do88: Full Cooling Kit review and install notes

[SYT_Shadow]

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!

[SYT_Shadow]

Update after 2017 season:

So, we've (my brother and I) put 20 double track days (=40) on the car this season. The car runs for around an hour at a time as our run groups are consecutive every time.

Regardless of the temperature outside it was impossible to overheat the oil/water or DCT. Trust me, we tried

The DCT with OEM GTS software works flawlessly every shift. You can redline 6x a lap and still have zero issues.

This year we only ran sticky street tires (NT01, R888R, RE71R). Next year we'll run some R1's so I'll update again.

For the record, we are both PCA instructors and run in red/black, the two fastest PCA groups.

[Locksmythe]

What DCT software will you run on this build? Is this larger DCT cooler sufficient to allow GTS DCT software to run at the original 90ms shifts?

[SYT_Shadow]

Originally Posted by Locksmythe

What DCT software will you run on this build? Is this larger DCT cooler sufficient to allow GTS DCT software to run at the original 90ms shifts?

I haven't thought of that. I still have stock software. I'll need to load GTS software at some point but although my brother can code, we don't know how to load GTS DCT software

I bet the real GTS software will work well, the car is still NA


If someone knows how to use INPA coding software to install GTS DCT goodies let me know, I'm all ears!

[OM VT3]

Originally Posted by Locksmythe

What DCT software will you run on this build? Is this larger DCT cooler sufficient to allow GTS DCT software to run at the original 90ms shifts?

That's definitely big enough

[Locksmythe]

Originally Posted by SYT_Shadow

I haven't thought of that. I still have stock software. I'll need to load GTS software at some point but although my brother can code, we don't know how to load GTS DCT software

I bet the real GTS software will work well, the car is still NA


If someone knows how to use INPA coding software to install GTS DCT goodies let me know, I'm all ears!

http://www.m3post.com/forums/showpos...3&postcount=13

That's for the original BMW code. Tuners have modified it to be more conservative as the 90ms shift speed is too much for the stock DCT.

[SYT_Shadow]

Originally Posted by Locksmythe

http://www.m3post.com/forums/showpos...3&postcount=13

That's for the original BMW code. Tuners have modified it to be more conservative as the 90ms shift speed is too much for the stock DCT.

That is awesome!!! Thank you so much. I'll load the original GTS software Sunday when I'm back from doing the rod bearings on the E92!

Can you also use this tool to load the 231/240 engine software?

[Locksmythe]

The PS cooler looks like a great piece, too. Hopefully that is a simple drop in fix for all the track enthusiasts.

[SYT_Shadow]

Originally Posted by Locksmythe

The PS cooler looks like a great piece, too. Hopefully that is a simple drop in fix for all the track enthusiasts.

yes, I look forward to seeing it.

On the E92 which has stock cooling I have the BW reservoir and have had zero issues so far.

On the E90 which has these cooling goodies I left the stock reservoir to see if the fluid boils

[roastbeef]

looks great. thanks for sharing!
did you have to modify any trim or anything to fit the power steering cooler? i took a look at it when i had my bumper off (but i was in a hurry), and it kinda looked like it had some plastic molded around it.

[SYT_Shadow]

Originally Posted by roastbeef

looks great. thanks for sharing!
did you have to modify any trim or anything to fit the power steering cooler? i took a look at it when i had my bumper off (but i was in a hurry), and it kinda looked like it had some plastic molded around it.

For the entire kit, there were two necessary modifications

For the water radiator, a plastic tab from the surround had to be cut. A tiny, tiny piece.

For the DCT cooler, I had to modify the inside of the wheel well to add additional 'slats' to let hot air out. No one cares as my wheel liner is already in pieces from running wide tires!

The rest was completely PnP. Quite impressive

[squartus]

What do you feel is more effective for lowering overall engine temp, upgraded oil cooler or upgraded coolant radiator? Especially since oil cooler is infront/blocking radiator.

[roastbeef]

Originally Posted by squartus

What do you feel is more effective for lowering overall engine temp, upgraded oil cooler or upgraded coolant radiator? Especially since oil cooler is infront/blocking radiator.

It's not blocking the radiator. It has a shroud behind it that directs the heated air from the exchanger down and out the undertray.

[SYT_Shadow]

Originally Posted by squartus

What do you feel is more effective for lowering overall engine temp, upgraded oil cooler or upgraded coolant radiator? Especially since oil cooler is infront/blocking radiator.

That's a good question. I lack real data to answer, however I have some thoughts

Remember I have not had any overheating issues at all with my 6MT 2013 M3. The one that worries me is the DCT 2011 as 'DCT runs hotter'

The only person I know well who has had overheating issues with their M3 running slicks was ramming into the 'engine temps' warning on track. He replaced the oil radiator for a larger one and never had the issue again, despite posting the fastest times I've seen at several tracks.
The owner did continue to complain that the DCT got laggy in extended runs. He never replaced the DCT or any radiator other than the oil one.

My brother and I double track whatever car we're running, so we didn't want issues with the DCT and the rest of the cooling stuff.



The oil cooler does not block the radiator at all. The oil cooler air is diverted under the car, whereas the radiator air goes into the engine.

The do88 oil cooler is much larger than the oem unit. The water one is similarly sized. It's bigger but not much bigger.

[squartus]

Originally Posted by SYT_Shadow

That's a good question. I lack real data to answer, however I have some thoughts

Remember I have not had any overheating issues at all with my 6MT 2013 M3. The one that worries me is the DCT 2011 as 'DCT runs hotter'

The only person I know well who has had overheating issues with their M3 running slicks was ramming into the 'engine temps' warning on track. He replaced the oil radiator for a larger one and never had the issue again, despite posting the fastest times I've seen at several tracks.
The owner did continue to complain that the DCT got laggy in extended runs. He never replaced the DCT or any radiator other than the oil one.

My brother and I double track whatever car we're running, so we didn't want issues with the DCT and the rest of the cooling stuff.



The oil cooler does not block the radiator at all. The oil cooler air is diverted under the car, whereas the radiator air goes into the engine.

The do88 oil cooler is much larger than the oem unit. The water one is similarly sized. It's bigger but not much bigger.

Gotcha, just after my upgrade with the Stroker/SC build it runs hotter than my old stock engine with a SC. Was able to hit the mark past 210 during some hard running back road driving staying in 5-7k rpm for 30 min or so. But no long high speed runs to cool it off.
Been hearing upgraded radiator will drop it the most but like to ask around.

[SYT_Shadow]

Originally Posted by squartus

Gotcha, just after my upgrade with the Stroker/SC build it runs hotter than my old stock engine with a SC. Was able to hit the mark past 210 during some hard running back road driving staying in 5-7k rpm for 30 min or so. But no long high speed runs to cool it off.
Been hearing upgraded radiator will drop it the most but like to ask around.

Given the magnitude of your build, I would do the entire kit. You are running with the big boys now!

[aus]

Originally Posted by squartus

What do you feel is more effective for lowering overall engine temp, upgraded oil cooler or upgraded coolant radiator? Especially since oil cooler is infront/blocking radiator.

From what I've seen from multiple posts and data points from different manufacturer, the oil cooler seem to get the temps down faster, but not necessarily keep the peak temps lower.
The radiators seem to keep the peak temps a little lower.

It's tough to choose between the do88, vs. CSF, vs VF vs. Alekshop. None seem to show for sure they keep the temps down.
The do88 DCT cooler does have the cool CF shroud.
.

[roastbeef]

i wonder if there is a company that makes a more efficient e-fan. i know it wouldn't make any difference at speed, but it could help keep temps lower/faster when lining up or pulling into the paddock. anyone know the specs of the oem fan? a big company like flex-a-lite probably makes something with a higher cfm rating at a similar consumption...

[SYT_Shadow]

Originally Posted by aus

It's tough to choose between the do88, vs. CSF, vs VF vs. Alekshop. None seem to show for sure they keep the temps down.
The do88 DCT cooler does have the cool CF shroud.
.

I recall dogbone did some data comparisons with his AIM solo and the do88 goodies. He showed an improvement

[Hujan]

Good stuff. My car was running very hot at my last event in March. Toward the end of a 20 minute session the needle was above the third tick on the oil temp gauge. I was bracing for limp mode, but thankfully they called the session before it hit. There's obviously no gauge for the trans oil, but the DCT was showing some lag that day as well.

[SYT_Shadow]

You may need these goodies as well!


I was poking around my 6MT E92's tranny cooler and it has a block off plate from the factory that covers almost half of the radiator. I could not believe it!

[aus]

Here's a thread on one of the available oil coolers. http://www.m3post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1128330

I find if I shift at a little before 7,500 RPM instead of 8,200 RPM, I rarely get above teh 3rd hash mark, even on 100+ degree days at the track. But if you shift above 8,000 RPM consistently, it goes up pretty quickly. Obviously, we paid for 8,300 RPM, so there's always the desire to use it all.
.