Is the oil cooler really needed?

[twenty]

Hi,
In the middle of refurbishing the engine bay and came across the tired and ancient oil cooler and asked myself - given modern synthetic oil and a non A/C car do I really need the oil cooler? It’s probably already not working after 30 years anyway haha.

Should mention it’s a 325i automatic cab. Thoughts welcome.

O.S. In case deleting the cooler is a bad idea, was it NRF that was the OEM for the oil cooler?

[flybynite]

I think the general consensus is it will be fine without it, Probably did not make that much difference even when new. Oils are light years away from the '80s now.

Only reason I would be putting it back is for show or originality

[twenty]

Ok. I’ll check if I can get a NRF.

[Cloggy Saint]

I ditched mine with no adverse affects when I did the engine swap, just more clutter in the engine bay.

[biffer]

When i ran thecar with no oil-cooler for a while i found the oil went dark noticably quicker than before- having to cope with more heat i guess?

[flybynite]

When i ran thecar with no oil-cooler for a while i found the oil went dark noticably quicker than before- having to cope with more heat i guess?

Can't say I think a standard M20 on the road running as it should, would overheat a modern oil. If you are using it on track then it may be sensible and a turbo needs good oil cooling but then you would be looking at something better than the standard cooler anyway.

E46 330i doesn't have an oil cooler, that is a lot harder on its oil than a 325i E30 and does just fine unless driven when broken when an oil cooler wouldn't save it anyway.

My 323i was pushing 325i power from new and never had a cooler and still had honing marks on the bores gone 110k. I don't remember the oil temp moving much no matter what type of driving I did.

Fresh oil changed regularly will be more benefit than any cooler.

But I would still say a 325i needs an oil cooler visible behind the slit in the front valance, otherwise it would have a blanking plate like 'lesser' models

[martauto]

Fresh oil changed regularly will be more benefit than any cooler.

Shell Helix 5/40 20 litres for £90
I can do all three cars once a year for this
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/392175552890
Mart.

[tha881]

My opinion is that it depends on your driving style. In a cabriolet that you may just use for cruising and the odd excursion into higher rpms then most likely not

But if you like revving the engine out and leaving it at higher revs through corners, and also fast motorway speeds where you are in the 3.5k plus range then I would 100% leave it on

I purchased a brand new NRF one from autodoc for around £115 I believe. It came with bmw stamped on it

Also worth checking the thermostat assembly as mine needed a good clean

[twenty]

My opinion is that it depends on your driving style. In a cabriolet that you may just use for cruising and the odd excursion into higher rpms then most likely not

But if you like revving the engine out and leaving it at higher revs through corners, and also fast motorway speeds where you are in the 3.5k plus range then I would 100% leave it on

I purchased a brand new NRF one from autodoc for around £115 I believe. It came with bmw stamped on it

Also worth checking the thermostat assembly as mine needed a good clean

The NRF cooler is OoS on Autodoc unfortunately. So is all the others. I’m vapour blasting the whole thermostat assembly so hopefully that’ll do it.