M42club.com - Home of the BMW E30/E36 318i/iS
DISCUSSION => Engine + Driveline => Topic started by: rallycarcamshaft on November 14, 2006, 06:49:54 PM
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Hello guys/girls, have any of you fitted an oil cooler to your 318is's if so how do you fit / who makes the take of plates to feed / return oil from cooler.
thanks
jon finch (england)
P.S. i rally a 318is without an oil cooler and it gets pritty hot after a good caining!!
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I see second hand oil coolers from e30 325i's for sale often on eBay. Wonder if these would be easy to fit seeing they are made from a similar car?
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The hard part would be deciding where to plumb it in. The M42 has an internal oil pump and the circulation system is prettymuch closed off. You would need to tap into the lower pan and hook up an independent pump to circulate oil form there. You would definitely not want to run the cooler from pressurized oil from the stock pump...you would lose all presure in the system. Even still, I do not think it is really needed on the M42 unless it is a straight-up racecar.
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I think that would be complicating it unnessasarily.
The oil leaves the engine when it enteres the oilfilter housing, and when filtered it enters the engine again. I think i's there the oil should be circulated through the cooler. Some custom machining would be required, and probberly also some form of thermostat, For controlling the flow. So it wont be overly cooled. I think for competition use a restrictor might do instead. I've seen VAC has a similar product for the 6-cyls.
The hard part would be deciding where to plumb it in. The M42 has an internal oil pump and the circulation system is prettymuch closed off. You would need to tap into the lower pan and hook up an independent pump to circulate oil form there. You would definitely not want to run the cooler from pressurized oil from the stock pump...you would lose all presure in the system. Even still, I do not think it is really needed on the M42 unless it is a straight-up racecar.
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http://i45.photobucket.com/albums/f69/tom944/Bmw%20E30/26-04-2006/2.jpg
VAC Motorsports.
http://www.victoryproductdesign.com/engine_main.htm
(http://www.r3vlimited.com/board/showthread.php?t=66314&highlight=oil+cooler)
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As posted above - the VPD product seems to be the only one I know of to date.
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Hmmm. I was under the impression that the pump put the oil through the filter, and from there the rest of the motor. Seems like giong from there would cause a pressure drop in the lubrication system in the motor.
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On dry sump cars the cooler is usually placed between the scavenge stage of the oil pump and the remote resevoir. That way it doesn't interact with the engine oiling system which uses the pressure side of the pump to put oil from the tank into the motor. The tank is not pressurized.
On an M42 you would have to use a separate pump as noted above or use a filter cap that is in-line with the pressure from the pump. The literature for the cooler states that they use .5" lines to maintain pressure. Bash the cooler or a line and you immediately lose pressure to the motor.
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Im running an E34 M5 oil cooler on my M42. I plumbed the lines the same as the VPD oil cooler.
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Thank you for all the replies, the VAC Motorsports adaptor plate is exactly what I am looking for.
jon finch
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Does this item come with a thermostatic switch or is it sending oil through the cooler all the time? If so your engine will stay to cold, unless its a trackday only item
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The oil cooler has a thermostat. It opens at 248 F, i think.
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I have a 325i cooler at home, does that have a thermostat??
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Im running an E34 M5 oil cooler on my M42. I plumbed the lines the same as the VPD oil cooler.
Pics please.
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Do I have to use external oil filter with that cooler? I can understand how oil can go through stock oil filter and radiator, I think this is fake.
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Any body know the oiling circuit for an M42. I know it's picked up from the sump into the pump on the front of the crankshaft/front cover.
1) Where does it go from there?
2) Does all of the pressurized oil go through the filter first?
3) Is there a bypass in case the filter clogs?
I would only trust a system where the oil goes through the filter and then a cooler that used steel braid lines and aircraft spec hardware. It would also have to be maintained constantly as debris (like timing chain tensioners, etc. in our case) could clog the lines and/or cooler. The pressure gauge would need to show the actual pressure entering the engine - not leaving the filter.
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Pic of stock oil cooler of an e30 325i, now where would the theromstat be?
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The thermostat is in the adapter plate.