Terroth 5 Report post Posted January 13, 2016 (edited) What are peoples opinions on the 325i Oil cooler? Asking as i have not installed it and instead opted to use the screw on from my older 320 Engine. The reason is mostly due to it seeming to be slightly damaged around the housing / filter. As the old filter did this Yes, it was on that damm tight that it bent the screwdriver a good 45Degrees and tore part of the filter. No way in hell was a filter strap or hand with rubber grips getting that thing off. And since only hand tightening the new filter on and running the engine a few times, it appears to be in the same order, I can't for the life of me get it off with just my hands again. It appears to be leaking slightly where the filter screws on, and the filter is going on at a slight angle, IE its rubber is being squished against the housing but rather unevenly, which may be leading to the leak / being impossible to take off. But the main question here is more to do with whether people think with daily driving and the occassional weekend hard driving around the country etc, it is necessary to even run the oil cooler, especially with todays oils. I've googled around and the E30zone wiki seems to state its redundant, while forum goers will vow it helps keep the oil cool and is there for a bloody good reason. Thoughts? *As a side note, I do intend to return to running an oil cooler, but I'd rather be running one in good condition. Edited January 13, 2016 by Terroth Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Autobahn 22 Report post Posted January 20, 2016 I had done a bunch of research as one of my Dad's E30s had a damaged factory oil cooler which we decided to delete in the end. My conclusion was that it isn't needed (for example the 525i M20 doesn't have one and that is a heavier car) for most purposes and modern oils are more robust (although the M20 does really prefer a higher zinc content than most new off the shelf oils have). An oil temp gauge would help as then you would know if the thermostat to the factory oil cooler ever gets hot enough to open. It might be worth trying to test to see that it does actually open as some forums have suggested that they may end up sticking over time. If you do want to return to an oil cooler setup it may be better to do something like run a Mishimoto thermostat/filter adapter (pretty much the same function as the stock BMW part) and reuse the factory oil radiator - then you can pick what oil temp you want it to open at and you have the reliability of a new part. My opinion is that for daily driving and going for the odd weekend hoon about you will be 100% fine without the cooler. If you were doing track events regularly then it might be different, keep in mind you can always put it back on too. =) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
