Allright so i did a search, and all the results were from a while back so i'm asking again...

What do all you FI guys do for your radiator/electric fan setups?

It seems that the PWR 55mm is the best for true performance, but the Howe looks nice as well...

And fluidyne for ease of install...

Are you all runing spal puller fans instead of mech fan? I know boris and paul will love this one ;)

How many of you are using the AC fan??

-Keith

Zionsville also makes a nice aluminum radiator:

http://www.rfdm.com/albums/album21/crt_030.jpg

http://www.rfdm.com/albums/album21/crt_031.jpg

http://www.rfdm.com/albums/album21/crt_032.jpg

And with some minor modifications, will support an S-54 oil cooler (also available from Zionsville as a complete pkg w/filter housing & cooler):

http://www.rfdm.com/albums/album21/crt_164.jpg

http://www.rfdm.com/albums/album21/crt_165.jpg

http://www.rfdm.com/albums/album21/crt_166.jpg

http://www.rfdm.com/albums/album21/crt_167.jpg

http://www.rfdm.com/albums/album21/crt_173.jpg

looks hot!

I hope i can find some detailed pics like that of the PWR...

looks hot!

I hope i can find some detailed pics like that of the PWR...
Stay tuned, I just ordered one.
Here's my plan:
I'm gonna take it to a local welder and have him drill and weld the following on to it:
1.) A single 1/8" NPT port
2.) Two AN -6 Male fittings one on the cold side and one on the hot side. I'll use these as the water feed and return for my GT35R's water jackets.

So I have a couple of questions as well, maybe someone can answer them:
1.) What side (hot or cold) should I put the 1/8 NPT port on for my temp gauge.
2.) Which side is which ? I'm ASSuming the drivers side is the hot side.

Pedro.

Stay tuned, I just ordered one.
Here's my plan:
I'm gonna take it to a local welder and have him drill and weld the following on to it:
1.) A single 1/8" NPT port
2.) Two AN -6 Male fittings one on the cold side and one on the hot side. I'll use these as the water feed and return for my GT35R's water jackets.

So I have a couple of questions as well, maybe someone can answer them:
1.) What side (hot or cold) should I put the 1/8 NPT port on for my temp gauge.
2.) Which side is which ? I'm ASSuming the drivers side is the hot side.

Pedro.
I too am going to need ports for the water cooling on the gt35r...

I was told to tap in at the throttle body tho...

That was my original intent but this way is cleaner and better in my opinion.

Going throught the TB is a better way. I don't think going from one side of the rad to the other is going to push the coolant around the turbo well. Russels sells the AN to metric adapter for the coolent passage on the head to the TB.
These are the pictures of the PWR that I "had", the fittment on the PWR is a living hell trust me. I just recenlty got the Fluidyne and it seems pretty nice compared to the PWR.

This is the pictures of everything I replaced back then (2 years ago.) I ended up getting two spal fans and changing out the AC condencer fan also. I ditched the setup and am currently working on a new one.

I'm not really seeing why that would matter, could you expand on that ?
I mean it seems to me that the rather low volume of water coming/going to the turbo would simply mix in with the coolant being moved by the waterpump, and would flow just as the main inlet and outlet on the radiator, especially considering the low volume.
The only issue I was able to see was when the engine is cold and the thermostat is closed. :dunno.

What is your new setup going to be??

From the picture, did you replace the radiator hoses with braided lines??

I'm not really seeing why that would matter, could you expand on that ?
I mean it seems to me that the rather low volume of water coming/going to the turbo would simply mix in with the coolant being moved by the waterpump, and would flow just as the main inlet and outlet on the radiator, especially considering the low volume.
The only issue I was able to see was when the engine is cold and the thermostat is closed. :dunno.
You need a pressure differential to move the water. Without any force to move the water, it will just stagnate in the lines to your turbo, and would likely boil in the bearing housing.

You need a pressure differential to move the water. Without any force to move the water, it will just stagnate in the lines to your turbo, and would likely boil in the bearing housing.

Just what Mr. Forbes said :) The TB lines have pressure to push coolant (from the head) through the water jackets one way so it circluates correctly back to the other TB drain line.

I replaced all of the coolant lines with SS braided lines. As for the new setup, I removed the AC so I will not need the AC condenser fan anymore, so the new setup will only have a single 1700 cfm fan pulling from the back of the Rad. Before, the high speed fan (on the rear of the rad.) never kicked on once even with the car sitting in the middle of the summer after a hard run with the turbo. You should only need 1 large Spal fan to cool things down with an aftermarket radiator. BUT, with the PWR you will have hell of a time trying to get the fan to fit on the back side since the core is so thick. I have pictures of how close the fitment was if you want to see?

I will take anything you got...

being in florida i'm anal about cooling...

-Keith

they dont make that its just a fluidyne

they dont make that its just a fluidyne
come again?

http://www.fluidyne.com/04news1.html

yea but it doesnt increase the cooling like a PWR...it's just to get rid of those crappy endtanks really...

they dont make that its just a fluidyne

Who doesn't make what?


Iding - I think you had the "old-style" PWR 55mm, because it looks like yours lacked a drain cock. The new ones have one in the OE location. PWR rectified most of the fitment issues with the redesign. I put one in about 2 months ago and had minimal fitment issues - far from nightmare-ish. Obviously, the core is much thicker than the OE-sized radiators and therefore space for other items becomes tight. But for those who want a true upgrade in cooling performance I think the big PWR is the way to go . . .

Here is a link re the PWR 55:

PWR 55 Fitment Issues Explained/Resolved (http://www.absoluteradiator.com/BMWFitment.htm)

Im running thre PWR 55mm core and love it ......only fitment issue was the fan shroud. I had pwr weld me in a drain plug and 1/8npt for my water gauge.

Just what Mr. Forbes said :) The TB lines have pressure to push coolant (from the head) through the water jackets one way so it circluates correctly back to the other TB drain line.
....

You need a pressure differential to move the water. Without any force to move the water, it will just stagnate in the lines to your turbo, and would likely boil in the bearing housing.
Gripes, I thought tapping the radiator on each side took car of that.
Oh well, good thing I haven't done it.

I'm also running a PWR 55mm radiator. all be it i have a 318 so fitment was of no concern but if you want a good fan that is very low profile i highly recomend a 14" perma cool from summit racing moves about oh.................2,900cfm :evil2 for a mere cost of only $150 shipped with the install kit (includes a 150deg thermastat) its hared to beat

Tom

Good to hear that they fixed the fitment problems! Mine just really sucked quality wise and fitment wise back then? The PWR has things like the cnc end caps and a nice thick core which made it stand out to me but the quality at the time was just poor. I may have to trade someone my Fluidyne and see what the new PWR's are like?

Does anyone know what side (drivers or passengers) of the radiator would be best for a temperature probe ?

Thanks,
Pedro.

Does anyone know what side (drivers or passengers) of the radiator would be best for a temperature probe ?

Thanks,
Pedro.


The driver side is the hot side, I have my probe on the passenger side,while driving the temps are extremly cool around 100-110F when sitting at a stop light for a minute the temp rises to around my oil temp 200-210F. I would rather have it on the driver side to see what the temps are coming out of the block.

Can someone post all the choices and their +/- ?

I'm in the same boat as Keith - FL gets HOT so I plan to upgrade the radiator for better cooling, as well as meltdown prevention since we all know the original radiators are timebombs. Not sure which one to get that will fit with electric fans/stock shroud/etc. I can't even fathom deleting the fan completely like some people do...

Randy, do you have any head-on shots of that S54 oil cooler mounted? I'd like to add one, either S54 or mount one behind the kidneys. Curious if ground clearance on yours is flush with the intercooler/bumper(I plan to run LTW splitter tray)

One thing I've always wondered...

The radiator for S54 M Roadter/Coupe is 3 core design that is supposed to be superior to other radiators including aftermarket ones (PWR, Zinonsville, Fluidyne, etc).

Is this true?

After market radiators are 2 core design with typically more volume. Will S54 radiator still be more effective? I remember one guy who had SCed S54 M Coupe, he put an aftermarket radiator and his car easily overheated. He had to revert back to his stock radiator. Hmmm...