, I would not include the tapped holes for the bolts. When I did my final install, I learned that there is NOTHING to bolt anything to in that extremely tight space in the wheel well. Lesson learned.
Attachment 17263
Here is the whole system assembled. I ordered 4' of the flexible ducting from McMaster to be safe. I think my final version only uses about 2-2.5' though.
Attachment 17264
Overall the system works fantastic. I have not had to adjust anything, and couldn't be happier with my setup. I briefly considered either making a pipe or using silicone hoses to route the filter, but to be honest the flexible duct works very good.
For those wishing to fabricate your own flanges, here are the drawings I made:
Attachment 17265
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I would be willing to design your own custom flange and provide drawings if you made it worth my time!
Unfortunately, my friend has no desire to mass produce these, he made mine as a favor - so please don't ask :(