I'm getting ready to install my intercooler, and am running into a few problems. I didn't really plan the IC sizing too well apparently, and am now paying for that. I've seen some other people running 12"high/24"wide IC's, but I can not seem to find a single installation picture or any comments on how to install them. It now fits my bumper support, but I'm not sure exactly how I'm going to mount it. I'm almost thinking that I need to re-size the intercooler, because its too tall to mount AND fit in the bumpercover...

Any advice would be very appreciated!!

Thanks guys!:alright

i have a 24x12x4 in mine. Its not easy to fit them. You will have to cut the bumper bar to get it to clear the ac fan. If it's a 4 inch thick IC more than likely you will have to pull the ac fan off the front.

The 3 inch thick ones normally fit.

Brackets. I did mine out of aluminum. Go from the top two mounting holes up to the supports between the grills. On the bottom I used the ac condensor to keep it from swinging around with some long bolts and nuts to adjust it.

If you search there are some pictures of a brace/bracket Stueb did on his car that is pretty beefy.

Start cutting?:dunno

I know some E30 guys running that size and they needed to cut parts of the front valence to get more clearance. Nothing to drastic from what I've read.

Can't imagine there would be less space on an E36.

Mine was a PITA and I actually did it once and didn't like it so I remounted it.

I had to cut the bumper core support to fit the IC behind it, I plan to cut my front bumper cover dado style to let more air flow through the IC.

I made a custom bracket to hold the IC, you can see it behind the grill. The hardest part for me was getting the IC as high off the ground as possible so I wouldn't have to worry about it hitting the ground.

EDIT: I currently don't have a/c but I plan to install a slim line fan in between the IC and the a/c condenser.

I don't know whether it would help you at all, but I can take a close picture of the brackets that came with my AA intercooler since it's not on the car yet.

Austin

I started out with my brakets like this
http://i94.photobucket.com/albums/l99/JOrdanmd88/DSCF0862.jpg
That was a rough cut of them..

and now they are like the BMUu's brakets

You must look harder!

I documented it on my first turbo build :shifty

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e145/flipmodex21/DSCN20271.jpg

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e145/flipmodex21/DSCN2048.jpg

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e145/flipmodex21/DSCN2047.jpg

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e145/flipmodex21/DSCN2045.jpg

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e145/flipmodex21/DSCN2044.jpg

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e145/flipmodex21/DSCN2042.jpg

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e145/flipmodex21/DSCN2039.jpg

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e145/flipmodex21/DSCN2038.jpg

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e145/flipmodex21/DSCN2037.jpg

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e145/flipmodex21/DSCN2034.jpg

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e145/flipmodex21/DSCN2035.jpg

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e145/flipmodex21/DSCN2036.jpg

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e145/flipmodex21/DSCN2031.jpg

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e145/flipmodex21/DSCN2030.jpg

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e145/flipmodex21/DSCN2032.jpg

http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e145/flipmodex21/DSCN2050.jpg

:shifty

I got my idea for my mount from you rich :)...

Only I welded my mount to the actual car instead of bolting it in :lol

Mine sits alot farther forward than yours does. I had to actually cut out the top and bottom of the core support for the IC to recess inside of it.

Thanks guys, I have a decent idea of what I'm doing now.

Rich, thank you very much for the pics! I did search, a lot, and was unable to find anything like that.

Did anyone have to cut their bumpercover on the top where it meets the nose panel? Obviously I'm not that far along with the install, as my IC isn't yet mounted, but it seems like I'll need to cut the top of the bumper too, as the IC sits pretty far out from the condenser being I still have an AC fan.

Thanks again guys!!:buttrock

No But mine is ASS tight! The lower cover is right on the bottom of the IC.

I'm cutting my cover out for more flow like the ICS bumble bee..Mo Air = Mo cooling!

Finding a good spot for the oil cooler is a pita too...

Couple more pics for you:

Mine is a 24x12x3 XS Power one.

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f163/WCM3/060707002.jpg

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f163/WCM3/060707003.jpg

http://i47.photobucket.com/albums/f163/WCM3/060707001.jpg

Thanks guys, I have a decent idea of what I'm doing now.

Rich, thank you very much for the pics! I did search, a lot, and was unable to find anything like that.

Did anyone have to cut their bumpercover on the top where it meets the nose panel? Obviously I'm not that far along with the install, as my IC isn't yet mounted, but it seems like I'll need to cut the top of the bumper too, as the IC sits pretty far out from the condenser being I still have an AC fan.

Thanks again guys!!:buttrock

The underside of the top part of my bumper cover actually rest on my IC but my IC seems to be much farther forward than anyone elses. It sits less than an inch behind the front grill when the bumper cover is on :). I have PLENTY of room for my a/c stuff to go back in when I install it.

http://img454.imageshack.us/img454/6107/dsc00616tg5.jpg
http://img454.imageshack.us/img454/5341/dsc00628cl2.jpg
http://img516.imageshack.us/img516/307/dsc00629mq2.jpg
http://img524.imageshack.us/img524/3671/dsc00630ac2.jpg
http://img389.imageshack.us/img389/8599/dsc00632yo2.jpg
http://img524.imageshack.us/img524/8346/dsc00633oh9.jpg
http://img454.imageshack.us/img454/3759/dsc00634ny7.jpg
http://img59.imageshack.us/img59/7475/dsc00635nx4.jpg
http://img524.imageshack.us/img524/3600/dsc00636kb1.jpg
http://img389.imageshack.us/img389/4237/dsc00639yb1.jpg
http://img371.imageshack.us/img371/6166/dsc00640cy1.jpg
http://img233.imageshack.us/img233/9660/dsc00641ba5.jpg
http://img389.imageshack.us/img389/9231/dsc00644do2.jpg
http://img524.imageshack.us/img524/7227/dsc00645dd4.jpg
http://img467.imageshack.us/img467/662/dsc00646gr0.jpg
http://img516.imageshack.us/img516/4381/dsc00647tl2.jpg
http://img524.imageshack.us/img524/9540/dsc00648ow0.jpg
http://img389.imageshack.us/img389/4324/dsc00650lv9.jpg
http://img389.imageshack.us/img389/9526/dsc00652io4.jpg
http://img358.imageshack.us/img358/4891/dsc00655yi0.jpg
http://img389.imageshack.us/img389/1739/dsc00656gr9.jpg
http://img454.imageshack.us/img454/6134/dsc00723xn7.jpg
http://img371.imageshack.us/img371/7986/dsc00724gq6.jpg
http://img59.imageshack.us/img59/3463/dsc00727xz6.jpg
http://img365.imageshack.us/img365/4581/dsc00729oa5.jpg
http://img454.imageshack.us/img454/4787/dsc00725ig3.jpg
http://img354.imageshack.us/img354/6973/dsc00726zo8.jpg
http://img371.imageshack.us/img371/972/dsc00739ms3.jpg

mine is a 24x12x4 and i mount it to my bumper reinforcement and furthest up front so that i get clearance for a electric fan. did lots of cutting to fit everything. pictures are self explanatory. My fan works with a/c having dual fan a pusher and puller. pusher turns on on low temp setting and both fan turns on with high temp setting.

Thats how mine originally was. Don't you have problems with scraping the bottom of the IC on stuff? Even with being very careful I still scraped my IC a few times.

I also didnt like how it was below the front bumper and you cant run a flat bottom splitter.

so far its been ok. Im rolling on 19's and stock shocks with R/D springs. so im at quite some height. maybe if i get some coilovers and drop it a little more it might scratch the bottom of the i/c. just drive it slow and at an angle going through driveways and such. so the left or right wheel touches the driveway and lifts the front end. ( you know what i mean)

p.s the intercooler sits ~1/4-1/2 inch bellow the bumper (not that much). also the im getting the M3 Cup GT spoiler so If it scrapes the bottom its going to be the lip first.