Does a DCT cooler exist?

[bwoon]

I'm getting frustrated w/ my DCT. It has worked flawlessly until the last 2 track days that I attended.

The first track day at buttonwillow, car went into limp mode at the end of the 3rd session. Coudln't get the car out of first gear, had to turn it off for 30 minutes to cool it down, and it started working again. Took it to the dealership, they said that although the error message was logged, they could not reproduce the problem so they said everything was fine.

The 2nd track day at streets of willow, at the end of the 2nd session, I lost all my even gears (gears 2, 4, 6). Car would only shift in odd gears, so I took it off the track. I let it cool down again, and I was able to get my even gears back. I haven't taken it to the dealership yet, but got the "limited gears available" error message.

I did some google searching to figure out if a transmission cooler exists for the BMW DCTs, but I could only find coolers for the Nissan GTR and Mitsubishi EvoX. Anyone out there know if a DCT cooler exists for the e92/e90 m3's?

Sort of frustrated, part of me wishes I went with the 6MT so I could avoid these problems... anyone else having these problems?

[CanAutM3]

I think there are 2 DCT coolers installed from the factory. If I am not mistaken, one of them (oil/air) is fed by the inlet on the passenger side below the bumper (it exits in the passenger side wheel well). The other one is an oil/coolant exchanger. This second one is also used to warm-up the DCT faster when cold.

I don't know if there are higher capcity coolers on the market...

As I posted on the other thread, my '08 M3 has 39k miles and 40+ track days. No overheating so far.

[Brosef]

yes, a DCT cooler does exist

[OC3]

I think wwjd15 retrofitted larger DCT cooler.

[OC3]

OP, did you notice what oil temperature your car was at on the tracks?

[VictorH]

Now that you know that you have a cooler for the DCT, take a look at that passenger side intake and see if there are leaves or maybe a plastic bag covering up the cooler. This is (from what's posted around here) a not very common problem (it's been noted before, but sort of rare).

[von_zoom]

bwoon - If the car is still under warranty, I would make a lot noise at the BMW store. No reason for the car to do this, even while run under track conditions.
Will appreciate your keeping us posted on developments.
Thanks
vz

[bwoon]

Thanks for the responses guys, I believe my oil temperature was a bit hot, the oil temp gage was at about 2/3 of the way to max temperature.

[bwoon]

I'll check the intakes tonight to make sure there are no obstructions, thanks for the advice! I've read a few other posts about DCT overheating, but you are right, seems to be somewhat rare.

I'm definitely taking it to the dealer this week. Car is still under warranty until August this year, so hopefully they'll be able to troubleshoot the problem.

[e92involved]

This sounds like a CPU issuse...there are some nice software upgrades for DCT...even faster/smoother shifts. Perfect for a track guy.

[OC3]

Originally Posted by bwoon

Thanks for the responses guys, I believe my oil temperature was a bit hot, the oil temp gage was at about 2/3 of the way to max temperature.

Many of us DCT track guys in SoCal have had the gauge reach 3/4 of max (& perhaps a bit higher) during hot summer track sessions, and no malfunctioning of DCT.

Do you do at least 1 cool down lap?

[bwoon]

Yeah my gauge reaches around 2/3-3/4 of max temperature depending on the weather. I've been unfortunately experiencing this malfunctioning DCT problem only recently just in the last 2 track days. The rest of the time it had been working perfectly fine.

I'm driving a '08 e92 with a little over 40k miles on it. Not sure if the DCT is just starting to malfunction because of the age of the car and slightly high mileage. Hopefully these issues can be resolved by the dealer while still under warranty.

I usually do one cool down lap after the checkered flag, then leave the car running for a while while parked after the sessions are over. OC3, what tracks do you run? I'm in SoCal too, been doing events mainly with extremespeed, speedventures, and raceline. I'm hoping to get my DCT problems fixed before laguna seca on July 1st w/ speedventures!

[wwjd15]

Yes it does

[OC3]

Originally Posted by bwoon

Yeah my gauge reaches around 2/3-3/4 of max temperature depending on the weather. I've been unfortunately experiencing this malfunctioning DCT problem only recently just in the last 2 track days. The rest of the time it had been working perfectly fine.

I'm driving a '08 e92 with a little over 40k miles on it. Not sure if the DCT is just starting to malfunction because of the age of the car and slightly high mileage. Hopefully these issues can be resolved by the dealer while still under warranty.

I usually do one cool down lap after the checkered flag, then leave the car running for a while while parked after the sessions are over. OC3, what tracks do you run? I'm in SoCal too, been doing events mainly with extremespeed, speedventures, and raceline. I'm hoping to get my DCT problems fixed before laguna seca on July 1st w/ speedventures!

Same here!

W/ Extreme, I'm mostly at Big Willow (haven't done Streets in a while ), and w/ SV, I'm usually at Button and at Auto Club. Will be doing Button on 04/08 w/ Raceline!

[OC3]

OP, check out wwjd15's setup. He's got heavy-duty cooling solutions in place for many things in his M3. I haven't seen him do a cool-down lap at the tracks in a while now.

[wwjd15]

Originally Posted by OC3

OP, check out wwjd15's setup. He's got heavy-duty cooling solutions in place for many things in his M3. I haven't seen him do a cool-down lap at the tracks in a while now.

Thanks Randall.
Any cool-down lap during 20-25 min session is not acceptable. We only drive a couple of hours at track a day, it's better focusing on driving and having fun.

[CBS]

OP: I'm sorry to hear you are having DCT Temp problems. I haven't experienced any problems - the hottest day for me last year was at Summit Point with Air Temp at 107 degrees.

Anyway, the reason for my post was iND kindly installed a STACK DCT Transmission Oil Temp Gauge in my console. They did a Post about it a year ago to explain how they tapped into the transmission oil line. For me, I wanted to keep an eye on the Transmission Oil temp because I didn't want to experience Limp mode at full throttle.

Good luck,
Chris

[minigearhead]

Originally Posted by Brosef

yes, a DCT cooler does exist

wow
very helpful...
go 6MT!!!

[Stainless 45]

There was a thread recently about the DCT cooler having a plate blocking half the cooling fins and guys were looking to see if we all had it. Perhaps removing this could solve your problems if you run a lot in hot weather.

[IFX]

don't really believe this is "cooling issue"

No one else has experienced it.. According to this thread?

[wwjd15]

Some indication when DCT fluid runs hot:
slow shifting, rpm dropping more than normal during up-shift, clutch is suffering to grab

Some indication of overheating:
limp mode, can not shift gear manually, change to auto mode without notice.

It happened to me since the third track day until I installed an upgraded cooler. Also, there's nothing wrong to keep the tranny temp cooler.
http://www.m3post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=520899

[LenitaUllrich]

I believe my oil temperature was a bit hot