I cut a hole in the left side and a bit of the bottom on the left as well for mine.
Did it help, I am sure it did.
There was a retrofit(?) from BMW to the air hose from the box to the front of the car which added a spring, without it, that hose collapses. Putting holes in the box removes that possibility.
Like E9nine said, at stops, yes hot air is sucked but when moving it should be fine. It definately breathes a bit better.
As for noise, with the way mine is, under normal driving it is pretty quiet. at 1/2 to 3/4 throttle though it really gets noisy, but who cares when you are on it.
I like to say it scares women and small children. You can hear me coming if I am on it for a quite a distance (good for getting deer out of the road), but cruising is barely above stock noise levels. I like it. Definately turns heads around town when you punch it.