VAC oil baffle for N55, anyone who actually tested and monitored it?

[Hsp]

Hello,

I'm looking to get a oil baffle for my N55 135i. VAC offers one, but I can't really find if it really works or not.

Is there anyone on here that has actively monitored the oilpressure using this oil baffle?

I'm also concern the baffle in which the pick-up sits is too small.

Anyone who uses this oil baffle and can tell me more about it?

Thanks in advance.

[mKilgore]

You'll get differing opinions on whether the VAC oil baffle works or not, as I'm sure you've seen through your research. I debated the same thing whether to put it in or not. I will have some data after this weekend that will provide a comparison between baffled and not baffled. Last year, I went to a local track, NCM, which has a tight left hand turn where I was seeing oil pressure drop to low 30s psi. I monitored this through MHD logging. I will be back at this same track this weekend, now with the baffle, and can compare the logs directly in the same corner. I will report back on the results.

[mKilgore]

As a follow up to my post above, I logged my sessions this past weekend at NCM Motorsports Park to compare oil pressure with no oil pan baffle vs. the VAC oil pan baffle. To get straight to the result, the oil pressures with the VAC oil pan baffle were 8-10 PSI higher than without it. The car is substantially unchanged from the two events and I am running the same oil, LiquiMoly Molygen 5w40.

The corner in question is turn 10, which includes a hard braking zone down to the slowest part of the track with a left hand hair pin.

In the first event at NCM, I was seeing oil pressure at turn 10 dropping to the high 20's PSI, something like 27-28 PSI. A log is linked below for reference. I have tried flagging turn 10, but if it doesn't work, the time stamps are 1140 and 1474. My fastest time that weekend was a 2:27.7.

https://datazap.me/u/mkilgore/ncm-su...3447-3447-4470

In the post-VAC install event, the worst oil pressures I saw at turn 10 were in the mid 30's PSI. Something around 35-37 PSI. So it looks like an 8-10 PSI improvement over no baffle. A link to that log is below as well. I have tried to mark the pressures at turn 10, but if those don't work, the time stamps are 443, 592, and 745. The 745 time stamp is the lowest pressure and was also my fastest lap of the weekend at a 2:25.5.

https://datazap.me/u/mkilgore/gridli...2167-1045-1598

So, does the VAC oil pan baffle increase oil pressure in high load left-hand turns? Yes it does. I saw an increase in oil pressure even while driving faster laps. Is the increase from 27 PSI to 35 PSI enough so that the oil pan baffle is the only thing you need to install? Debatable. It definitely helps, but it does not improve the oil pressure to stay consistently above 40 PSI or more, which some say is getting into the danger zone below 40 PSI.

Am I happy I did it? Yes, I am. Am I still going to consider an accusump at a later time? Yes, I am. But regardless, the VAC oil pan baffle builds in a little more room for keeping oil pressures from bottoming out.

[bbnks2]

Originally Posted by mKilgore

As a follow up to my post above, I logged my sessions this past weekend at NCM Motorsports Park to compare oil pressure with no oil pan baffle vs. the VAC oil pan baffle. To get straight to the result, the oil pressures with the VAC oil pan baffle were 8-10 PSI higher than without it. The car is substantially unchanged from the two events and I am running the same oil, LiquiMoly Molygen 5w40.

The corner in question is turn 10, which includes a hard braking zone down to the slowest part of the track with a left hand hair pin.

In the first event at NCM, I was seeing oil pressure at turn 10 dropping to the high 20's PSI, something like 27-28 PSI. A log is linked below for reference. I have tried flagging turn 10, but if it doesn't work, the time stamps are 1140 and 1474. My fastest time that weekend was a 2:27.7.

https://datazap.me/u/mkilgore/ncm-su...3447-3447-4470

In the post-VAC install event, the worst oil pressures I saw at turn 10 were in the mid 30's PSI. Something around 35-37 PSI. So it looks like an 8-10 PSI improvement over no baffle. A link to that log is below as well. I have tried to mark the pressures at turn 10, but if those don't work, the time stamps are 443, 592, and 745. The 745 time stamp is the lowest pressure and was also my fastest lap of the weekend at a 2:25.5.

https://datazap.me/u/mkilgore/gridli...2167-1045-1598

So, does the VAC oil pan baffle increase oil pressure in high load left-hand turns? Yes it does. I saw an increase in oil pressure even while driving faster laps. Is the increase from 27 PSI to 35 PSI enough so that the oil pan baffle is the only thing you need to install? Debatable. It definitely helps, but it does not improve the oil pressure to stay consistently above 40 PSI or more, which some say is getting into the danger zone below 40 PSI.

Am I happy I did it? Yes, I am. Am I still going to consider an accusump at a later time? Yes, I am. But regardless, the VAC oil pan baffle builds in a little more room for keeping oil pressures from bottoming out.

Thank you for the update. It does look to be doing something. In the "before" log your oil pressure continues to dip even as you're already accelerating and getting back into boost. Rpms are rising over 3k and pressure is still dropping. That's definitely no good. Really seems to show the oil starvation well there.

[Costello]

Originally Posted by mKilgore

As a follow up to my post above, I logged my sessions this past weekend at NCM Motorsports Park to compare oil pressure with no oil pan baffle vs. the VAC oil pan baffle. To get straight to the result, the oil pressures with the VAC oil pan baffle were 8-10 PSI higher than without it. The car is substantially unchanged from the two events and I am running the same oil, LiquiMoly Molygen 5w40.

The corner in question is turn 10, which includes a hard braking zone down to the slowest part of the track with a left hand hair pin.

In the first event at NCM, I was seeing oil pressure at turn 10 dropping to the high 20's PSI, something like 27-28 PSI. A log is linked below for reference. I have tried flagging turn 10, but if it doesn't work, the time stamps are 1140 and 1474. My fastest time that weekend was a 2:27.7.

https://datazap.me/u/mkilgore/ncm-su...3447-3447-4470

In the post-VAC install event, the worst oil pressures I saw at turn 10 were in the mid 30's PSI. Something around 35-37 PSI. So it looks like an 8-10 PSI improvement over no baffle. A link to that log is below as well. I have tried to mark the pressures at turn 10, but if those don't work, the time stamps are 443, 592, and 745. The 745 time stamp is the lowest pressure and was also my fastest lap of the weekend at a 2:25.5.

https://datazap.me/u/mkilgore/gridli...2167-1045-1598

So, does the VAC oil pan baffle increase oil pressure in high load left-hand turns? Yes it does. I saw an increase in oil pressure even while driving faster laps. Is the increase from 27 PSI to 35 PSI enough so that the oil pan baffle is the only thing you need to install? Debatable. It definitely helps, but it does not improve the oil pressure to stay consistently above 40 PSI or more, which some say is getting into the danger zone below 40 PSI.

Am I happy I did it? Yes, I am. Am I still going to consider an accusump at a later time? Yes, I am. But regardless, the VAC oil pan baffle builds in a little more room for keeping oil pressures from bottoming out.

Are you still using VAC baffled oil sump? Do you still recommend its use after 1 year?

[NickD]

I'm going to bump this as well. I'm very interested. Thank you for all the solid data as well!