With so many cold air intakes on the market, a lot of us no longer use the stock intake plumbing. That leaves a gap, or opening, for air to wastefully be directed away from the radiator and into the engine bay. Since keeping this very hot engine cool should be a huge goal for all of us, STETT Performance decided to make a very nice and inexpensive mod to help force more air through your radiator. Air block offs or radiator sealing plates are common mods on other cars, so I was glad to see this item was now going to be offered for the N54.
The STETT Performance Air Intake Block Off is now available for the N54 in two different finishes. STETT has a black acrylic version or aluminum finish version. Both are very inexpensive and the installation is a quick 10 minutes at most. After a little thought, I decided to pick up the aluminum finish STETT Performance Air Intake Block Off and the review begins.
Experience with STETT Performance
I have picked up a number of items from STETT Performance in my modding process because their products have been great, their communication superb, secure packaging, and tracking info is always provided. When I heard STETT had the intake block off available at such a good price it was a no brainer. STETT as always was very helpful and knowledgable on their products. After ordering the product, I received the tracking info by email very quickly and was able to plan for its arrival/install.
The STETT Performance Air Intake Block Off came very well packaged as has always been the case with STETT.
The part was individually packaged and protected with peanuts.
My first look at the item showed a very nicely constructed air intake block off with a beautiful finish!
The STETT logo is beautifully etched into the textured aluminum plate.
You can see this is a well constructed item with professional craftsmanship.
As I expected, STETT provided a quality product, great communication, and superb shipment. Now it was time for the install.
Installation
This is going to be a very easy install for any novice. All you will need is a pair of pliars and a 3/8" socket head with a torx t-30 socket. Oh and 10 minutes of your time.
Pop your hood and locate the stock intake plumbing from the radiator section that feeds air into your engine bay. You will see two fasteners (highlighted with the blue arrow) that secure the intake plumbing.
Note, if you still have the stock snorket in place, you will remove the screws that hold the upper section intake plumbing in place. Since I removed the snorkel long ago, I just had to remove the fasteners shown with the blue arrows above. To remove them, grab your pliars and pull the center pop out of the fastener.
Now you can pull the fastener itself out on both sides of the stock intake duct.
Assuming you have removed the upper snorkel screws, then you can just pull the duct out by lifting it up and pulling it out of the car
This will expose the opening that the STETT Air Intake Block Off will cover.
To install the STETT Air Intake Block Off, you will need to remove two bolts holding the brace for your crash bar using a 3/4" socket head and torx t-30 socket.
As you can see in the picture below, this will give you enough "play" to slide the STETT Air Intake Block Off past the brace.
Now it is time to button things up. Simply re-insert the fasteners in the holes on the STETT Block Off, and press the rivet into the fastener to secure things, re-install the 2 torx t-30 bolts for the brace, and you are done 10 minutes later.
This is absolutely an install any novice can do with no problem whatsoever in about 10 minutes.
Results
The STETT Performance Air Intake Block Off is very rigid, so I feel confident it will not flex while the vehicle is at speed. The item doesn't interfere at all with your ability to close the hood easily. The appearance of the item is sharp and sleek. Here are the final results.
In terms of performance, I am not sure if I can tangibly measure the difference here without a track, but the point of re-directing the air to the radiator has absolutely been accomplished. The intake block off has sealed off the unused intake duct holes allowing greater pressure to build on the face of the radiator and that can only lead to cooler water temperatures.
Conclusions
I keep going back to STETT Performance because they have yet to fail me in any way. Their designs are always eye catching, yet very functional. STETT communicates beautifully, packages well, and always provides tracking info. They have been an A+ vendor for me thus far and continued that perfection with this order.
Radiator block offs or intake block offs are common on a lot of platforms. They serve to direct air toward the radiator when intake tracks are no longer using that air. The goal is to increase the pressure on the front of the radiator increasing its effectiveness. The STETT Performance Air Intake Block Off accomplishes this goal well with a rigid piece providing a snug seal. For the money, I just don't think you can go wrong with this one. The price for the acrylic piece is $16.00 and the aluminum piece is $24.00.
I have no doubt I will continue to purchase from STETT because they have proven reliable over and over again.
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