Tracking car hard in hot climate

[dreamdrivedrift]

It looks like it was the CSF radiator. I put an OE BMW radiator in with 50/50 water/coolant + water wetter, and tracked it all weekend. Granted, it was cooler, ambient temps in 40s-50s F, but water temps totally stable in the 170s, never needed nurse the car at all.

[eacmen]

It looks like it was the CSF radiator. I put an OE BMW radiator in with 50/50 water/coolant + water wetter, and tracked it all weekend. Granted, it was cooler, ambient temps in 40s-50s F, but water temps totally stable in the 170s, never needed nurse the car at all.

I made the same switch CSF to OE and been much happier. I cant believe these CSF units still being sold.

[CrisSilberGrau]

Wild to me that every person that's been with this platform and gone there and back with it all say don't go away from OEM radiator and still ppl do... Now we're also at the point where OEM radiators are not from Modine anymore which is sad, not sure if anyone has metered use with the new Modine "owner company" (name transfer or whatever.

In terms of oil temps, new OEM oil cooler and surrounding hardware new OEM is known to have drastic improvements on lowering temps. You have a 24 year old platform with 24 years of use that many times was not you at the wheel or underneath it to care for it. I see oil coolers as the only real improvement over OEM and id never give my money to CSF. d088 is where id go for a like OEM replacement with increased capacity and a lower weight penalty.

The only other options that I've seen on cars that see dedicated track duty (this means wheel to wheel race cars not time attack), is PWR. These cars do not have AC or anything obstructing the frontal area of the radiator.

[samthejam]

dreamdrivedrift Have you tried it in warmer weather?

[BTB]

I've been running a Bimmerworld/C&R radiator with no issues on track but will get the needle rising around town with A/C on at low speed (Austin, TX 100+ F). Do most people replace A/C condenser at higher miles as well? I'm at 215k miles on chassis, about 57k miles on this aluminum radiator. At this point I don't like to drive the car around town if its 90+ F outside. Not sure if others are able to blast A/C around town in hot climates but would like to address this if possible. Have OE oil cooler (few years old) and a Mishimoto electric fan

[dreamdrivedrift]

dreamdrivedrift Have you tried it in warmer weather?

Did a drift day and it performed, hoping to get it on track again in the next couple months

[bigjae46]

I've been running a Bimmerworld/C&R radiator with no issues on track but will get the needle rising around town with A/C on at low speed (Austin, TX 100+ F). Do most people replace A/C condenser at higher miles as well? I'm at 215k miles on chassis, about 57k miles on this aluminum radiator. At this point I don't like to drive the car around town if its 90+ F outside. Not sure if others are able to blast A/C around town in hot climates but would like to address this if possible. Have OE oil cooler (few years old) and a Mishimoto electric fan

Did you delete the pusher fan?

The condenser is what takes all of the beating - bugs, sand, debris, etc. I'd think that replacing it would help.

[elbert]

Did you delete the pusher fan?
.

This.

[bigjae46]

Wild to me that every person that's been with this platform and gone there and back with it all say don't go away from OEM radiator and still ppl do... Now we're also at the point where OEM radiators are not from Modine anymore which is sad, not sure if anyone has metered use with the new Modine "owner company" (name transfer or whatever.

In terms of oil temps, new OEM oil cooler and surrounding hardware new OEM is known to have drastic improvements on lowering temps. You have a 24 year old platform with 24 years of use that many times was not you at the wheel or underneath it to care for it. I see oil coolers as the only real improvement over OEM and id never give my money to CSF. d088 is where id go for a like OEM replacement with increased capacity and a lower weight penalty.

I have a CSF and I got lucky...it works as well as I need it to. My water temps used to be about 175 even on hot days before my oil cooler line o-ring exploded. My radiator now has a bunch of dirt and grime stuck to it so the car runs about 185ish now.

I think a lot of people compare a beat to shit OEM radiator to a new aftermarket radiator and conclude that aftermarket is better which makes no sense to me.

I will say that the car needs better oil cooling assuming the car is stock. Even a brand new OE oil cooler isn't enough. I think ducting the cooler out of the undertray would make the OE oil cooler borderline adequate.

I've been thinking about using a full face oil cooler on the back of the radiator. I need to find a 1" thick oil cooler, attach it to the radiator and close off any gaps so all of the air goes through the oil cooler. There are some other complications that I also need to work through.

[S54330Ci]

I swapped my OE radiator and oil cooler for CSF units. I also installed a BMW Motorsports thermostat.

https://www.bimmerworld.com/Motorsport-Thermostat-E46-M3-E36-Euro-M3.html

My oil temps on 90 degree (35% humidity) track days never go above 250 degrees and water temps stay around 178 to 188 degrees (per my ScanGuage). Typically run 20 minute sessions.

[elrichmeister]

I've been running a Bimmerworld/C&R radiator with no issues on track but will get the needle rising around town with A/C on at low speed (Austin, TX 100+ F). Do most people replace A/C condenser at higher miles as well? I'm at 215k miles on chassis, about 57k miles on this aluminum radiator. At this point I don't like to drive the car around town if its 90+ F outside. Not sure if others are able to blast A/C around town in hot climates but would like to address this if possible. Have OE oil cooler (few years old) and a Mishimoto electric fan

Not sure if you still have mechanical fan, but replacing fan clutch fixed my High Ambient 95F+ AC high coolant temps.

[Hotchkess]

I've been running a Bimmerworld/C&R radiator with no issues on track but will get the needle rising around town with A/C on at low speed (Austin, TX 100+ F). Do most people replace A/C condenser at higher miles as well? I'm at 215k miles on chassis, about 57k miles on this aluminum radiator. At this point I don't like to drive the car around town if its 90+ F outside. Not sure if others are able to blast A/C around town in hot climates but would like to address this if possible. Have OE oil cooler (few years old) and a Mishimoto electric fan

I’d be willing to take a bet and say your issue is the Mishimoto fan you’re running. From my understanding, the only way you’re going to have solid coolant temps while street driving and running AC in hot environments like here in Austin is if you either stick with the stock fan setup (OEM aux fan and clutch fan), or run the Mishimoto fan in tandem with the aux fan, therefore having a two fan setup. I’m running into a similar issue with my single Spal fan I’m running right now, and plan on switching back to the stock aux + clutch fan setup in the near future.

[Obioban]

100% correct. With both stock fans, and that factory ducting, you can happily blast the AC in any ambient conditions with no coolant temp rise.

[Tonggi]

I have a DO88 Oil cooler and radiator, 70C thermostat. Tracked at Sebring in 80 ish F temps with high humidity and I never got worried about temps, stock fan clutch and mechanical fan. 100% water (bcuz FL) the 70C helps keep car cooler at the start but once it gets to temps its useless and helps get the car even cooler afterwards since its cooling below 80.

All the E92 guys rave about DO88 so I jumped on it and I've been happy since. I think OEM was fine as well, probably would be awesome with the 70C as long as its cleaned up (the fins) from debris.