supercharger trans cooler

[Ghost88]

Has anyone used a trans cooler to cool the sn93. Cundn Racing has one for $200 and something. I was wondering can I just hook up a regular trans cooler. If you have used one how did you hook it up and how much trans fluid did take.

[speedytang]

Search and You will Find.

[winfred]

i am running a pair of coolers in series on my bmw, one a simple trans cooler and the other is a powersteering cooler from a ford, i am running the 2nd cooler because the primary is behind the heat exchanger for the charge cooler and wanted something in free air



don't see many sn paxtons under the hood of a bmw :D this is the latest pic i have but its on the road now, i don't have any temp readings of the blower lube temp other then at extended idle and with little airflow i was getting temp gun readings of 30* less from inlet to outlet on the cooler. once i get the car finished and have more time i may offer my version of the dipstick cooler for sale

[Michael]

Not to hijack your thread Ghost88, but nice setup winfred! And you're right - it's not often you see an SN on a BMW... or most European cars for that matter!

From the photos, it looks like a first-gen 5 Series?

[winfred]

It's a 91 3 series, I know of one other that has a sn89 mine is a sn92 I have it geared for 41k at 6500, seen 7# once, I may get the upgraded impeller for it before I get too far into tuning

[Michael]

I didn't think the E30 had that much room under the hood! That's why I thought it was an early 5 Series (E28, I believe? Or was that the second gen...?).

As for the upgraded impeller, it's definitely a worthwhile upgrade. For the cost (and the installation effort) the gain in boost is decent. 7psi is a bit high for a stock impeller, but with the upgraded unit you will see that easily at an impeller speed of 41,000rpm. I wouldn't want to spin the blower any higher though.

You should convince the SN89 equipped 3 series owner to join SCH and post some pics of his ride.

Again, apologies to Ghost88 for highjacking his thread.

[winfred]

e28 is 2nd gen 5er, e12 is 1st gen, the sn89 dude said hes gotten 10# but i don't know if thats with a stock impeller but was a stock more restrictive 2.5, with my built (stroked to 2.8, big cam, mild port work, long tube headers, extrudehoned intake...) motor 6# can be had any shift but for a boost gauge i am just looking at the display on my laptop as i tune it and saw the telltale at 7# once, so its computed off the MAP sensor in the megasquirt computer, he may have a cheapo boost gauge and its wrong which could explain the high reading. with the A/W charge cooler i am pretty much out of room, to make room for the cooler i had to move the ABS pump to the unused battery tray on the other side of the car, just the blower will fit pretty well and the outlet points right at the throttle body, i have a smaller pulley then the one i am running but that would of put it at 44k at redline and i autocross a good bit and could spend some time up there can't say that for my old 633csi as it has less room then the smaller 3 series, when i get time i am going to post a thread on here about it and would of already but the attention it has gotten on the bmw boards crashed my picture host account, the bandwidth just reset and the pictures are working again so...soon we'll get to see how interesting a old german car is to american iron guys :laugh:

I didn't think the E30 had that much room under the hood! That's why I thought it was an early 5 Series (E28, I believe? Or was that the second gen...?).

As for the upgraded impeller, it's definitely a worthwhile upgrade. For the cost (and the installation effort) the gain in boost is decent. 7psi is a bit high for a stock impeller, but with the upgraded unit you will see that easily at an impeller speed of 41,000rpm. I wouldn't want to spin the blower any higher though.

You should convince the SN89 equipped 3 series owner to join SCH and post some pics of his ride.

Again, apologies to Ghost88 for highjacking his thread.

[Michael]

e28 is 2nd gen 5er, e12 is 1st gen, the sn89 dude said hes gotten 10# but i don't know if thats with a stock impeller but was a stock more restrictive 2.5, with my built (stroked to 2.8, big cam, mild port work, long tube headers, extrudehoned intake...) motor 6# can be had any shift but for a boost gauge i am just looking at the display on my laptop as i tune it and saw the telltale at 7# once, so its computed off the MAP sensor in the megasquirt computer, he may have a cheapo boost gauge and its wrong which could explain the high reading. with the A/W charge cooler i am pretty much out of room, to make room for the cooler i had to move the ABS pump to the unused battery tray on the other side of the car, just the blower will fit pretty well and the outlet points right at the throttle body, i have a smaller pulley then the one i am running but that would of put it at 44k at redline and i autocross a good bit and could spend some time up there

From the sounds of it, your friend with the SN89 may be getting more boost because of the more 'restrictive' setup he has. Your intercooler will also affect the maximum boost you'll see too. Generally, intercoolers tend to be more of a hinderance than a benefit on centrifugal systems running less than 8psi boost as the added volume causes a drop in pressure. In situations like that, it's more beneficial to run water/alcohol injection instead.

Still 10psi is HIGH for an SN even with the high-output impeller. But as you've said, he could be getting incorrect readings if he's using a cheapo boost gauge.

can't say that for my old 633csi as it has less room then the smaller 3 series when i get time i am going to post a thread on here about it and would of already but the attention it has gotten on the bmw boards crashed my picture host account, the bandwidth just reset and the pictures are working again so...soon we'll get to see how interesting a old german car is to american iron guys :laugh:

If you can hold off for a bit, I will be introducing a new 'garage' feature on the site very soon. Once it goes live, you'll be able to upload your photos here so you won't have to worry about going over your bandwidth.

Keep an eye on the News & Announcements section of the forum for when the new system is rolled out.

Can't wait to see your 633CSi!