DCAI AT LAST

Needswings were as kind as to send the Double Cold Air Intake all the way to the north-east coast of Spain. Thumbs up to them. I’ve read in the forum that for N/As Crossies the Single CAI would suffice, but I got hold of the DCAI for the sake of symmetry and muscular look (the little, naughty boy in me). I chose the “uncoated” option, as I wanted it to match the overall “grey” and black looks of the car. The first thing I did was to sand and coat them with an anti-heat aluminium clear varnish (3 layers).


I let them sit for a day.

In the meantime, I removed the engine beauty cover, disassembled the car’s original plastic intake, the front grille plastic tube adaptors and proceeded to “thrust” the rubber connectors past the radiator. I then carefully bent the power steering tubes backwards into the radiator (following forum members’ advice) and installed the round K&N filters in place. It is a matter of millimetres, so make sure the metal elbows are pushed back as much as they can be; it will be impossible to reassemble the grille otherwise.


For the filters to fit I had to disassemble the horns, bend the metal plates that attach them to the body and screw them back in a vertical position.


On a different note, and a matter of personal choice (forum members claim to have driven through biblical deluges with no issues at all), I decided to purchase and cover the filters with the rain protectors as well.


Once the radiator bypass was sorted, I decided to connect the metal elbow to the throttle body. This is where I found my only BIG BUT to the Needwings DCAI. The MAF housing is made of metal, carefully welded and well-painted, but its connector to the throttle body is the weak link on an otherwise carefully thought-of design: a silicone ring with two clamps that are a pain to attach, as the throttle body original attachment rim is so narrow that unless it is ABSOLUTELY FLUSH with the silicone ring, it will slip out of place if you overtighten it or move slightly sideways when attaching the two main metal pipes to the Y connector that goes on top.

The other minor issue is that the MAF sensor new location gets in the way of the main brake line, so the metal pipe it is never 100% perpendicular to the engine. Not a big deal, but none of these issues are mentioned in the instruction sheet, or ways to go around them (or maybe it’s just me).


I know there is more than one way to skin a cat but, once the MAF elbow was finally in, I tried to connect the two large pipes from the top Y-shaped pipe to the bottom silicone tube. I wiggled and twisted carefully. For some reason or another, the silicone MAF-throttle body connector kept slipping out of place, so I had to restart the procedure all over again. After three attempts, at about 1 AM on a Saturday, I decided to leave it there and give it another go in plain daylight the morning after.

A towel to prevent accidental scratching of the pipes. All is very tight in here... Good night!

After a well-deserved breakfast and coffee, I decided to approach the job differently. I installed the DCAI working upwards, that is, from radiator to windscreen: connected the metal pipes to the lower end, leaving the clamps loose for final tweaking and readjusting. I then connected both intakes to the Y-shaped silicone connector, it to the metal elbow, connected MAF, oil catch can hose and then, wiggled the silicone ring into the throttle body until its rim was completely flush with the metal. Likewise, I proceeded to tighten all the clamps the other way around, from windscreen to radiator, and… it worked. I made sure both metal pipes and the bonnet did not touch anything, got into the car, started the engine, went for a test drive and fortunately no engine lights, no strange behaviour, no irregular idling. So far, so good.

Happy with the purchase on the whole. I will check that freaking throttle body silicone ring in a week or so to see whether it has moved, twisted or slipped out in any way. I’m no engineer but, why didn’t the designers go all the way to the throttle body connection with a strong and reliable metal ring ending that would fit snug with the throttle body (like the plastic original piece) instead of that cheap silicone solution? I fear that with the engine vibration, it may get loose/detached and all sorts of crap might get into the motor.

Please note that my comments only reflect my viewpoint and does not detract from an otherwise beautiful, well-designed and fully tested air intake modification.

FINAL TOUCH: I then proceeded to finish up the job with the equivalent Mercedes cover, just for tidier engine looks. As advised somewhere here, I purchased the #A1120100167 part, which I got for 20 bucks at a local scrapyard. I will repaint the Merc logo with a silver felt-tip pen for plastic in no time.

When trying to install it, I encountered two fitting problems: the radiator main hose and the oil filter cap. Nothing that could not be solved with some careful Dremel sanding.

I extended the original housing to the left using a Dremel.

Same thing with the oil filter cap. Extended hole to its new position.

I don’t know what to do with the hole on the passenger side. Maybe just live with it?

Don't know what to do with this, so I left it as-is.

Thanks for reading. Any advice/comment will be welcome.