[lowrydr310]

There's a lot of information about intercoolers for the 335i, however my head hurts from reading it all. Much of the info is old and outdated, comments like brand X have major fitment issues (but later got updated) or the connectors are bad. Or the 5" cores are no good and that 7" is better, or 7" has too much pressure drop for stock turbos, etc.

What's the latest and greatest recommendation in 2023? I have no plans for big turbo upgrades and am limited by 91 octane with no desire for ethanol blends or methanol injection, so my goals are modest. I don't mind trimming/cutting as long as I'm not removing any structural supports.

I am leaning towards the CSF 5.5" for the price (and performance) but read some negative comments about the factory style connectors in general. Just how bad are those factory connectors? There's also the price... it's about $150-200 more than many other popular alternatives.

BMS has a 5.25" non-stepped and ARM makes a 7" non-stepped intercooler. Are there any benefits of the stepped design vs non-stepped?

[Welcome to NBA Jam]

If you're stock, plan on minor tuning and don't want to upgrade your turbos, get one that:
- Fits without additional modification
- Uses stock connectors

Trust me, you will care way more about a simple and smooth install experience. You're going to get a better intercooler over stock no matter what you choose, that's a guarantee. Don't worry about claims like "Ours has more airflow because we remove the stock connectors" and stuff like that. They need something to differentiate themselves from the rest. Ultimately, you won't notice it at all. But you will every time you need to take the thing out and reinstall it.

Chasing boost leaks is really annoying, and driving the car around only to find out your worm clamp isnt tightened enough is tedious. That means jacking the front back up, undoing alllllll those bolts that hold the splash shield on, reseating it, putting the splash shield back on, getting the car back on the floor and test driving it again. Been there, done that. It's annoying, especially if you're driving after you think it's all tightened down and your lower charge pipe pops off.

I had a stepped VRSF intercooler. It's well made and a great price, but if I had to do it all over again, I would've gotten something with stock connectors like CSF. The less trimming and modification you have to do to get it to fit, the better. Go with an intercooler that simply swaps, grab yourself an OTS tune that takes advantage of it, and you'll be very happy.