ESS 625+ Heat Exchanger Upgrade $150

[LastMCar]

I am working on lowering my IAT’s for daily driving and occasional track event. It is hot and dry in Vegas, air intakes soar and power plummets. Particularly in the summer. I have decided to upgrade the front mount heat exchanger that comes with the kit. This post covers the install of the new unit. I am also installing a trunk mounted reservoir for ice, but also to hopefully achieve lower overall IAT temps. That ice box install has been well documented by LongBoard, I will document mine in an another post. For the modest cost of $150-$175, I decided to also upgrade the HE (heat exchanger). I will update this post as I test.

Parts needed

*dremel tool or similar for trimming away some plastic
*Drill bits, drill
*Wrench/socket set

Mounts
-Reused original L brackets with widened mounting holes
-6x 1/2-3/4 mounting bolts,nuts,washers ($3.00)
-1/8 Steel or similar 2x6in pieces ($6.00)

Fittings- I used brass fittings, you can also source pretty AN race fittings from various online sources.
-3/4 FIH to FIP Coupler x2 ($8.00)
-3/4 MIP Barb x2 (8.00)

Exchanger ($129 shipped)(made in the USA)
http://www.speedcooling.com/liquid-i...exchanger.html

This it our all new aluminum heat exchanger for liquid intercooled applications. The other units you see on Ebay are crappy 3-rows knock-offs of our units, we've been making these in-house in the USA since 2005. It features 2-rows of 1.0" tubes (NO 3-ROW GIMMICKS) and dual AN10 fittings for connecting to your liquid intercooler system. Designed to handle up to 450 horsepower, we can custom build larger sizes with 2" tubes and 1-1/4" tubes for higher hosepower applications. Contact us directly for special requirements for your turbocharged system.

1. Remove bumper and under panels.
2. Drain system at the pump.
3. Remove old heat exchanger, mounts and brackets, drain
4. Widen the single hole side of the L brackets from the original mounts
5. Mount the HE in the space between the underside of the bumper and the lower plastic bumper air dam surround. It fits perfectly.
6. center the HE and drill holes in the bumper support for the L brackets. To get the HE to fit properly you will need to Dremel away some of the upper air dam surround ring.
7. I used 1/8”x1” Flat Steel to fab/bend some brackets for the lower mounts, drill holes as needed
8. Mount it all up and install your fittings
9. The hose from the pump runs perfectly to the new HE
10. Remove the coolant hose that runs from the front of the intake plenum. Reverse its orientation so that the 90’ bend is at the HE, running up. I chose to thread the upper hose to the intake plenum thru the gaps along the side of radiator and out from under the area under the headlight. Trim to fit barb at manifold.

Notes:
I would say this new HE is about 2x as deep, a bit narrower overall. The pictures say a lot. The fitment is tight against the bumper mesh yet still creates ample air gap between the HE and oil cooler. There is plenty of room for the fittings and lines. You don’t need to purchase new hose if you just do the HE upgrade. I did some trimming of the HE mounts and used some recycled weather stripping along the HE tank lip to create a cushion against the bumper support.


*as mentioned I am also running lines for an ice box. I chose to purchase some presewn heat shield from fleabay for all the hoses. ($17 10ft 1.25” diameter)

I’m excited to test!

[JsL]

Thanks for sharing this! It's on my to-do list now.

I'm surprised you didn't need new hoses as the old heat exchanger had in and out on opposite sides and this has them on the same side.

I don't know if it's a good idea to mix brass and aluminum hose fittings, may have corrosion(?)

The heat exchanger gives away the sleeper status a little. Looks like a FMIC.

[bvrider1]

Please share results on the IAT.

[LastMCar]

Originally Posted by JsL

Thanks for sharing this! It's on my to-do list now.

I'm surprised you didn't need new hoses as the old heat exchanger had in and out on opposite sides and this has them on the same side.

I don't know if it's a good idea to mix brass and aluminum hose fittings, may have corrosion(?)

The heat exchanger gives away the sleeper status a little. Looks like a FMIC.

The new routing of the hose eliminates close to 2 feet of hose run

Once the system is proven working I will swap out for AN fittings, the AN fittings alone are close to $100 for everything. 👎🏻

[JsL]

Try to find stainless fittings on McMaster Carr.

I'm thinking stainless will be a little better than brass in terms of corrosion.

[Patrón]

Great job
I think a larger are facial area and moving away from the oil cooler would net better results. I'm projecting higher oil temps with that unit.

Have you thought of mounting the other heat exchanger somewhere else for additional cooling?

[LastMCar]

Originally Posted by JsL

Try to find stainless fittings on McMaster Carr.

I'm thinking stainless will be a little better than brass in terms of corrosion.

The fittings can be sourced from various amazon spots, all aluminum. It’s about $50 shipped for just the HE upgrade, 90 with the ice tank. I wanted this weekend to get the install done. I will post what is needed when I sort it all out.

[LastMCar]

Originally Posted by Patrón

Great job
I think a larger are facial area and moving away from the oil cooler would net better results. I'm projecting higher oil temps with that unit.

Have you thought of mounting the other heat exchanger somewhere else for additional cooling?

I had similar concerns, but the air gap is essentially the same as the ess unit. We shall see.
I am disappointed with the stock oem oil cooler, but research seems to indicate that the aftermarket options only offer quicker cool down, not lower overall temps. I have emailed BimmerWorld and Mishimoti about adapter fittings that would allow for the use of an aftermarket unit in the space right behind the kidneys. *I have a Oil Diverter valve installed which had lowered my peak oil temps 10-15 degrees. I have a post about it.

[Longboarder]

Nice find. This plus the water tank will be a terrific combination to keep IATs as low as possible.

[Iyzmi]

If you sell this as a kit including all the fittings/brackets/hardware, I would purchase it. I would be very interested in seeing the before and after IAT and oil temp results.

Good work!

[GabeS]

How did this work out?

[amrazM]

Originally Posted by GabeS

How did this work out?

im assuming not well, a huge brick in front of the oil cooler................

if you wanna actually create a solution intergrate an interchiller.

[LastMCar]

Originally Posted by amrazM

im assuming not well, a huge brick in front of the oil cooler................

if you wanna actually create a solution intergrate an interchiller.

A brick...? Its a radiator that is bigger and better than the Ess unit, which is a VAG product from the early 00’s I believe.

Faster cool down times for sure, shorter runs for the piping
I’ve had this set up since my post... zero issues.

[Longboarder]

Originally Posted by amrazM

im assuming not well, a huge brick in front of the oil cooler................

if you wanna actually create a solution intergrate an interchiller.

If you are talking about the killer chiller, yes a great idea in theory, which was designed for the Merc E55 which uses the exact same air-to-water intercooler as the ESS supercharger kit. However with the space limitation on the M3, there is no where to mount the killer chiller. MRF tried everything so we had to send the killer chiller back and go with the 5gal water tank option.

[tdott]

Originally Posted by LastMCar

A brick...? Its a radiator that is bigger and better than the Ess unit, which is a VAG product from the early 00’s I believe.

Faster cool down times for sure, shorter runs for the piping
I’ve had this set up since my post... zero issues.

Yes it also blocks more air flow to the oil cooler.

Let's see some actual results and logs.

[GabeS]

Originally Posted by tdott

Yes it also blocks more air flow to the oil cooler.

Let's see some actual results and logs.

there are tons of oil cooler relocation kits, why not relocate the oil cooler?Shit, If I go this route Im either doing Formula drift style fans in the trunk or doing oil cooler relocation to the rear of the car near the diffuser like a lot of newer cars have

[GabeS]

Also I have a stupid question, I have no idea what you guys mean with heat exchanger, is that what you call an intercooler or oil cooler, are they essentially the same thing?

[pbonsalb]

Heat exchanger is the radiator for the water to air intercooler. The water has to get cooled somewhere.

[GabeS]

Originally Posted by pbonsalb

Heat exchanger is the radiator for the water to air intercooler. The water has to get cooled somewhere.

Thats why I hate water to air intercoolers, Has anyone just scrapped that shit and ran a large fmic?
or even maybe ran a large FMIC that then led to the water to air intercooler that the kits already have?

I say this because I am totally fine with hacking up the front end and cutting what needs to be cut out since I plan on running a bash type /tube front end anyways

[pbonsalb]

The problem is getting the piping to and from the large Vortech supercharger. You have the intake wrapping around the blower, the blower outlet in front and the engine inlet in front.

AA does it, but it uses a much smaller rotrex blower and puts the intake behind the blower in the midst of the hot engine bay. Evolve does it, but also uses the smaller rotrex and uses beautifully cast slim oval intercooler pipes in and out of the IC.

Try it with a Vortech and let us know how it goes and then maybe you will understand why ESS and VFE and Gintani all independently had their experts study the cars and came up with chargecooler manifolds.

[LastMCar]

Originally Posted by GabeS

there are tons of oil cooler relocation kits, why not relocate the oil cooler?Shit, If I go this route Im either doing Formula drift style fans in the trunk or doing oil cooler relocation to the rear of the car near the diffuser like a lot of newer cars have

The idea that the larger HE is blocking airflow is silly. The air gap is the same. Additionally, I run an oil thermostat diverted valve, my oil temps are lower than a NA completely stock car.

Anecdotally, the upgraded HE from this post, which I’ve run since install drops peak temps by apx 5 degrees. My average IAT with the original HE was ambient +40degrees, with the upgraded HE I see on average ambient +35. I don’t have data logs just hours of drive time.

[GabeS]

Originally Posted by pbonsalb

The problem is getting the piping to and from the large Vortech supercharger. You have the intake wrapping around the blower, the blower outlet in front and the engine inlet in front.

AA does it, but it uses a much smaller rotrex blower and puts the intake behind the blower in the midst of the hot engine bay. Evolve does it, but also uses the smaller rotrex and uses beautifully cast slim oval intercooler pipes in and out of the IC.

Try it with a Vortech and let us know how it goes and then maybe you will understand why ESS and VFE and Gintani all independently had their experts study the cars and came up with chargecooler manifolds.

this is good info, I am in the process of chatting with the various SC companies and will decide very soon, this might be swaying me into the extra $$ that Active costs for the gen2 level3 which was always my favorite to start with..
Already have the bearings done.

do you agree?