Ebay oil cooler kit

[Luca]

Anyone use one? Seems pretty good for under $300. Any feedback is much appreciated.

http://m.ebay.ca/itm/191077695951?nav=SEARCH

[highbrowed]

I wouldn't trust it.

[Luca]

Originally Posted by highbrowed

I wouldn't trust it.

Any reasoning why? They seem like they are built pretty solid from what ive seen from reviews on other cars.

[Elsabor67]

Originally Posted by Luca

Any reasoning why? They seem like they are built pretty solid from what ive seen from reviews on other cars.

Real simple. The adapter they use will not fit in the location it is designed for in the 135i. It will work though on a 335i. Even if you buy the hose that goes on the 335i to make this adapter "work", you will not be able to reinstall the fan back into the car. IOT do all this work you have to remove the fan first. The hose that goes over the top of the housing will not clear if you install the adapter. I know this because I have tried this. I have the original AR Design adapter and I also have the Setrab oil cooler that comes with the AR design kit. I upgraded to -10 An lines and used the top connections on the oil cooler housing to run the lines from there using a An-10/M20 adapter.

That adapter (knock off) is the same adapter AR Design made when they first released the kits for the 335i ( http://www.ardesign.info/store/selec...t-stage-1.html )

Also, as an advice, I would rather spend a bit more on quality and name than install something with a no-name in my car and it go bad or fail. If you would like to see pics of my setup I can send them to you.

[Luca]

Originally Posted by Elsabor67

Real simple. The adapter they use will not fit in the location it is designed for in the 135i. It will work though on a 335i. Even if you buy the hose that goes on the 335i to make this adapter "work", you will not be able to reinstall the fan back into the car. IOT do all this work you have to remove the fan first. The hose that goes over the top of the housing will not clear if you install the adapter. I know this because I have tried this. I have the original AR Design adapter and I also have the Setrab oil cooler that comes with the AR design kit. I upgraded to -10 An lines and used the top connections on the oil cooler housing to run the lines from there using a An-10/M20 adapter.

That adapter (knock off) is the same adapter AR Design made when they first released the kits for the 335i ( http://www.ardesign.info/store/selec...t-stage-1.html )

Also, as an advice, I would rather spend a bit more on quality and name than install something with a no-name in my car and it go bad or fail. If you would like to see pics of my setup I can send them to you.

Sure!

[highbrowed]

Originally Posted by Elsabor67

Also, as an advice, I would rather spend a bit more on quality and name than install something with a no-name in my car and it go bad or fail.

This.

[ShocknAwe]

I love how quick some of you are to snob off a cheap product before anyone has had a chance to truly evaluate it for quality. Inexpensive does NOT equate to crap.

Experience with ebay items: Usually the actual part is of high build quality, and the accessory fittings are poorly designed, or lazily built. If it were me buying this I'd pick it up, knowing full well that I would probably have to space it out, buy higher quality fittings and hoses, and spend some time getting it to fit properly.

For the price, especially considering it's closer to $150 than $300, if you have the money to possibly "waste" if it does turn out to be a dud, GO FOR IT! And report back for the rest of us that don't.

[Elsabor67]

Originally Posted by ShocknAwe

I love how quick some of you are to snob off a cheap product before anyone has had a chance to truly evaluate it for quality. Inexpensive does NOT equate to crap.

Experience with ebay items: Usually the actual part is of high build quality, and the accessory fittings are poorly designed, or lazily built. If it were me buying this I'd pick it up, knowing full well that I would probably have to space it out, buy higher quality fittings and hoses, and spend some time getting it to fit properly.

For the price, especially considering it's closer to $150 than $300, if you have the money to possibly "waste" if it does turn out to be a dud, GO FOR IT! And report back for the rest of us that don't.

I am quick to "snob off" a cheap part or product if I have experience or knowledge on the part because I have had experience with what happens when you go on the cheap and use something that someone "knocked-off" and have not developed or tested. Better to spend a couple of hundreds more on a quality and developed part instead of spending $$$$$ on the damage that cheap part did to your car.

I track my car heavily and it is also my daily driver. So when I go and install something on my car, I do my homework and make sure that it was built to perform and developed accordingly to handle the demands and rigors of what I put my car through.

[Dackelone]

I've seen @Elsabor67 oil cooler setup - it's solid.


Sometimes the old sayings are the best... "You GET what you PAY for".

[ShocknAwe]

Originally Posted by Elsabor67

I track my car heavily and it is also my daily driver. So when I go and install something on my car, I do my homework and make sure that it was built to perform and developed accordingly to handle the demands and rigors of what I put my car through.

Honestly the comment was not directed at you, so please don't take offense. If it doesn't work it doesn't work.

[Elsabor67]

Originally Posted by ShocknAwe

Honestly the comment was not directed at you, so please don't take offense. If it doesn't work it doesn't work.

[dcaron9999]

Have you guys tried or considered a simple OIL TSTAT bypass valve sold by BMS? I use it on my heavily tracked N55/135i and brought down oil temps by two notches. Oil does not breakdown as quickly anymore either. I use to get thinning and sheared oil, to the point where engine consumed oil. It all stopped with the BMS TSTAT bypass - a $50 part. It works for my scenario and dual-duty use of the car...

Got a friend of mine to install the bypass on his N54 335i, and although not as drastically as efficient as on my N55 (temp reduction by one notch), it helped him get rid of limp mode at the track...

[highbrowed]

Originally Posted by ShocknAwe

Honestly the comment was not directed at you, so please don't take offense. If it doesn't work it doesn't work.

So it was directed at me then? I'm quick to shoot down any product that is obviously a knock off made in China. I will agree with you that sometimes you get a product that is spot on, however there are times when you get a product of subpar construction and with shoddy welds and missing or incorrect hardware.

I don't trust that sort of stuff because I've been burned before but be my guest. Report back when you're stranded on the side of the road because your ebay oil cooler blew when you were showing off your car to a chick.

[uberschnell]

Like someone said, the adapter wont fit a 135i. The set up is in addition to the stock O-cooler, so you would have to engineer a way to mount it in the driver's side. Also, I think the size of the cooler is going to be tough for a 135. As for the cooler itself, I've used the same one before. It's reliable so don't buy into this "trust" thing too much. Blowing on the side of the road? I don't think so. It's more about efficiency in cooling being less, higher restriction, etc. Too big and too much restrictions put strain on the oil pump, be more worried about that. A lot of the supposedly "good" sets sold for $$ come with no-name cores.

Personally I'd be more inclined to buy good oil lines. If you want to go top shelf just pick up a setrab core.

Having done a custom twin cooler set up I can tell you that what you are paying for when you buy a name-brand cooler is the engineering behind it. It's going to take some creativity on your part to mount these coolers properly, plus ducting.