E46 M3 C&R Oil Cooler

[sdwz_m3]

Looking to see if anyone has been running a C&R oil cooler.

For context, I am not experiencing cooling issues. I’m looking to replace my OE cooler that has debris, bent fins and high mileage. My oil temps don’t exceed 250 on track.

Bimmerworld claims it is more efficient than other coolers. I’m not looking for a csf cooler; I want a similar profile as OE to keep under the radiator.

TIA!

[PSUEng]

Good question, I find the C&R more interesting than the CSF due to the OE sizing (and not made in China). DO88 is another brand, I'd be interested in some cooling data on all these parts compared to stock.

[enjoy_m3]

No experience with C&R though I would have loved to have used it if my budget allowed at the time. I ran the d088 with my Koyo aluminum radiator. The oil cooler was slightly less than perfect fitment but still fit good. It had a small duct to direct air down in the back. With a build journal bumper duct, my water temps were always at around 200 if not lower on cold ambient temps and oil cooler, though saw normal s54 oil temps at the track, cooled down much faster on cool down laps than an oem. I attribute the ducting in helping increase efficiency.

[cornerbalanced]

C&R is the best in the business in my opinion—used on countless race cars

[sdwz_m3]

C&R is the best in the business in my opinion—used on countless race cars

Thanks all for the info. Pulled the trigger on the cooler; will update this thread (and hopefully) be able to report lower numbers.

[PSUEng]

I'm interested in your results OP, I may do the same. Please update us!

[sdwz_m3]

I'm interested in your results OP, I may do the same. Please update us!

Next track day is in two weeks. Unfortunately, I don't have a true temp sensor installed, so my AIM just pulls from the numbers that the CAN bus spits out. I've ready from other posts that the numbers are similar, but just giving some food for thought.

Regardless, a new gunk free cooler will give me a bit more piece of mind anyway.

[sdwz_m3]

C&R oil cooler installed. Here's my initial review, I didn't get out for a test drive yet. Photos to come in my next post. I'll start with the good:

It's almost an exact match of the oem oil cooler. It's an 1/8” taller, which makes for a snug fit in the oem shroud. It bolts up to the oem lines without an issue. I also received this within a week of ordering, so supply doesn't seem like an issue.

The bad:
Obviously the price isn't the lowest as compared to other aftermarket coolers. However, seeing that other aftermarket coolers are larger, and require other means of mounting or ducting, it doesn't seem like a terrible option, as the OEM cooler is now discontinued and scarce to find brand new.

I was a bit disappointed in the packaging of the cooler. I was expecting it to be in its own small box, secured with styrofoam at both ends (like CSF). However, it was packed in a large box, in a bunch of paper, with a sheet of cardboard protecting the fins. I inspected the cooler and found no issues, but I expected more from what seemingly is a “higher end” product.

Weight: Bimmerworld claims that this cooler weighs half as much as the OEM cooler “allows this stock-sized and stock-mounted cooler to outperform its OE counterpart by almost 30% while only weighing 2.6 lbs, or a little less than half!” This was a reason why I was so intrigued. After weighing both, the C&R came in at 2 lbs 7 oz, while my gunked up OEM cooler (that was 90% drained) came in at 2 lbs 11.5 oz.

To be honest, I wasn't expecting a 4 oz delta. Will be testing at Buttonwillow this weekend.

[sdwz_m3]

Photos below:

[BigRussia]

Been following this thread and waiting for your results my main intrigue for this oil cooler was the claimed weight savings but man that is disappointing its only .25lbs lighter than the oem. Thats a far cry from BW’s claim of nearly half the weight! Sounded too good to be true but with the ‘premium’ price i was hoping it’d be a decent weight saving delta.
Here’s hoping the cooling performance is a significant improvement over the stock cooler at least! I have no doubt youll see some improvement regardless just going from an old gunked up cooler to a fresh new one with clean fins regardless if its an upgrade.

I currently run the CSF oil cooler and its actually totally adequate cooling wise for track duty. My oil temps never reached 250F ever even in the hot summer months (water temps have always been my cars issue which switching from the CSF radiator my car came with to a new oem BMW one helped with). But my issue with the CSF oil cooler is that it was an extra 8lbs added to the nose of my already front heavy car, so yeah disappointing to see the C&R one isnt really lighter than the oem for the price its at and what bimmerworld claims, i always held BW in high regard and didnt think they'd do bs marketing like that.

[CrisSilberGrau]

Been following this thread and waiting for your results my main intrigue for this oil cooler was the claimed weight savings but man that is disappointing its only .25lbs lighter than the oem. Thats a far cry from BW’s claim of nearly half the weight! Sounded too good to be true but with the ‘premium’ price i was hoping it’d be a decent weight saving delta.
Here’s hoping the cooling performance is a significant improvement over the stock cooler at least! I have no doubt youll see some improvement regardless just going from an old gunked up cooler to a fresh new one with clean fins regardless if its an upgrade.

I currently run the CSF oil cooler and its actually totally adequate cooling wise for track duty. My oil temps never reached 250F ever even in the hot summer months (water temps have always been my cars issue which switching from the CSF radiator my car came with to a new oem BMW one helped with). But my issue with the CSF oil cooler is that it was an extra 8lbs added to the nose of my already front heavy car, so yeah disappointing to see the C&R one isnt really lighter than the oem for the price its at and what bimmerworld claims, i always held BW in high regard and didnt think they'd do bs marketing like that.

I hear you, but you're 8lbs heavier with CSF and you're upset cause you'll lose 8.25lbs if you switch to BW? Something doesn't add up.

Also other option is d088 oil cooler, which I think will be my next purchase since oem new is NLA.

I dont know how much lighter you can make an oil cooler with increased capacity and lighter weight without using some crazy materials or not making it street friendly.

It should also be noted that if oil temps are truly a main concern, then you also have to address the pass through air that just gets trapped in the front plastic cover. A solution to that would be the pow3r motorsport alu undercover with a cutout for the hot pass through air.

[sdwz_m3]

I hear you, but you're 8lbs heavier with CSF and you're upset cause you'll lose 8.25lbs if you switch to BW? Something doesn't add up.

Also other option is d088 oil cooler, which I think will be my next purchase since oem new is NLA.

I dont know how much lighter you can make an oil cooler with increased capacity and lighter weight without using some crazy materials or not making it street friendly.

It should also be noted that if oil temps are truly a main concern, then you also have to address the pass through air that just gets trapped in the front plastic cover. A solution to that would be the pow3r motorsport alu undercover with a cutout for the hot pass through air.

This post is a comparison of OEM to C&R/BW, and not BW to CSF. One of the reasons CSF is so much heavier is due to the additional oil capacity that it can hold. The disappointing factor here, was that the BW cooler was NOT half the weight of the OE cooler, as they claimed on the ad. The BW cooler does not have an increased oil capacity, and oil temps are not a concern, as noted in my original post.

[sdwz_m3]

Been following this thread and waiting for your results my main intrigue for this oil cooler was the claimed weight savings but man that is disappointing its only .25lbs lighter than the oem. Thats a far cry from BW’s claim of nearly half the weight! Sounded too good to be true but with the ‘premium’ price i was hoping it’d be a decent weight saving delta.
Here’s hoping the cooling performance is a significant improvement over the stock cooler at least! I have no doubt youll see some improvement regardless just going from an old gunked up cooler to a fresh new one with clean fins regardless if its an upgrade.

I currently run the CSF oil cooler and its actually totally adequate cooling wise for track duty. My oil temps never reached 250F ever even in the hot summer months (water temps have always been my cars issue which switching from the CSF radiator my car came with to a new oem BMW one helped with). But my issue with the CSF oil cooler is that it was an extra 8lbs added to the nose of my already front heavy car, so yeah disappointing to see the C&R one isnt really lighter than the oem for the price its at and what bimmerworld claims, i always held BW in high regard and didnt think they'd do bs marketing like that.

I am considering reaching out to BW and sharing my findings in hopes for them to get the ad updated. I’m only running a CSF rad because the plastic connections in the stock rad broke.

While on this topic, below are my cooling modifications to pair with my pending data:


CSF Rad/spal fan

AC deleted

Clutch/aux fan deleted

Oem air duct installed

Trackspec hood vents

LM 10W-60

[CrisSilberGrau]

sdwz_m3 I was referring to BigRussia 's post on the CSF vs OEM and noting he'd lose the 8lbs or so if he's interested in the switch to BW. Aware that we're looking at BW/CR weight claims. This would be a second product that has inaccurate weight claims (recaro podium).

For your specific needs, I can only suggest changing oil and having adequate ducting for the oil pass through air like this:

https://europowermotorsports.com/products/e46-m3-undertray-skid-pan

[PSUEng]

C&R oil cooler installed. Here's my initial review, I didn't get out for a test drive yet. Photos to come in my next post. I'll start with the good:

It's almost an exact match of the oem oil cooler. It's an 1/8” taller, which makes for a snug fit in the oem shroud. It bolts up to the oem lines without an issue. I also received this within a week of ordering, so supply doesn't seem like an issue.

The bad:
Obviously the price isn't the lowest as compared to other aftermarket coolers. However, seeing that other aftermarket coolers are larger, and require other means of mounting or ducting, it doesn't seem like a terrible option, as the OEM cooler is now discontinued and scarce to find brand new.

I was a bit disappointed in the packaging of the cooler. I was expecting it to be in its own small box, secured with styrofoam at both ends (like CSF). However, it was packed in a large box, in a bunch of paper, with a sheet of cardboard protecting the fins. I inspected the cooler and found no issues, but I expected more from what seemingly is a “higher end” product.

Weight: Bimmerworld claims that this cooler weighs half as much as the OEM cooler “allows this stock-sized and stock-mounted cooler to outperform its OE counterpart by almost 30% while only weighing 2.6 lbs, or a little less than half!” This was a reason why I was so intrigued. After weighing both, the C&R came in at 2 lbs 7 oz, while my gunked up OEM cooler (that was 90% drained) came in at 2 lbs 11.5 oz.

To be honest, I wasn't expecting a 4 oz delta. Will be testing at Buttonwillow this weekend.

I would definitely give this feedback to BW and that's an ECS-esque pack job IMO.

I'm primarily interested in the actual cooling ability--if it's better than stock, with an essentially stock fitment as you've mentioned, I'm in. The weight savings claim, while problematic in that it doesn't appear to be accurate, isn't such a big deal for me.

On a side note, I asked my dealer about the stock cooler availability and they told me that the new part number is 17-21-8-854-480, on order from the supplier but no ETA.