As we are building a DCT E90 M3 track car, we thought it would be best to upgrade the entire cooling kit.
The 'big pack' do88 sells comprises of
-DCT/6MT cooler
-PS cooler
-Engine oil cooler
-Water radiator
do88 announced their goodies on the forum a while ago and we knew we had to get this.
We have data acquisition on the car but dogbone already did a before and after comparison. So we'll just leave it at install impressions.
Up to now we've tracked E46 M3s on stock cooling systems and never had an issue.
The last two years we tracked our E92 M3 6MT with the stock cooling system and didn't have an issue either, although with slicks you could get up to 3/4 of the temperature needle.
We've heard the DCT car runs hotter than the 6MT and remember, we double-track the car which puts huge demands on the brakes and cooling system.
This isn't a DIY as, for once, do88 sends very clear and extensive install notes. If you've ever looked at the one page of instructions you get with some things you buy you will certainly appreciate these guy's attention to detail.
Still, it wasn't perfect. Nothing is included for the PS cooler although we figured it out eventually and we also got the hoses, but ended up not installing them.
Silicone hoses would be nice, but apparently the install requires you to cut the OEM hoses and keep the OEM end adaptors, which for me defeats the whole point of stronger hoses!
Other vendors take note, THESE are proper install instructions
Here is a gratuitous shot of the Z54 PFC BBK
When you remove the wheel well liners you see the puny DCT cooler
The do88 DCT cooler comes with a new, massive shroud. It's CF! Very cool piece
Check out how massive the new DCT cooler looks
You have to remove the bumper. After removing bumpers from E46 M3s in the past you really appreciate how incredibly simple it is to remove these on the E9X generation
The front of the car looks interesting without the bumper... weight loss ideas?
One difference that's immediately apparent between the OEM DCT shroud and the do88 one is that, besides the huge size difference, the do88 one provides a much cleaner path for air to enter the radiator.
The OEM one diverts most of the air, the do88 allows air to directly hit the radiator without bending first
The OEM radiator is held on with security torx bolts instead of regular torx. Fortunately I have these as well, but this could be a problem for the unsuspecting DIY'er which was not covered in the instructions
Size envy
Lots is said about changing DCT fluid and whether it's necessary. The fluid on the left is brand new. The one on the right comes out of my DCT and it has 40k miles on it.
Pretty good if you ask me! Regardless, we will replace DCT fluid before long
With that installed we move on to the engine oil cooler. The do88 one is larger although the difference isn't as massive as with the DCT radiator
Then we go on to the water radiator. This one is a similar size to OEM, but is 100% aluminum
And finally, the power steering cooler. This one is massively larger than the OEM, it's an incredible difference.
Hopefully with this we'll be good and won't have any more boiling fluid
Finally, some parting shots where you can see the DCT cooler with the bumper reassembled
That's all folks!