[CHECKERED]

Originally Posted by Cloud9blue

Btw, are you sure that's a radiator? The placement of it at the back of the firewall suggests to me that it is a cabin air heater instead...

I think that's what part A is

[135Pats]

Originally Posted by Cloud9blue

Well, I remember 135pat looked into this in detail. I believe the major issue was pressure due to the new cooler. Plus, a completely separated trans cooler might not be ideal for street use, since the transmission fluid really need to get up the operating temp asap for optimal wear protection.

Originally Posted by vwetish

Just to be clear, it has to be 2 in 1 radiator? I'm looking into something hence the reason I'm asking.

Originally Posted by Autobahn335i

The issue with a seperate AT cooler seems to be oil pressure. To get it done right, you need to add an oil pump to the setup, which drives the cost up by quite a bit. I was quoted around 2k Euros. Yuck...

As for the no demand issue for an aluminium radiator: as mentioned it's now pretty established that MT cars don't run into coolant overheating issues, even at the track in summer climate. AT cars however suffer from the coolant getting heated up by the tranny oil through the heat exchanger.

So in EVERY thread about upgraded radiators, us 6AT guys have jumped in and asked for such a unit to be built. But either the vendor drops the project, it never gets through, or now these radiators are mystically sold out... I mean c'mon, it's not rocket science, or is it?? We've been asking this for years now! Someone has got to make it happen!

Hey friends

Sparknotes: I looked into dedicated or supplemental 6AT fluid cooling rather extensively with Alex@ABRHouston about 6 months ago. Alex has spent as much time messing around with bellhousings as anyone on this forum, so I trust his opinion.

Long and short of it was that we ran into several problems.

1. Overall design complexity. For the reasons stated above, an external or secondary cooler is not optimal. There are physical restrictions in space as well, though those could be overcome with $ and effort. From Alex's point of view, the project would not be financially viable for the end-user or the vendor. Think thousands, not hundreds.
2. Line pressure and line routing. Alex got a local 1er up on the rack and started to get to work. He realized quickly that for whatever reason, line pressure at the heat exchanger is extremely sensitive to changes in line length, orientation, and diameter. He tried several types of line in varying lengths and orientations, all produced a rather precipitous fall in pressure throughout the system. I never asked for specific numbers, but obviously anyone is free to reach out to ABR. I still have those PMs that I can dig through if useful. So you'd need an externally driven pump which plays nice with the rest of the car. Unlike our fuel pumps, i'm not aware of a means where we can force more pressure through the pump (a la the VTT HPFP solution).
3. DME logic. It's just going to slow the cycle of the waterpump to accommodate a larger core, no?

I'm only aware of one user who actually went through with a secondary AT cooler. His car never really got up and running, so data never came of it.

[Fishayyy]

Kinda off topic, but does this mean that a better radiator fan would be more beneficial to 6MT guys than a new radiator? Because the only time I have coolant issues is in stop and go traffic after a looong time.

[Cloud9blue]

Originally Posted by CHECKERED

I think that's what part A is

missed that, looks like just a larger version of the PPK radiator. nothing new really, I actually thought about replacing the PPK radiator core with a larger Setrab one and fab some new connections and mounting hardware to go along. But a good Setrab core alone already costs +$200, might as well go with a larger drop-in main radiator at that price point...

Originally Posted by Fishayyy

Kinda off topic, but does this mean that a better radiator fan would be more beneficial to 6MT guys than a new radiator? Because the only time I have coolant issues is in stop and go traffic after a looong time.

You are probably just running low on coolant at that time. Since you are at CA, which doesn't really go below freezing, you can go with a 70/30 coolant/water mix or even full distilled water + water wetter. You can only get the higher output fan from the full PPK stage 2 kit, which is +$1000... Not worth it in my opinion. Plus, fan is only useful at crawling speed, anything higher than 30-40mph, a spinning fan is actually more restrictive than free flowing air.

[vwetish]

Originally Posted by Cloud9blue

Btw, are you sure that's a radiator? The placement of it at the back of the firewall suggests to me that it is a cabin air heater instead...

Is possible as there is 3 hose lines, typical for split temperature heating systems, 1 supply and 2 two ( driver and passenger) return lines. I have been wrong in the past, many times...
I will keep looking for you guys.

[Fishayyy]

Originally Posted by Cloud9blue

You are probably just running low on coolant at that time. Since you are at CA, which doesn't really go below freezing, you can go with a 70/30 coolant/water mix or even full distilled water + water wetter. You can only get the higher output fan from the full PPK stage 2 kit, which is +$1000... Not worth it in my opinion. Plus, fan is only useful at crawling speed, anything higher than 30-40mph, a spinning fan is actually more restrictive than free flowing air.

Yea it was just a hot day and I was running the Cobb aggressive tune with no other mods + driving in stop and go traffic for an hour and went into limp mode.

[Cloud9blue]

Just to update, they finally got the new batch of AT radiator in. Looks like they will be sending me a unit for test fitment at a discounted price

I will keep this updated once I have more information. But it looks like it isn't a vaporware after all.

[sirdaft1]

Originally Posted by Cloud9blue

Just to update, they finally got the new batch of AT radiator in. Looks like they will be sending me a unit for test fitment at a discounted price

I will keep this updated once I have more information. But it looks like it isn't a vaporware after all.

Subbed! Can't wait for more info.

[Cloud9blue]

Got some pictures from CSF. Looks pretty good to me; it retained all the right connections for the auto transmission heat exchanger like stock AT radiator.

[sirdaft1]

Very impressive! Do we have any ballpark figures on what they may charge for the setup? It looks very clean.

[Cloud9blue]

Originally Posted by sirdaft1

Very impressive! Do we have any ballpark figures on what they may charge for the setup? It looks very clean.

Here are the retail price. Not cheap for sure, but if it is what they said to be, I think the price is justified. As I said, they are sending me a unit. I will do a full, objective review when I get it in my hands.

http://csfrace.com/product/bmw-racing-radiators/

[whosdady]

Originally Posted by Cloud9blue

Got some pictures from CSF. Looks pretty good to me; it retained all the right connections for the auto transmission heat exchanger like stock AT radiator.

I want one!

[Whit45]

Subbed and looking forward to the reviews.

[sirdaft1]

Originally Posted by Cloud9blue

Here are the retail price. Not cheap for sure, but if it is what they said to be, I think the price is justified. As I said, they are sending me a unit. I will do a full, objective review when I get it in my hands.

http://csfrace.com/product/bmw-racing-radiators/

Yikes $589! I originally thought it was one of the $269 units, which is completely do-able. Definitely curious to hear reviews.

[CHECKERED]

Originally Posted by sirdaft1

Yikes $589! I originally thought it was one of the $269 units, which is completely do-able. Definitely curious to hear reviews.

that's actually quite a bargain, it’s extremely difficulty to weld aluminum, quality looks good and has a built in AT cooler which adds significant cost because most manufactures use standard OTS cores.

[Cloud9blue]

Originally Posted by sirdaft1

Yikes $589! I originally thought it was one of the $269 units, which is completely do-able. Definitely curious to hear reviews.

Well. I got mine for lower than the price you thought it was

[CHECKERED]

Originally Posted by Cloud9blue

Well. I got mine for lower than the price you thought it was

in for group-buy

[Cloud9blue]

Originally Posted by sirdaft1

Yikes $589! I originally thought it was one of the $269 units, which is completely do-able. Definitely curious to hear reviews.

You should have looked at the old threads about ridiculous prices that AR Design, which was a hack job of a radiator, and PWR tried to charge us a few years back...

[vwetish]

Originally Posted by Cloud9blue

You should have looked at the old threads about ridiculous prices that AR Design, which was a hack job of a radiator, and PWR tried to charge us a few years back...

Could9blue, you deserve royalties from sales just for finding this. AT owners have been looking for this for years. Even at $589 is still a good deal.

[Cloud9blue]

Originally Posted by vwetish

Could9blue, you deserve royalties from sales just for finding this. AT owners have been looking for this for years. Even at $589 is still a good deal.

Just hope FedEx didn't lose my package...

The tracking hasn't been updated since last week, called FedEx and they say it is still in transit and don't have have any info other than it left CA last Thursday night ... I scheduled the install for this Friday, so hope it gets here tomorrow as planned.

[vwetish]

Originally Posted by Cloud9blue

Just hope FedEx didn't lose my package...

The tracking hasn't been updated since last week, called FedEx and they say it is still in transit and don't have have any info other than it left CA last Thursday night ... I scheduled the install for this Friday, so hope it gets here tomorrow as planned.

Don't worry. I'm in the transportation industry which in experiencing a lot of delays lately due to severe weather.

[Cloud9blue]

Out for delivery!

Will get some pictures by EOD.