S55 ENGINE COOLING
BMW M2 Competition, M3 (F80) & M4 (F82)
The BMW S55 engine produces fantastic power with very little lag from its twin turbos. The turbos keep a nice short pipe run to keep a quick throttle response, and BMW use an efficient charge cooler system to quickly drop the intake air temperatures before they enter the engine.
This works superbly on a standard car on the road and for short power runs on a dyno but can quickly become saturated when used hard on track or when running increased power levels. The charge cooler uses its own water supply and radiator to provide this much needed cooling and these are areas that can be improved.
We offer both Forge Motorsport which are based here in Gloucestershire, and leading US brand CSF.
Forge Motorsport Heat Exchanger
The first option for improving the cooling on the S55 engine is to change the front heat exchange for a larger more efficient design.
We run the Forge Motorsport Heat exchanger on our own BMW M4 with great results.
The Forge heat exchanger offers a significant increase in core surface area and volume (545x460x32mm) over the standard cooler.
Other features are as follows:
- Durable black powdercoated finish
- No cutting or trimming required to fit this product
- CNC machined couplers
- 1.7 Litre capacity
- Built in bleed point
Forge Motorsport Heat Exchanger
£668.36 exc VAT
£802.03 inc VAT
CSF Heat Exchanger
FRONT MOUNT HEAT EXCHANGER (CSF #8075 / #8075R)
Features:
- 2-row 42mm core (dual core) featuring CSF’s exclusive B-tube technology
- Core features an ultra-efficient fin with 6.5mm fin height and multi-louvered design for maximum surface area contact
- Dual-pass flow structure allows the coolant to flow across the core of the radiator 2 times before exiting the radiator for the lowest outlet temperature possible (OEM style design)
- CNC machined, OEM style “quick-connect” inlet/outlet connections
- CNC machined, OEM style mounting brackets & fittings for superb fit and durability
- Includes removable aluminium rock guard
- All-aluminium race style drain plug
- 1 hour “mirror finish” hand polish
- “Drop-in fit” requiring no modifications to install. Accepts all attaching OEM components including “quick-connect” hoses, mounting brackets, OEM X-brace, and all air ducting/shrouding.
- CSF #8075 – 45 row design – no modifications necessary
- CSF #8075R – 50 row ultimate race-spec design (limited availability)
- Requires some modification including trimming to bottom side of upper core support.
- Life-time warranty
CSF Heat Exchanger
£620.00 exc VAT
£744.00 inc VAT
Next Level...
For cars looking for further improvements to the cooling capacity of the charge air system both Forge Motorsport and CSF offer larger Charge Coolers.
Forge Motorsport Charger Cooler
In addition to the Forge Motorsport Heat Exchanger they also provide a complete top mount replacement chargecooler and expansion tank for the BMW S55 Engine.
The chargecooler features an all-aluminium construction which overcomes all the issues relating to plastic end tank splitting, failure at high boost and leaks between the core and end tanks with end tank seal failure. The end tanks are fabricated using high precision laser cut sheet metal panels which are TIG welded by hand for maximum strength and durability.
Designed and manufactured at Forge Motorsport HQ in Gloucestershire, England, we utilised our Solidworks CAD design system to assist in the creation, modification, CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) analysis and optimization of this innovative charge cooler. Three different core constructions were evaluated during the development process. The final design of a bar and plate core far outperformed the other two alternatives. In doing this, the Forge Motorsport development engineers have made a quadruple pass design, allowing the water to flow through four passes of the cooler which improves the cooling efficiency beyond any other products currently on the market.
Unique to the market, the Forge BMW M2 Competition/M3/M4 S55 Chargecooler system uses an expansion tank rather than a header tank like the OEM system. There is a filler cap located at the highest point on the Chargecooler allowing you to be sure that the charge is 100% full of coolant with no air pockets. This maximises the efficiency of the heat rejection of the coolant within the Chargecooler water jacket.
Features:
- Offering over 71% increase in volume and over 42% increase of frontal area.
- In hot climate testing, constant dyno runs showed significantly lower inlet temperatures compared with the stock system and an increase in power of up to 20 bhp.
- As part of Forge Motorsport’s strict quality control process, each chargecooler unit is carefully inspected and pressure tested to 4BAR before despatch.
- Located on the outlet tank of the chargecooler there is also a 1/8 NPT port ready for water/methanol injection if required.
Forge Motorsport Charger Cooler
£1,669.81 exc VAT
£2,003.77 inc VAT
CSF Charge Cooler or Charge Cooler and Heat Exchanger bundle
- World’s 1st cast end tank designed top mount charge-air-cooler for the BMW S55 engine in the BMW F8x m3/m4 (F80 m3, F82/F83 m4).
- Multiple air dividers cast into both the hot/cold side end tanks for optimized air flow through the custom designed CSF liquid-to-air intercooler core (CFD analysis and testing completed to ensure optimal performance).
- 60% increase in core size compared to the OEM cooler.
- Left/right, cross-flow, dual-pass core configuration with 2-stage water cooling for maximum efficiency and intake temperature reduction (vs. OEM single-pass vertical-flow design).
- Designed with 3D scanning / rapid prototype technology to ensure precise fitment and maximum surface area utilization.
- “Drop-in fit” design for an easy & quick plug-and-play installation. Complete with OEM style “Quick-Connect” water connections and sensor ports.
- Finished with a professional “Crinkle Black” powder coat finish (CSF #8082). Also available in raw aluminium finish with option for custom powder coating available (CSF #8082R).
- Lifetime warranty.
CSF Charge Cooler
CSF Heat Exchanger
CSF Charge Cooler
£1,700.00 exc VAT
£2,040.00 inc VAT
CSF Charge Cooler and Heat Exchanger bundle
£1,940.00 exc VAT
£2,328.00 inc VAT
CSF Dual Pass Race Spec DCT Transmission Cooler
For the serious trackday customers we would also recommend installing the CSF DCT Transmission cooler. We run a similar version to this on our BMW M3 E92 DCT track car and it has significantly reduced the DCT oil temperature.
- Made with CSF’s AC condenser technology using a 1-row super-high pressure 26mm multi-channel microtube
- Dual-pass high performance core with 10 cooling tubes vs. OEM single-pass with return pipe 6 tube design.
- High-density multi-louvered fin design.
- “Drop-in fit” requiring no modifications to install. Accepts all attaching OEM components including oil-line connections, mounting brackets, and shroud/ducting
- Lab tested at ~30% more efficient than the OEM cooler
- World’s 1st and only true “plug-and-play” upgraded DCT transmission cooler for the BMW S55 engine in the BMW F8x m3/m4 (F80 m3, F82/F83 m4)
