Wading depth for E92 M3

[besiktas]

I know this sounds weird, but today in Houston, I found myself trapped on a street with very high water during the rainstorm. To define very high, the standing water level reached to kidney grills, and went over the hood and up to the windscreen when trucks passed by. I plowed through with ~5mph, but have to say it was a nerve racking half mile drive. Got me curious, what is the wading height for this naturally aspirated beast. I guess having the intake up high and lack of turbos saved the day for me.

[spammysammich]

The intake is very low on an M3 I don’t know how you managed to not hydrolock.

[Reddevils7]

Bro wtf you drove thru water that was reaching up to the kidney grills?? Why? I mean I'm glad your car is good but literally one of the major entries into your airbox is at the bottom driver's side. Just because the intake sits high up doesn't mean it's entry point is the same. You can literally put your hand up this section in the picture and see it below the air filter if you remove the lid

[M3SQRD]

Originally Posted by Reddevils7

Bro wtf you drove thru water that was reaching up to the kidney grills?? Why? I mean I'm glad your car is good but literally one of the major entries into your airbox is at the bottom driver's side. Just because the intake sits high up doesn't mean it's entry point is the same. You can literally put your hand up this section in the picture and see it below the air filter if you remove the lid

What?!?! Isn’t the only inlet to the airbox the vent on the top of the hood?

[nick3753]

You should go buy a lotto ticket.

[e92dud]

There are going to be very few of these on the road with original motors if this keeps up. At least I now know if I get stuck in a swamp I won’t hydrolock. I’m interested if any other issues appear in the near future.

[besiktas]

Originally Posted by Reddevils7

Bro wtf you drove thru water that was reaching up to the kidney grills?? Why? I mean I'm glad your car is good but literally one of the major entries into your airbox is at the bottom driver's side. Just because the intake sits high up doesn't mean it's entry point is the same. You can literally put your hand up this section in the picture and see it below the air filter if you remove the lid

I dont think the intake is there, its very high up on the grill i think (and the hood)

[kolosy]

Originally Posted by besiktas

I dont think the intake is there, its very high up on the grill i think (and the hood)

it's 1000% there. yes, there's also a snorkel at the top of the hood, and that's probably what saved you, but it's very much there.

[omgzirra_exe]

Originally Posted by besiktas

I dont think the intake is there, its very high up on the grill i think (and the hood)

yeah you are EXTREMELY lucky...

there's 3 entry ports for the intake.

kidney grilles
lower driver bumper vent
driver hood vent

you should remove your plenum and really inspect it to make sure there's no standing water inside and that your intake is not wet assuming it sucked up a good portion of water.

on my S2000 i had a moment were i drove thru water and the filter sucked up a good chunk and made my car drive weird until it dried up..

[besiktas]

I got ton of leaves etc in the radiator area, and behind the bumper, need to clean that stuff over the weekend. I was considering moving to new M3 maybe i should switch to range rover

[spammysammich]

The snorkel in the hood is basically there to prevent the air box from becoming a parachute at driving speed. It does not act as an intake when the car is moving forward but will if you give it no other choice like submerging the other intakes at the bumper and grill. Go play lotto.

[nick3753]

I think OP is trolling us.

[RickP]

Next time, find a friend with a G8x M. Their kidneys can absorb the water.

[nick3753]

Originally Posted by RickP

Next time, find a friend with a G8x M. Their kidneys can absorb the water.

M3 drivers have no friends.