[fl335i]

Hey guys, been a while since I posted here... been on the E39 forum Anyway, my 335i is basically done excpet it needs an oil cooler. Yes lucky me, no factory oil cooler. I've narrowed it down to doing these 2 options.


1- Buy a factory oil cooler kit used, ebay etc and piece a factory OEM system on. I like the idea b/c it's factory, factory fit, finish etc.


2- Eveolution racewerks sport series. Obvoiusly a better performer.


I don't relaly track my car, but will the OEM cooler be decent? Tired of 240F oil temps in FL traffic. Generally speaking I prefer OEM parts. Just me...

[E90Company]

ER. I see 240 here with the factory oil cooler

[335xi Kevo]

No factory oil cooler, never over heated my oil stays around 240 at the hottest ever, even while ripping on it in the summer.

[BMWM.D.]

I've looked at the aftermarket oil cooler options, and honestly, I'm not really liking any of them. From the fitment to the lines and routing, none meet my standards. Unless you are tracking your car or driving it really hard on mountain roads, I think the factory cooler is just fine. It fits as it should and won't leak or have any reliability issues.

With that said, I wish someone would make a larger cooler core that could use the oem lines. That would be nice.

Oh, also keep in mind the factory oil cooler thermostat is 110 degrees C -- which is 230+. I wouldn't be overly worried with 240 degree oil temps.

[mundo74]

+1 to bmw md. get the factory oil cooler, probably used on the cheap then get a lower tsat if you dont like 240 f.

[Jeff@TopGearSolutions]

Well I can tell you with a factory oil cooler you will still be at 240 Oil Temps, unless you take out the thermostat. Then you might be able to see 215ish. The factory oil cooler is not that efficient so depending on how you romp on it and how hot it is it will likely still creep up to the 240 range but atleast with the thermostat out it will drop lower then 235 as the 235F area is where the factory T stat opens up.

Factory Oil cooled cars run at 235-245 on a daily basis when fully warmed up on a factory thermostat.

If your idea is to get down to the low 200's, get the ER Oil Cooler and take out the thermostat or get the factory oil cooler and realize it may drop it down to 215 at times, but it won't have the cooling capacity of the ER.

Cliffnotes:
Factory Oil Cooler and Thermostat- still 235-245F Oil Temps
Factory Thermostat Opens- ~235F
ER Oil Cooler- Has better cooling capacity
ER Oil Cooler if used with factory T stat will still be around ~230-235 Oil temps when fully warmed up
Get a lower T stat on either the ER Oil Cooler, Or Factory.

BMS offers a Oil Cooler T stat By pass.

[fl335i]

I think I've decided to do OEM. I forgot BMW's Tstate is at 235F. I have seen some 250's while romping in the summer. I back off the gas right away. So my engine has never seen over 250F oil temps. I think the 235 is a good temp for oil. There must be a reason BMW wants oil that hot. I know it needs to be over 212 to boil off the moisture. I just love how factory BMW parts fit perfect. I don't really drive my car hard. I drive it about 2k miles year on the weekends. Spirited road driving. OEM cooler is better than no cooler.


BMW MD- I've been looking since I bought my 335i back in the fall of '10. It's now late Feb '13. I too have not been wowed by any kit. ER's sport kit is the only one thus far I would do other than OEM. I can do the OEM for a few hundred bucks... I'm gonna just go that route. I don't want to hack up the bumper, brackets etc. And the factory cooler is probably all I need.

[jyeah]

Originally Posted by fl335i

I think I've decided to do OEM. I forgot BMW's Tstate is at 235F. I have seen some 250's while romping in the summer. I back off the gas right away. So my engine has never seen over 250F oil temps. I think the 235 is a good temp for oil. There must be a reason BMW wants oil that hot. I know it needs to be over 212 to boil off the moisture. I just love how factory BMW parts fit perfect. I don't really drive my car hard. I drive it about 2k miles year on the weekends. Spirited road driving. OEM cooler is better than no cooler.


BMW MD- I've been looking since I bought my 335i back in the fall of '10. It's now late Feb '13. I too have not been wowed by any kit. ER's sport kit is the only one thus far I would do other than OEM. I can do the OEM for a few hundred bucks... I'm gonna just go that route. I don't want to hack up the bumper, brackets etc. And the factory cooler is probably all I need.

I would strongly recommend ER's sports kits over factory oil cooler. There isn't really a good reason that BMW wants oil that hot other than to keep your mpg. It was BMW's decision to not include an oil cooler in the first place, too. Point being BMW does have good engineering, but the fact of life is that engineering is often about tradeoffs (cost vs performance), so not every decision made is to make the car better.

[fl335i]

^true. I'll price it up both ways and sleep on it. 220F Tstat would be nice. IIRC summit racing has some domestic universal oil Tstats... wonder what they have avail. Maybe I'll make my own kit. This isn't rocket science. I have hydrualic hoses repair or made for construction equipment all the time. And I've had DOT custom Brake lines made for trucks in the past. All here local in Tampa. I just need the OEM OFH that has the oil cooler connections and than that AN Block hose adapter.


Edit: I just did some quick searching. There are inline thermostat units. they are at 180F. Which is realistic. I just refuse to let cold oil run through a oil cooler. $75 +/- for these units. 2 hoses in, 2 hoses out. pretty easy. So, the ideal setup would be the ER sport cooler with the factory Tstat removed and modify the hoses to put the 180F Tstat inline. Or just say the heck with it, let the oil run at 235/240F and run the ER kit. Damn it. I just talked myself back into a ER sport kit.

[MiStR StEvO]

Has anyone experienced/considered the Dinan oil cooler kit?

[TurboBimmer]

Originally Posted by MiStR StEvO

Has anyone experienced/considered the Dinan oil cooler kit?

Very expensive, top notch quality but won't perform better than the ER sports oilcooler.

I highly recommend the ER oilcooler. The core in the factory setup is subpar.

[mundo74]

OP at 2k per yr even without a cooler the engine will outlive you.

bmw spends $$$ in engine development. ill defer to them for enginge operating parameters.

[Jeff@TopGearSolutions]

Originally Posted by mundo74

OP at 2k per yr even without a cooler the engine will outlive you.

bmw spends $$$ in engine development. ill defer to them for enginge operating parameters.

I'd agree to a certain extent but they also didn't intend to overboost a non oil cooled 335i like us enthusiast do....

Keeping that in mind I always recommend an oil cooler for non oil cooled vehicles, especially ones in hot climates.

[BMWM.D.]

Originally Posted by fl335i

I think I've decided to do OEM. I forgot BMW's Tstate is at 235F. I have seen some 250's while romping in the summer. I back off the gas right away. So my engine has never seen over 250F oil temps. I think the 235 is a good temp for oil. There must be a reason BMW wants oil that hot. I know it needs to be over 212 to boil off the moisture. I just love how factory BMW parts fit perfect. I don't really drive my car hard. I drive it about 2k miles year on the weekends. Spirited road driving. OEM cooler is better than no cooler.


BMW MD- I've been looking since I bought my 335i back in the fall of '10. It's now late Feb '13. I too have not been wowed by any kit. ER's sport kit is the only one thus far I would do other than OEM. I can do the OEM for a few hundred bucks... I'm gonna just go that route. I don't want to hack up the bumper, brackets etc. And the factory cooler is probably all I need.

I'd consider 240 degrees to be pretty normal for any N54, and as the factory t-stat opens at ~235 or so, it's where BMW wants the oil temperature. Oil "thickness" is highly dependent on temperature. Higher oil temperature results in less friction, which results in better fuel economy, reduced emissions -- and more power. Anyone who's done a lot of dyno testing should know that power almost always increases as the oil temp comes up (assuming the coolant/IAT stays constant). I think we can all agree that 300+ degree oil temps are bad, though. Lots of good reading on engine oil -- if you're interested in that kind of stuff-- at: http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/

I think the ER cooler looks like a decent option. It was the one I was leaning towards for an aftermarket solution. I just really don't like how the fender liner needs to be cut up, or the final look in the wheel well -- it just looks unfinished to me. I'm also not a big fan on AN fittings and lines. With something as critical as engine oil, I'm willing to give up some cooling capacity (aftermarket cooler) for a factory fit and reliability. In all my years working for BMW, I've never seen an OEM 335i oil cooler (or line) leak or fail. Definitely cannot say the same about the aftermarket setups.

[mundo74]

Originally Posted by Jeff@TopGearSolutions

I'd agree to a certain extent but they also didn't intend to overboost a non oil cooled 335i like us enthusiast do....

Keeping that in mind I always recommend an oil cooler for non oil cooled vehicles, especially ones in hot climates.

I understand but Im in so florida running cobb stage 1+ and I drive my car like I stole it and never seen above 250 with the stock oil cooler

[WylieKylie]

Noob question, what years, option packages, etc. came with the factory oil cooler?

[Blaster400]

Originally Posted by BMWM.D.

In all my years working for BMW, I've never seen an OEM 335i oil cooler (or line) leak or fail. Definitely cannot say the same about the aftermarket setups.

Okay this just convinced me to leave well enough alone and not install the ER Sport oil cooler sitting in my garage. I've see a few posts about oil lines failing with aftermarket oil coolers. I already have the factory oil cooler and I'd feel like a fool if i replaced it with an aftermarket oil cooler that later failed and caused engine failure.

Thanks BMWM.D!

[techwhiz]

Originally Posted by WylieKylie

Noob question, what years, option packages, etc. came with the factory oil cooler?

Sport for Pre-LCI then M-Sport LCI. There may be others but those are definite.

[4doorbmwpower]

QUESTION?! is anyone running ER competition with an M3 rep front end? if so what did you have to do to make it work?

[Jeff@TopGearSolutions]

Originally Posted by mundo74

I understand but Im in so florida running cobb stage 1+ and I drive my car like I stole it and never seen above 250 with the stock oil cooler

Well yea, the stock oil cooler is good enough on the street for most people.

However, some road course users find that they exceed 250 oil temps.

To be honest, 250 is at the MAXIUM recommended for most synthetics before they begin to lose their lubricating abilities. All super cars run at 180-190 oil temps even flogged on a track for 20 minutes.

For example my vette has never exceeded 190, and I've seen various supercars like GTR, Lexus LFA, Ferraris, Lambos ETC all in the same oil temp rating of about 200F.

Depending on the oil, some manufacturers say they have a boiling point of 400F.... irrelvant information however as it does not tell you when the oil begins to lose its ability to lubricate and begins to shear.

The higher the oil temp is over 250-275 the faster it breaks down and doesn't protect.

Historically you will see anything over 250-275 on most synthetics will begin to lose their ability to protect. You will find most races and every other manufacturer recommending to stay near 200.

I'm not trying to convince you to get an oil cooler here, but for anyone exceed 250 I would DEFINITELY recommend it.

[JamesM3M5]

ER oil cooler kit was poor fitting and lackluster IMHO, and uses a cheaper Fluidyne or Mocal style cooler while the Dinan uses a Setrab 625 with better fin/tube density and better cooling versus the cheaper cores. I have customers running both Dinan and ER with no issues on track, though. I have the Dinan cooler myself.

Oil temps should be kept in the 210-220F range going into the motor. Our temps are seen in the oil pan, where temps are the hottest. To truly see proper temps, you will need a temp sender after the cooler.