E36 M3 Evo oil cooling
Discussion
I took my std M3 evo on track recently and it behaved impeciably with the exception that the oil temperature.
A friend has said that this is comon and thus I figure the guys who regularly track theirs must put a cooler on it so was wondering what people have done and how just so I can get ideas before I start buying parts.
any pics or advice would be appreciated
A friend has said that this is comon and thus I figure the guys who regularly track theirs must put a cooler on it so was wondering what people have done and how just so I can get ideas before I start buying parts.
any pics or advice would be appreciated
Concerned my oil was running too hot on track, I did a little survey of all the guys I knew running e36 M3s on track, about 10 cars all in all.
The main percentage ran bang in the middle or at a fraction over the middle even on hot days- (there are Farenheit & Centigrade types of guage on difernt cars but middle roughly equates to 100deg C) only 2 cars + mine of all those were running higher.
I was seeing up to 130deg C, about 3/4s on the guage, had no other issues & was fine on road or brief track, but on longer sessions I just diddnt like to see my oil so hot.
I recently put in a new cooler ordered from ecp for a 325td as bmw prices are silly & is the same part no, & when it arrived is one row larger than stock so hardly a big increase but every little helps as Asda say
& it has done the job perfectly, just done 3 scorching track days in france & temps bang in the middle to a fraction over, perfect.
Also the oil cooler ducting can & does either become dislodged or sag down & block the airflow, mine was sagging & not looking too heathy, so put a new set up on it ditching the stock ducting & built from a couple of carbon sheets & it seems to work v well.
The main percentage ran bang in the middle or at a fraction over the middle even on hot days- (there are Farenheit & Centigrade types of guage on difernt cars but middle roughly equates to 100deg C) only 2 cars + mine of all those were running higher.
I was seeing up to 130deg C, about 3/4s on the guage, had no other issues & was fine on road or brief track, but on longer sessions I just diddnt like to see my oil so hot.
I recently put in a new cooler ordered from ecp for a 325td as bmw prices are silly & is the same part no, & when it arrived is one row larger than stock so hardly a big increase but every little helps as Asda say
& it has done the job perfectly, just done 3 scorching track days in france & temps bang in the middle to a fraction over, perfect.Also the oil cooler ducting can & does either become dislodged or sag down & block the airflow, mine was sagging & not looking too heathy, so put a new set up on it ditching the stock ducting & built from a couple of carbon sheets & it seems to work v well.
Edited by iguana on Monday 24th August 10:33
Last track outing saw my oil temp get up to 300F, which worried me somewhat.
A friend of mine with a 3.0 was also getting the same temps, and that was with a new cooler fitted.
They seem to run just over midway, or right up at 300F. I can't get to the bottom of why mine runs hotter though - the cooler is good, it was fresh oil, the ducting is all there...
A friend of mine with a 3.0 was also getting the same temps, and that was with a new cooler fitted.
They seem to run just over midway, or right up at 300F. I can't get to the bottom of why mine runs hotter though - the cooler is good, it was fresh oil, the ducting is all there...
niels said:
what oil are you using andy?
since I got the new castrol 10W60, temperature increased more than 10 degrees celsius at high labor. At top speed a get 120-130 degrees easily now. In normal use its a bit cooler than before, not more than 90 degrees.
cheers
Niels
That's because it's 60 weight at high temperatures, it's thicker than you should be using.since I got the new castrol 10W60, temperature increased more than 10 degrees celsius at high labor. At top speed a get 120-130 degrees easily now. In normal use its a bit cooler than before, not more than 90 degrees.
cheers
Niels
Use a thinner oil on track, 0W40 to 10W40. Oil temperatures will drop and you'll also gain power.
I use 10W40 on track and have never had an issue.
I bow to the judgement of someone who knows about these things (not me), in the words of Simon from Opieoil "The answer is that thinner oils flow and cool better than thicker ones. Unless 10w-60 is an absolute requirement per BMW, don't use it!"
On the M3 only the S54 requires 10W60, the S50 doesn't.
As for the oil cooler the oil flow through it is controlled by a thermostat in the oil filter housing. If that is not opening then no cooling. It only opens partially anyway, you can get kits to change it to open fully. Check out Bimmerworld or CA Automotive for "oil cooler diverter valve".
Mroad said:
As for the oil cooler the oil flow through it is controlled by a thermostat in the oil filter housing. If that is not opening then no cooling. It only opens partially anyway, you can get kits to change it to open fully. Check out Bimmerworld or CA Automotive for "oil cooler diverter valve".
I've seen the part available, but do you know how to fit it? If so, could you give me a run-through please?This sounds like a promising mod for a track car... very interested in hearing more about it.
Ive been under the car and I think my main problem is a combination of the oil cooler looking absolutelly nackered and that the ducting to the cooler is all missing.
Im going to sort some ducting out and I have given it a fresh oil change of 0/40 mobile 1 and I am going to umm and arr about if I try another track day to see if it gets hot before I replace the expensive cooler.
Ive been under the car and I think my main problem is a combination of the oil cooler looking absolutelly nackered and that the ducting to the cooler is all missing.
Im going to sort some ducting out and I have given it a fresh oil change of 0/40 mobile 1 and I am going to umm and arr about if I try another track day to see if it gets hot before I replace the expensive cooler.
Before swapping my M3 engine into my track car, I have been looking at swapping oil coolers with my GF's 325td. It turns out the TD uses the same oil cooler as the M3, it's the TDS that uses the bigger oil cooler:
http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?model=CC22...
http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?model=CF92...
http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?model=CC22...
http://www.realoem.com/bmw/showparts.do?model=CF92...
i found changing the oil to silkolene 5w 40 causes mine to run approx 10c lower during fast road driving than the previous oil. not sure what was in it when i purchased it. see how it behaves at brands on thursday (if it doesnt rain) and will report back.
dan - are you on the bmw day at brands?
dan - are you on the bmw day at brands?
Edited by 318is boy on Tuesday 24th November 17:47
dan101smith said:
Friend of mine was having issues with oil cooling on his 3.0. He has fitted stat blanks for the oil and coolant, and now no more problems.
Having seen the size difference between the M3 and TDS coolers, I can't imagine it'll make a huge difference.
O/T - Did you receive the ARPs?
Where can I get the stat blanks from? Engine goes in the track car next week so would be nice to get all the jobs sorted first.Having seen the size difference between the M3 and TDS coolers, I can't imagine it'll make a huge difference.
O/T - Did you receive the ARPs?
If the tds cooler has 7 rows instead of 6 then that's a 17% improvement, every little helps I suppose.
Got the bolts fine thanks Dan, sorry I hadn't mentioned it.
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