I have a 2012 Evo X with the stock intercooler, the previous owner spray painted it black so unless anyone knows how to get of the paint and make it look new I want to upgrade to AMS. My question is can the intercooler side panels still be put back on with the AMS intercooler because all the pictures I saw they are removed.

 

Yes, as long as you get a 3"-3.5" intercooler. I run an ETS 3.5" and i didn't have to cut anything or take anything off. People take them off b/c they thing it looks more aggressive however those side covers are actually there to channel all the air to the intercooler core itself and serve a perpose LOL...

 

Side covers should fit on the 4" as well. I have a Depo 4" and it fit in perfectly with the side covers off. Hell I installed the intercooler without even taking off the front bumper.


I find the side covers nice for 2 reasons: 1) They're there to channel air around the end tanks and to the side mounted oil cooler(s) as EVOX84 said. and 2) our intercooler end tanks aren't the best looking things to look at. I cringe when I see somebody with them off. Looks much cleaner and neater just seeing the core and not the asymmetrical end tanks which just makes the whole thing look like it's mounted crooked or not centered properly. Maybe that's just my thing.


But in summary, yes the AMS intercooler will fit with the covers.

 

The AMS intercooler is constrained *just* aft of the impact bar - the air guides actually sit a few millimeters forward of that "line" so just about any off-the-shelf intercooler you can find will fit and function (better, really) with the guides fitted in place.