Lets Talk Oil Coolers

[TACOM3EAT]

pMak26:

I've run the Fluidyne DB-30816-24 oil cooler (https://www.turnermotorsport.com/p-5...r-db-30816-24/) on my track only M3 and couldn't be happier. It mounts in the original housing and cools the Total Quart 10W-60 oil nicely even at Road Atlanta and OIR in 95 degree weather.

Feff

What rad are you running?


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[bigjae46]

It has been brought to my attention that the stock oil temp gauge on the dash can be wildly inaccurate. I'm told it actually uses the ambient air sensor to help calculate the oil temp... wtf?? I don't even have an ambient sensor anymore.

So, german overengineering being german overengineering, I'm installing an real oil temp gauge immediately. I'll do some street driving and see if the temps correlate before deciding how big an upgrade to the oil cooler I need to do.

The stock oil temp gauge is in the pan, it was pretty much spot on with a sensor that I installed into the oil drain plug.

I have a second oil cooler mounted in front of the radiator. So the oil goes through the OE cooler and then this secondary cooler. It takes some time to warm up but I can still get into the 280s when its over 90 degrees. I can bring temps down pretty easily just by shifting at 7k rpm. I might loose a tenth or two per session. Under 90 degrees then I can run a 20-25 min session without having to back off. I also run BMW 10w-60. I think you can get lower temps with a different oil.

You have to keep in mind that shifting points will significantly affect oil temps. If I drop it down into 2nd gear I can peg the oil temps to 300 easily. If I shift at 7k RPM oil temps will never get above 240-250. So oil temp data points are meaningless unless you have some more info beyond ambient temps.

You have to think about what you really want. If you want to rev to 8k RPM every shift then you're going to need a LOT more cooling than the guy who shifts at 7k RPM. My oil cooler in front of the radiator setup is FAR from optimal for air flow, aero, and weight distribution.

I'm willing to bet that a second oil cooler behind the foglight with the proper ducting would further optimize cooling, minimize drag, improve weight distribution (I'm about 40lbs light on the RF). Also would be easy to block off in cooler temps. Another thought was a water to air laminova core cooler and connect it to ice water or a radiator mounted on the trunk.

[pMak26]

I run the csf cooler and have had zero problems evening during the middle of summer in Texas heat with over 110 f track surface temps.

I run a aim dash and the shop installed a sensor in the pan and block to get more accurate temps.

Nothing really special oil wise. Just the LM 10-60 although I’m likely to swap to redline to test them out.

Hmm, this is good to know. Do you have a picture of the front of your car? I want to see how much duct work is there to direct air to the cooler.

I ordered a gauge setup already, so I'm going to install that before doing anything else.

[sc_tr0jan_m3]

I run the csf cooler and have had zero problems evening during the middle of summer in Texas heat with over 110 f track surface temps.

I run a aim dash and the shop installed a sensor in the pan and block to get more accurate temps.

Nothing really special oil wise. Just the LM 10-60 although I’m likely to swap to redline to test them out.


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[pMak26]

It has been brought to my attention that the stock oil temp gauge on the dash can be wildly inaccurate. I'm told it actually uses the ambient air sensor to help calculate the oil temp... wtf?? I don't even have an ambient sensor anymore.

So, german overengineering being german overengineering, I'm installing an real oil temp gauge immediately. I'll do some street driving and see if the temps correlate before deciding how big an upgrade to the oil cooler I need to do.

[Feffman]

pMak26:

I've run the Fluidyne DB-30816-24 oil cooler (https://fluidyne.com/product/e46-bmw-m3-high-performance-engine-oil-cooler-28x3-5x3-5/) on my track only M3 and couldn't be happier. It mounts in the original housing and cools the Total Quart 10W-60 oil nicely even at Road Atlanta and OIR in 95 degree weather.

Feff

[Mr.wReckless]

No track experience, but: I went from a worn OEM to a CSF cooler. Noticed when driving normally the temps were slightly cooler. Recently did a major overhaul to this oil cooling system, had the oil filter housing off and fitted an oil thermostat delete. I've googled and learned that allegedly only about 50% of the oil goes through the cooler on our S54 M3's. Since it's generally a bit chilly where I live, I was now worried sending 100% of the oil through the cooler would overcool my car, so I fitted a Mishimoto inline thermostat and AN10 lines. Thermostat has 3 changeable thermostats of 71, 85 and 93 deg Cs but comes stock with the 85C.


My initial observations having run this for a couple of weeks. First off, it works, and I'm also glad I bothered to fit the external thermostat. Driving gently (i.e straight from home onto the highway sitting at 50mph in 6th @ 2200-ish rpm with 12 deg C ambient) my oil would stop heating up at approximately 75 deg C. I learned that the listed thermostat temps are probably when they are fully open rather than when they start to open, so I reckon at 75 my t-stat opens and I have to drive my car actively to push through the 75 deg C stop to reach 85 within any reasonable time ( I tested and after 20 mins the oil temp was still at 75C)

Oil temps still climb when driving actively though, but takes more effort to rise, wouldn't go as high as before if driven with comparable intensity and ambient conditions, and also cools quicker. I've also noted a slightly higher oil pressure, some for sure due to the cooler temps, but I notice with the temps roughly in the same region as before the mod, the oil pressure is still slightly higher, and I wonder if the shorter run AN10 lines compared to stock might be the reason for this?

My car also now uses more fuel so I'm gonna swap to the 93 deg C thermostat. I've also learned that at slow speeds the oil temps still rise, so with that said I would advice fitting an oil t-stat delete and look into airflow over your cooler to help you out.

Regards

[pMak26]

I have the CSF oil cooler. I run the car... hard. It's a full on track car (see my build if you want all the info). Anyway, the CSF cooler isn't cutting it for me. I want to upgrade to a Setrab or other cooler but I'm having trouble figuring out what size I really should run. Has anyone else run a different cooler besides the stock one, Mishimoto or CSF cooler? I'm leaning towards a Setrab Series 1 Oil Cooler, 50 Row that I can mount in the grill, right into the nice airflow. But I don't know if that will be overkill.

Any advice from experience of hard track use/endurance car running is appreciated!

Other pertinent specs: stock s54, only headers, nothing else for power and don't plan on upgrading the hp level.