Mishimoto F3X Intercooler R&D Thread

[Mishimoto]

The garage at our R&D facility has been graced with the gorgeous ’14 335i M-Sport so we can work on the development of a performance intercooler. Unfortunately, our engineers were eager to get started so I didn’t have a chance to get any shots of it in one piece, but I’m hoping to get some with the next update!





As always, a full write up of the first part of the project can be viewed on our Engineering Blog, so I’ll give you guys the condensed version here.







This intercooler project is probably one of the trickiest ones yet, for a few reasons. The first is the fact that BMW is on top of these things when they’re initially designing their Ultimate Driving machine. The stock intercooler unit has a good core volume and fin density to provide adequate cooling of your charged air while cruising down the highway. On top of that, the inlets also have built in diverters to make sure that the entirety of the core is being used. All are characteristics of a solid unit, but few have a few tricks up our sleeve.





The next issue we’re facing is just the sheer amount of shrouding and duct work under the fascia. At this stage we’re still trying to work on a design that retains the factory trim, and shrouds without trimming, but some pieces may have to be removed if we’re going to make an intercooler that can compete. On top of that, we have limited space between the crash bar and the primary radiator and AC condenser, which we would rather not impede.





Our engineers are already hard at work on our new design, since we have a limited time with our loaner F30, so keep an eye out for an update very soon (hopefully by the end of the week).





Thanks, and feel free to ask any questions!


- Nick

[Mishimoto]

Hey guys, also, we're still looking for some loaner vehicles in the Delaware area to test fit our design with some different configurations. Here's the full list of the models that we're still looking for:

• '14-'16 228i
• '14-'16 235i/M235i
• 2013+ 320i
• '12-'16 328i/335i without the M-Sport package
• '14-16 428i/435i
• 2016+ M2

Drop me a line if you're in the area and willing to let us do some test fitting on your bimmer

Thanks!

-Nick

[White94RX]

Have you seen the Dinan intercooler that looks like 2 separate coolers put together with some ducting? Very interesting and I'm sure it makes for a ton of core volume.

[Mishimoto]

Have you seen the Dinan intercooler that looks like 2 separate coolers put together with some ducting? Very interesting and I'm sure it makes for a ton of core volume.

Yup, I recently took a look at that monster. We were toying with the idea of making something that was wide like that, but wanted to avoid trimming.

[White94RX]

Gotcha. I haven't had the pleasure of installing one. Another guy in the shop put one on, and I saw it and was like dayuuuuum!

[Mishimoto]

The main engineer on the project, Steve, working on removing the front fascia of the 328i we have in today.


Just a quick update for you guys, we finally were able to get a first hand look at the shrouding and duct work under the standard bumper 3-series today. This might throw a minor wrench into some of our plans but nothing serious. We're getting very close to having the designs finished to be sent off for a sample production prototype.


Stay tuned!


Nick

[Mishimoto]

Happy Monday!




If you're anything like me, you already need a Monday morning pick-me-up. Well, I have good news! Production for our sample intercooler will begin very soon, which means, yes you guessed it, a big update!


As always, check out the full write, and the gallery of our donar cars so far for this project up on our Engineering Blog





Improving on a design that has already been tested and retested is never an easy task, but the engineers over at BMW always up the ante by having this pesky habit of living up to their moniker, "The Ultimate Driving Machine" which leaves little room for error.






I’ve always been a huge fan of BMW, especially when it comes to the meticulous engineering that goes into each and every one of their vehicles. Every model they put out is designed to last. Whether it be a 28-year old 3-series speeding around the flat back roads of New Jersey, or the much bigger and heavier X3 taking on the winding mountain roads of the Colorado Rockies with ease leaving a smile on your face also seems to be a design requirement. For most BMW owners, their thorough engineering and attention to detail is more than enough, and typically such thought in the design process shouldn’t lead to adverse characteristics, but we saw differently upon peeling back the front bumper cover of our loaner 335i.





There were a few recurring themes in the stock review of BMW’s intercooler which were the abundance of different forms of shrouds and duct work behind the bumper cover, the lack of space to work with, and the wide range of fitment our new design has to fit. These three factors left us with two different designs to choose from.




The first design that came to mind was to design our F2X/F3X intercooler similar to the unit we produced for the E9X 335i's, which would entail a bar and plate construction, and expand the core of the intercooler to the shrouding. We already have a general baseline of the performance value and fitment of this design, so it seemed like a no brainer. Almost.The problems we run into with this design would be the fact that for our E9X intercooler, we were only designing to fit one model, but this unit will have a much wider fitment range. Performance will potentially suffer with this design as well. With the thicker core, the airflow have more rows of fins to penetrate, and could be less efficient transferring heat from the intercooler.





Another viable design option was to stretch our new intercooler over the available space in the front of the Bimmer, with a tall and thin design. Filling the space between the primary radiator and the crash bar means having a core that has both an increase in volume and surface area over the stock heat exchanger. An additional benefit to this design would be a thinner core, meaning the heat can be transferred from the charged air more efficiently. There are of course some drawbacks to using this design as well. The biggest obstacle is operating around what keeps the car in one piece, the crash bar. The small price to pay for keeping you safe in the case of a crash is that this bar blocks airflow from the upper section of the intercooler. We plan on keeping the inlet diverter to make sure the full core is being used, but that won’t matter if there isn’t any airflow to a third of the core. On top of that there still the stock shrouding to contend with for fitment.





I would assume that many of you have already looked into aftermarket intercoolers for your F2X or F3X, so you know there's another option for a core design. Also, if you have been paying attention, I gave you guys a little teaser a few weeks ago, and I'm not confirming that our intercooler will, in fact, be a stepped core design.





Our new core will have a bar and plate construction, and replace the degradation prone plastic end tanks with aluminum tanks. To make sure that every fin on the core is being used to full potential, we are keeping with one part of the stock design to have diverters inside of the end tanks. We are increasing the core volume by 96% to a total of 963in³. All seem like standard improvements to an intercooler, but we decided to add one more addition which was the 115-degree angle of the top section of the core. The unique shape, in addition to our included shrouding will create a sealed passage for the airflow without blocking flow to the radiator.


Here's a look at the design renderings of our intercooler:











With our initial sample production only just starting we should have our first test unit back in Delaware in the coming weeks to start running our tests. Until then, feel free to ask any questions you might have!




Thanks!


-Nick

[Mishimoto]

Hey Guys!


Happy Monday! I'm bringing this thread back from the dead with some great news! After thorough design and ensuring that this intercooler was up to Mishimoto standards, we are pleased to announce the launch of the presale for the Mishimoto Performance Intercooler! Get yours today:


BMW F2X/F3X Performance Intercooler










-Nick