[kylet101]

Hi everyone,

I took my '08 328i to the track for the first time yesterday. I had an awesome day, however, I noticed in the afternoon sessions I was having some car issues.

Outside air temperature in the afternoon was around 95F. After 10-13min in my session I noticed that the top of 2nd was not pulling as hard as it should have been. I changed to 3rd to see if I had any low end and it felt weak as well.

Mods:
-3 stage intake manifold and flash

I pitted, and checked the temp reading for my coolant (212F/100C) and oil (302F/150C). I was not monitoring these in earlier session so I did not know whats normal. After letting the oil cool to 275F/135C I went back on track and the power was back. In my final session I hit the issue again when oil reached ~293F/145C. During this time my coolant stayed at around the same temp of 212F/100C.

I want to go tracking again, however, I really need to get this fixed. It's frustrating when you pass someone, have an open road to get an awesome lap time, and then hit this issue and the same person passes you.

Any ideas what could be causing this issue? My best guess is I'm hitting some oil temperature safety threshold and the engine is reducing power, but I don't know.

While on the topic, any BMW CCA events in SoCal anytime soon?

Thanks!
Kyle

[drunkenup]

300 should be well over threshold- 270f oil temp is when I start experiencing power loss in my 135i. I'm quite surprised the N52 can reach such high temperatures but a youtuber just recently shared his experience with power loss but good coolant temps.

A N54/N55/S55 oil cooler and cooler housing is a direct bolt on and should alleviate the issue.

If I end up bringing my 330i on track as well I will probably invest in a 335i cluster with oil temp. You probably should get an oil change now after hitting 300f repeatedly

[bbnks2]

Originally Posted by kylet101

Hi everyone,

I took my '08 328i to the track for the first time yesterday. I had an awesome day, however, I noticed in the afternoon sessions I was having some car issues.

Outside air temperature in the afternoon was around 95F. After 10-13min in my session I noticed that the top of 2nd was not pulling as hard as it should have been. I changed to 3rd to see if I had any low end and it felt weak as well.

Mods:
-3 stage intake manifold and flash

I pitted, and checked the temp reading for my coolant (212F/100C) and oil (302F/150C). I was not monitoring these in earlier session so I did not know whats normal. After letting the oil cool to 275F/135C I went back on track and the power was back. In my final session I hit the issue again when oil reached ~293F/145C. During this time my coolant stayed at around the same temp of 212F/100C.

I want to go tracking again, however, I really need to get this fixed. It's frustrating when you pass someone, have an open road to get an awesome lap time, and then hit this issue and the same person passes you.

Any ideas what could be causing this issue? My best guess is I'm hitting some oil temperature safety threshold and the engine is reducing power, but I don't know.

While on the topic, any BMW CCA events in SoCal anytime soon?

Thanks!
Kyle

This topic has been covered extensively across this forum and 1addicts. BRAKE DISC OVERHEATING function in the DME will pull power way before you reach high oil temps. It really needs to be coded off (NCSExpert) on the 128/328 to do any kind of track driving as the estimate brake temp algorithm is very aggressive. And yes, N51/N52 does suffer from oil temp issues. I'd regularly have OK coolant temps and 280f+ oil temps on track. You need to retrofit an oil cooler and run straight water. Oil/coolant thresholds are as follows, and as you can see they are much higher than you'd think before power gets pulled:

System Protection
If the coolant or the engine oil overheat during operation, certain vehicle functions are
influenced to the effect that more energy is available to the engine cooling system.
These measures are divided over two operating modes:
• Component protection
- Coolant temperature between 117°C/242°F and 124°C/255°F
- Engine oil temperature between 150°C/300°F and 157°C/314°F
- Result: The output of the air conditioning system
(up to 100%) and of the engine is reduced
• Emergency
- Coolant temperature between 125°C/257°F and 129°C/264°F
- Engine oil temperature between 158°C/316°F and 163°C/325°F
- Result: The power output of the engine is reduced
(up to 90%)

[Nafy]

I was looking into the same thing and just posted the same topic on the n/a engine section. Has anyone retrofitted the n55 oil cooler in the n52?

[bbnks2]

Originally Posted by Nafy

I was looking into the same thing and just posted the same topic on the n/a engine section. Has anyone retrofitted the n55 oil cooler in the n52?

It's much cheaper to just slap a 26row universal oil cooler onto the car... All you need is a way to mount it and the Oil filter housing/ Oil thermostat housing to accept the oil feed/return lines. Or, you can pay for all the OE brackets, lines, cooler, wheel well liner, etc... it will be expensive but a plug and play (cleaner) solution. If I remember correctly, the OE oil cooler bracket requires removing the front bumper support to mount it. It's a lot of work.

[feuer]

I have cluster from 2013 e92 328i with 12k that read 340f for sale.

[E90ALLMANUAL]

Do you run with the engine cover and the microfilter installed? I always take them off.
Also, does your hood has the insulation pad? that's another heat trap.

I never had reduce power problems at Barbers in the middle of the summer.

[minaret]

I've had similar power reduction issues on-track and have taken actions to reduce reoccurrence. Sport ER oil cooler with right fog light delete, removed cabin filter shelf-use BMS cowl filters, and removed trans splash panel. Given the disadvantage of using a 6AT on-track with the stock heat exchanger I avoid track days when forecast temperatures exceed 90 degrees F. Temps were cooler (low 80s) at Buttonwillow nine days ago, but may have experienced the brake temperature issue. Using PFC08 pads and a brake cooling mod.

[minaret]

Update: Alex at AlpineMotorsports coded-off power reduction from brake temperatures, e-diff and other nannies. Also as suggested above; removed the decorative coil cover. Now, 94 degree track days @Buttonwilow are fun.

[juld0zer]

Is your undertray fitted?

[minaret]

Yes, I keep the undertray fitted primarily for protection if there's an off-track excursion. Removing the decorative coil cover and cabin filter shelf helps dissipate under hood heat. As mentioned previously, coding-off 'Power Reduction due to high brake temperatures' was the biggest improvement on track days.

[Volasko]

I've experienced this before on the track. Last track session I posted my best lap time the 4th lap of my first session. After that I struggled to come within 2 seconds of that time. I can only assume there was some sort of output reducing algorithm going on with the engine management software as it just felt a little soft while under WOT.

As for the brake temp to reduce engine output, how the hell does it know the brake temps?

[Biginboca]

Originally Posted by Volasko

I've experienced this before on the track. Last track session I posted my best lap time the 4th lap of my first session. After that I struggled to come within 2 seconds of that time. I can only assume there was some sort of output reducing algorithm going on with the engine management software as it just felt a little soft while under WOT.

As for the brake temp to reduce engine output, how the hell does it know the brake temps?

It doesn’t know the brake temps, it just makes a lot of assumptions lol

[r4dr]

Originally Posted by Biginboca

It doesn’t know the brake temps, it just makes a lot of assumptions lol

This. It's essentially an algorithm making guesses.

[dmytro98]

I know this is an old thread but I did the 335i oil cooler retrofit and was able to get everything done with all new oem gaskets for around $300 as I got lucky and the oil cooler came with everything I needed including hardware and brackets to mount it. As for mounting it, you do need to loosen the front core support enough to sandwich the bracket in between the frame rail and the core support, which was definitely a bit of a pain in the ass, but pretty straight forward.