How To: 2011+ M37 Takeda Intake Install

Forum for Infiniti M37, M56 M35h Hybrid and Q70 owners.
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wideopn11
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Car: 2012 Infiniti M37x Moonlight White

Takeda CAI
Stillen exhaust w/ MeganRacing Y-pipe
SCALE coilovers 16K/10K F/R
Akebono BBK
Cusco strutbar
25mm spacers F/R
Uprev tune by seymore4
Location: Charleston, SC

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This is my write up of how to install Takeda (or other) intake on a 2011 or newer Infiniti M37.

The purpose of this write up is to provide helpful knowledge to anyone who may be attempting to install a CAI on the M37. Specifically I own a 2012 M37x and installed Takeda CAI part number TR-3008P available at http://www.tunerzstore.com. While I own the AWD model, this may also be quite useful to rear drive M37 owners. I am not a professional mechanic but I've done this on several cars over the years and I love to do what I can on my own. Enjoy.

Safety check, parking brake on, flat surface bla bla bla...

I'm going to glaze over some of the steps as the instructions provided from Takeda are adequate with pictures and in English. I'm going to mostly focus on specifics to the M37 as this kit is technically not built for this car but fits quite well with a few modifications.

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Since I have a strut bar I needed a few extra tools to access the engine cover.
Basically you need a 10mm socket and extension optional, flat head screw driver, pliers and cutting tools. The extra 17mm socket and 8mm hex key are for my strut bar.

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If you have a strut bar remove it to access the engine cover. Use a 10mm socket to loosen the 5 bolts on the cover; remove and set aside. With your flat head screwdriver to gently release the 8 pins holding the radiator upper cowl cover to the air boxes; remove and set aside. You should now have full access to remove the air boxes and tubing. (For both sides) Unplug the MAF sensor, remove the bolt holding the air box to the fender, loosen the ring clamps on the throttle body and pull out the air box and tubing. Carefully remove the MAF sensor from the old tubing and attach to the new polished tube ensuring that the opening in the MAF sensor is facing the cone filter for proper air flow. With everything removed its time to start installing the new intake.

Passenger side issue; the kit includes a 2" tubing to connect the side of the intake pipe to the existing tubing to the crank case but the plastic end is larger than the tubing so it doesn't fit. Potentially you could use a reducer tube to make the connection but I went another route for a cleaner install. My first thought was to get a 5/8' tubing and cut it fit directly from the crank case to the side of the intake but you need to make a 90 degree bend which crimps the tubing since it's not flexible enough. You could buy a right angle piece of tubing but I didn't need to because if you remove the existing tubing, turn it upside down and trim about 1 1/4" off the bottom it fits perfectly.

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Here is the final solution. Additionally the bolt holding the front of the intake to the motor fit without modification.

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The driver side presents a similar issue however the 2" tubing that come with the kit works fine. I might replace it with a solid piece of tubing in the future for a better/cleaner look but it fits and functions just fine. The bolt holding the front of the intake to the engine is a little hard to get to. Just unhook the clip holding the wiring so you can get a 10mm socket on it.

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wideopn11
Posts: 808
Joined: Mon Aug 06, 2012 12:27 pm
Car: 2012 Infiniti M37x Moonlight White

Takeda CAI
Stillen exhaust w/ MeganRacing Y-pipe
SCALE coilovers 16K/10K F/R
Akebono BBK
Cusco strutbar
25mm spacers F/R
Uprev tune by seymore4
Location: Charleston, SC

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I've been driving it, it sounds a bit louder and kinda angry at full throttle. I love it! It definitely pulls harder and is most noticeable as the revs climb past 3000 RPM. Between this and the Stillen exhaust it sounds amazing. I'm very happy I did this. Thanks for hooking me up RED_DET at https://www.tunerzstore.com/. Now to get an Uprev tune...

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RED_DET
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Well done, sir... we are an uprev dealer as well.

PostalsQ
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It would be interesting to see a side by side comparison of Takeda vs. Stillen 3 vs. Injen LT's. Great write up btw. Thanks for sharing. The tuning really does make a nice smooth difference.

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Dark_Knight
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I just finished this install last night and I was pleasantly surprised. When I did this mod on my 2001 GS3 it actually robbed it of some power. This actually gives it a bit of kick around 2,500-3k rpm. I also like that it's quiet until you get on it. Did you ever get around having your car tuned?

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Kprad12
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Car: Infiniti M37

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Dark_Knight wrote:
Thu Nov 29, 2018 8:37 am
I just finished this install last night and I was pleasantly surprised. When I did this mod on my 2001 GS3 it actually robbed it of some power. This actually gives it a bit of kick around 2,500-3k rpm. I also like that it's quiet until you get on it. Did you ever get around having your car tuned?
Did you look into the AEM intake designed for our car https://www.tunerzstore.com/Infiniti-M3 ... ke-m37-q70 it appears to be less as well. If so why not sure which intake to get.
Thanks

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Dark_Knight
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Kprad12 wrote:
Thu Nov 29, 2018 6:58 pm
Dark_Knight wrote:
Thu Nov 29, 2018 8:37 am
I just finished this install last night and I was pleasantly surprised. When I did this mod on my 2001 GS3 it actually robbed it of some power. This actually gives it a bit of kick around 2,500-3k rpm. I also like that it's quiet until you get on it. Did you ever get around having your car tuned?
Did you look into the AEM intake designed for our car https://www.tunerzstore.com/Infiniti-M3 ... ke-m37-q70 it appears to be less as well. If so why not sure which intake to get.
Thanks
I went with the Takeda because it's cheaper on Amazon plus it's metal as opposed to plastic like the AEM.

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cliffyk
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Dark_Knight wrote:
Fri Nov 30, 2018 8:44 am
Kprad12 wrote:
Thu Nov 29, 2018 6:58 pm


Did you look into the AEM intake designed for our car https://www.tunerzstore.com/Infiniti-M3 ... ke-m37-q70 it appears to be less as well. If so why not sure which intake to get.
Thanks
I went with the Takeda because it's cheaper on Amazon plus it's metal as opposed to plastic like the AEM.
The metal also improves the heat transfer from the engine compartment to the intake air (though this is not as big a deal as many claim); but it is cheaper to make as opposed to rotary or blow-molding custom plastic tubes--big molds like that can easily cost 10s of thousands of dollars or more...

Years ago we went through all of the aftermarket "CAI" intake stuff on the New-Edge ('99 to '04) Mustangs--most made no difference (other than the placebo effect of increased intake noise), some actually created power "suck-outs" in some rpm ranges because they were just pieces of parallel wall tubing, not tuned¹ assemblies like the stock intake (which BTW was a CAI, just like the stock intake on our cars).

THe only proof of any aftermarket intake gain is back-to-back "before and after" dyno runs--or even accurately timed rolling start 20-80 runs--the "butt dyno" doesn't count; especially if the intake noise has been increased by the new intake, the placebo effect of that is strong...

The M37 engine breathes through two 60 mm throttle bodies with independent intake tracts, that an awful lot of air for a 3.7 liter engine; for example my factory supercharged 4.6 liter 2003 Mustang Cobra had a dual 57 mm TB. In short, and in the absence of dyno charts showing otherwise, I will remain skeptical that there is any gain to be had by simply installing any aftermarket intake tubes...
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¹-- Intake air flow in a piston engine is not a steady flow of air but rather a series of pulses, each with a lower than ambient pressure head, a near ambient pressure body and a higher than ambient pressure tail--the opposite of exhaust pulses. And, just as in a tuned exhaust a properly engineered intake allows these pulses to flow smoothly at all engine speeds without interfering with one another. Some OEM intakes have Helmholtz resonators (odd closed boxes attached to the intake tract) to stifle standing waves that would block flow in certain RPM ranges, The early Miatas had such a resonator, removing it (as many aftermarket intakes did) robbed the engine of air at 2500 to 3200 RPM, costing 5-7 HP in that range,

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Dark_Knight
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I have to say the more I drive the car the more I like the intakes. It seems to have gotten a bit of a deeper growl since it's "broken in" I guess. It seems to start building up just below 2500rpm and then goes up from there. I find myself driving with the radio off more often. It also feels a little quicker like there's less lag when you step on it quickly.

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cliffyk
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Get thee to a dynamometer--the placebo effect of increased noise is a powerful force...

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Dark_Knight
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cliffyk wrote:
Tue Dec 04, 2018 4:50 pm
Get thee to a dynamometer--the placebo effect of increased noise is a powerful force...
I wish I would've gotten a baseline but I figured I wouldn't do enough mods to care about how much hp it's putting out. Now if I supercharge it then :biggrin:

EXSAVIER89
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Car: 2011 Infiniti M37

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Has anyone had any experience with the AEM CAI? I'm looking to make that mod here soon and wanted to know if anyone knew if it was worth it or not? I have a 2011 M37

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Dark_Knight
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EXSAVIER89 wrote:
Sun Dec 23, 2018 8:26 pm
Has anyone had any experience with the AEM CAI? I'm looking to make that mod here soon and wanted to know if anyone knew if it was worth it or not? I have a 2011 M37
I’ve only seen the AEM advertised for $350, unless you can find it for less I would say go with the Takeda, it’s $300 on Amazon.

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94Q45Beast
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I completed my base Uprev dyno tune already and will be going back after my CAI install to support with dyno numbers before product release ~ its a proper long tube 3 inch with filters behind the grille.

what you guys are feeling with the short ram intake is your engine finally breathing better, but its like going from breathing through a milk shake straw to breathing in a sauna

EdBwoy
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94Q45Beast wrote:
Tue Jan 08, 2019 5:57 am
I completed my base Uprev dyno tune already and will be going back after my CAI install to support with dyno numbers before product release ~ its a proper long tube 3 inch with filters behind the grille.
...
If you are making a "proper long tube CAI" for the M37, I think it will ultimately be beneficial to start a self-standing thread for that product in addition to this post.

You can post your performance numbers there as well as dyno charts for potential buyers to view:
  • Dyno & environmental info
  • Baseline numbers before tune
  • Numbers after UpRev tune
After CAI installation
  • Dyno numbers with CAI and baseline tune
  • Dyno numbers with CAI and Uprev tune
I'm sure most members will find that type of info very useful

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cliffyk
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IMHO, for anyone "making a "proper long tube CAI" for the M37" the first step would be to get at least a BS in Fluid Dynamics and then as minimal followup read John Heywood's, Fundamentals of Internal Combustion Engines and then Charles Fayette Taylor's Internal Combustion Engine in Theory and Practice (volumes 1 & 2)

I had the distinct privilege of studying under Dr. Heywood at MIT, he knows everything there is to know about Internal Combustion Engines, reality, urban legends, conventional wisdom, and "magazine mechanic" fantasy; aka just plain ol' B.S.

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wideopn11
Posts: 808
Joined: Mon Aug 06, 2012 12:27 pm
Car: 2012 Infiniti M37x Moonlight White

Takeda CAI
Stillen exhaust w/ MeganRacing Y-pipe
SCALE coilovers 16K/10K F/R
Akebono BBK
Cusco strutbar
25mm spacers F/R
Uprev tune by seymore4
Location: Charleston, SC

Post

Dark_Knight wrote:
Thu Nov 29, 2018 8:37 am
I just finished this install last night and I was pleasantly surprised. When I did this mod on my 2001 GS3 it actually robbed it of some power. This actually gives it a bit of kick around 2,500-3k rpm. I also like that it's quiet until you get on it. Did you ever get around having your car tuned?
Sorry I'm slacking on threads in here. Yeah I got tuned with with Uprev (well worth it) and added a y pipe. Pulls a lot harder when you stand on it. Next will be HFC and maybe intake plenium.

David__Allen
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Are there any intake options for this car similar to the popular “z-tube” mod for G35 coupes? I don’t necessarily need performance, all I really want is more induction noise (I know I know), but I’m not going to sacrifice performance for that by installing one of these complete aftermarket intake systems.


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