do88 performance intercooler designed for an easy drop-in-fitment in your BMW M2 / M3 / M4 F8X
The S55 turbo engine that powers the BMW M2C / M3 / M4 F8X uses a Top mounted water-cooled intercooler instead of an “regular” air-cooled intercooler. This OE intercooler has a Tube&Fin core with clamped plastic end tanks. This construction has its drawbacks since it is prone to crack and start leaking coolant into engine or leaking boost pressure out of the tank sealings.
Our mission when starting this development of a new performance intercooler was to eliminate the OE intercoolers weaknesses and of course offer a great performance increase. During all test we have carried out during the development of our entire BMW F8X M2C/M3/M4 product range we see clearly how the peak power is directly equated with the IAT (Intake Air Temperature).
To get an exact 3D-model of the available space to design our intercooler in we did a detailed 3D-scan of our M3 Competition engine bay. In our Solidworks CAD-software we tried out several design concepts for our charge air cooler using the 3D-scan generated model.
The final design concept was decided after several CFD simulations in our Solidworks Flow Simulation software. In this software we can simulate air flow and measure pressure drop and air distribution over the core. We decided not to include internal air guides since several of our simulations showed they did more harm than good. The air flow is distributed perfectly over the core with our tank design without internal air guides as many claims is good. But in many cases, these causes turbulence and disruptions in the airflow.
Our final design resulted in a bar-and-plate core with TIG-welded aluminum casting end tanks. This offers a peace of mind for any High boost tune. We have managed to utilize a massive core 85% lager than OEM and decrease (16% lower) the charge air pressure drop and maintain drop-in installation without modifications. Decreasing the charge pressure drop over the intercooler has several benefits such as the turbos needs to work less to achieve target boost / lower temperature / improves throttle response. We have the equipment to calculate the pressure drop in our CFD calculation software and also real-world tests in our Superflow SF-1020 flow bench. On the water coolant side, we changed to a dual pass flow structure which allows the coolant to flow across the core two times before exiting the intercooler instead of the OE single pass structure.
We use a high density offset cooling fin on both the air and water side. Several tests were performed to find optimum balance in-between the air and water fins to get the maximum heat transfer. This gives our intercooler a huge increase in active cooling area compared to OE.
Naturally, this being a do88 performance product, we have executed thorough, severe, and continuous tests developing this product to ensure best performance. Not one compromise has been made.
All this hard work result in a product that in one way or another really will enhance the performance of your vehicle no matter if it is a standard car or a heavily modified monster! On track, on street, on strip, this charge air cooler will be your true companion!
Significant advantages with do88 performance intercooler (stock comparison numbers):
- Peak power gain of 13 hp! Measured on car with BootMod3 Stage 1 tune.
- Highest midrange power gain of 25 hp!
- Highest torque gain of 52 Nm!
- Greater core volume: 5657cm3 (3052cm3), 85 % bigger!
- Air flow at 0,025bar/0,36psi pressure drop: 298 CFM (256 CFM), 16 % higher!
- Lower post intercooler air temperature at same conditions: 39°C (48°C), 9°C lower!*
* Measured at 240km/h during full throttle acceleration 0-240km/h at air strip. Both tests was performed same day under same conditions.
Installation instructions found here
OE Reference: 17517846235
