Easy on the flames guys.

Id go with an AEM over a generic Ebay one for a few reasons.

1. Many people have the AEM intake and are happy with them. No one has reported any real fitment issues, and you cant say the same about an unknown Joe Shmoe intake from Ebay. Its an unknown, so unless you know someone who has one installed, and have seen it, you have no guarantees aboout fit, finish, or reliability. If it doesn't fit or something is wrong with it, the pain involved to get your money back will be pretty significant.

2. The gains from a name brand intake like an AEM, are known and documented, not so with a generic. What is pictured on an Ebay auction usually varies from the product you will actually receive. Those Ebay auctions for gains of over 20hp for simple resistors that trick your car into thinking it is still warming up, and hasnt reached full operating temps are the perfect example of why you cant always trust something on Ebay.

3. Sometimes the lower price paid upfront leads to more costs later, not always making things the bargain they first appeared. A perfect example of this is the OBX vs Comptech V6 headers. I've seen/read the horror stories of OBX headers cracking a their cheaply done weld points, and they dont stand bytheir work. Never even heard of that happening with a Comptech, but if it did, they stand behind their products. I cant count how many times either I or others have said to themselves, I just should have spent a little more by getting ______ in the first place; I ended up spending more in the end. If it ever comes time to sell that mod, you'l get more for it, just like you spent more for it compared to a generic.

4. When I put alot of time in my car, I want it to look good also. Performance is important to me, but so are looks. Thats the same for 99% of the people out there. If not we'd all be riding around on light weight steelies with no add on body kits, rims, stereo, etc. I want to look at my car, and get a smile on my face. Putting in some high quality name brand parts does just that depending on what it is.