Oil Cooler in Cool Weather

[hooptie64]

Does anyone have experience or suggestions regarding the use of an oil cooler in cool or cold conditions? I'm in Denver, so summers are plenty hot to justify the use of an oil cooler (and some travel locations), but some of our local events are run in early spring or fall when air temps don't really require an oil cooler.

One of my off season projects is to install an oil cooler and I'm considering including a bypass valve that would be used only on the cold days when the oil cooler isn't needed.

Does this make sense or am I overthinking it? I know getting oil too hot is bad, but if it stays "cool" does it really matter?

For what it's worth, my water temps have no problems at all. I installed TrackSpec hood vents last off season and they work great.

Thanks.

[mindspin311]

They make in-line thermostats. Once oil temp gets to a set temp, it will open and let the oil flow through the cooler. The Euro/S54 oil filter housing has this built in.

[hooptie64]

They make in-line thermostats. Once oil temp gets to a set temp, it will open and let the oil flow through the cooler. The Euro/S54 oil filter housing has this built in.

Perfect. I didn't know of that feature in the S54 housing. Heading to ebay to find a used one for my S52.

[pbonsalb]

And then buy the Bimmerworld hard line to AN adapter. Others may sell a similar device. Maybe rally road?

[mindspin311]

You could also find the Z3M oil cooler lines and factory oil cooler, pair that up with the Z3M radiator for a 100% OEM solution.

[JBasham]

AFAIK, all the EFI BMWs with oil coolers from the factory have a thermostat in the loop to ensure proper engine temps. They are pretty reliable too, unlike many of the in-line aftermarket units.

But one time when I was re-using an M20B25 I bought out of an old E30, I tested the thermostat element in a pot of hot water just to see where it opened up. And it didn't. Same situation as can occur with an old radiator thermostat. Just something I keep in the back of my mind to rule out if I'm seeing high oil temps.

[DocWyte]

Don't sweat it. I wouldn't use the tstat in the S54 housing, it really restricts the flow of oil through the cooler. In fact, Bimmerworld sells a delete kit for that express reason, which I've installed in mine.

The oil will still get plenty hot on track here in the bumper seasons.

[Cobra1956]

I have the delete also in my car. Lets go the other way, what temp would you like to see? If you are tracking the only drawback to cooler weather is getting the oil warm initially. After that anything over 180 is good. Make yourself an external cover for the cooler but that might be tough to get at. I measure my oil temp in the pan and the most I have ever seen is 280 on hot days when I am beating the snot out of the car. The way the e36 read temp is kind of funky. You pick it up at the housing so installing the BW part give you a bigger change since you are no longer mixing hot oil with the oil from the cooler. I like to see oil temp before the cooler rather than a mix or after.

[chikinhed]

I use the Rallyroad oil filter cap and euro oil cooler on my S52. In the cooler months I remove the rally road cap and lines and install the stock cap and cap off the oil cooler.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[robbo mcs]

On an old car I used to race I had problems on really cold days with the oil taking too long to get up to temperature (water as well). I made a blank out of thick carboard and would stick that in front of part of the oil cooler to restrict airflow.