[e92law]

Anyone have experience with it?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/BMW-3...spagenameZWDVW

[335iheLLraiseR]

[Digital.James]

Looks just like a Spearco, right down to the charge pipe. Doesnt look as finished as the Spearco does on the end tanks and piping welds though.

Not saying it's the same, but the STI guys have been using ebay intercoolers for a while with pretty decent results.

[e92law]

Originally Posted by 335iheLLraiseR

Nice. Not saying I would use it. But never seen it.

[O-cha]

I don't think a flame suit is necessary, the ebay crap comes out for every car and the poor people will buy it.

[garyhgaryh]

that's a good price. If it is indeed good, the price will start going up due to demand.. buy it and try it out.. You're only losing $400 or so... it's just an air radiator. Most of the radiators you buy at Kragens is made in China, Pakistan, or India. No magic about producing them - they are not high tech or anything complicated to build.

[ArmyBimmerDude]

Originally Posted by garyhgaryh

that's a good price. If it is indeed good, the price will start going up due to demand.. buy it and try it out.. You're only losing $400 or so... it's just an air radiator. Most of the radiators you buy at Kragens is made in China, Pakistan, or India. No magic about producing them - they are not high tech or anything complicated to build.

+1

[335iheLLraiseR]

Originally Posted by Digital.James

Looks just like a Spearco, right down to the charge pipe. Doesnt look as finished as the Spearco does on the end tanks and piping welds though.

Not saying it's the same, but the STI guys have been using ebay intercoolers for a while with pretty decent results.

i noticed the same thing.

Originally Posted by O-cha

I don't think a flame suit is necessary, the ebay crap comes out for every car and the poor people will buy it.

alright, who are you and what have you done with the REAL O-cha?

[Booster4075]

"Someone" should buy it and tell us how it works! heh heh

[hun77777]

Originally Posted by Booster4075

"Someone" should buy it and tell us how it works! heh heh

i think that someone should be you

[roadkillrob]

just paint Spearco on it when it comes and no one will ever know!

[benton0311]

Could go either way. The STi/WRX, EVO, and DSM guys have been using both high dollar and ebay intercoolers long before BMW's return to the turbo game.

On the STI forums they could go both ways - they basically needed someone to buy the intercooler and inspect it for quality and report back. Some were outstanding, most were decent, and some were garbage. It's being marketed by XO2 so doing a search for XO2 intercooler on some STi/WRX and EVO forums should yield some good info.

I'm sure it's made in China but an intercooler is WELL within their manufacturing capability as long as there are quality inspections when they arrive in the U.S.

Plus, you can't get much cheaper of a build then the stock intercooler.

[uberschnell]

What's with the 2" gap between the IC and the radiator?

[Digital.James]

Originally Posted by Magna3

What's with the 2" gap between the IC and the radiator?

That's how the Spearco sits as well (Im assuming the Dinan also). Once the bumper cover is on it looks flush to the top, unless you get on the ground and look up.

[bdkevoIX]

Originally Posted by benton0311

Could go either way. The STi/WRX, EVO, and DSM guys have been using both high dollar and ebay intercoolers long before BMW's return to the turbo game.

On the STI forums they could go both ways - they basically needed someone to buy the intercooler and inspect it for quality and report back. Some were outstanding, most were decent, and some were garbage. It's being marketed by XO2 so doing a search for XO2 intercooler on some STi/WRX and EVO forums should yield some good info.

I'm sure it's made in China but an intercooler is WELL within their manufacturing capability as long as there are quality inspections when they arrive in the U.S.

Plus, you can't get much cheaper of a build then the stock intercooler.

A good intercooler is a key factor when building a high horsepower car.

Let me give you an example.

Buschur racing's customers' cars with

built 2.0L
built head
ported intake mani
throttle body
HTA35r turbo kit
"BR RACE Intercooler"

made over 500whp on their low reading mustang dyno and had gone
10.5-10.8@135-137mph on STRAIGTH 93 octane no meth, no race gas.

Not many people can tune the evo to 30psi on straight 93 octane.

This had been a pretty big hype in evo community and David Buschur said the good intercooler played a very important role.

He had done multiple tests and some ebay cores were decent but none were good.

[retrodrive]

Supra guys have been using ebay intercoolers for years. There is nothing wrong with that. Some of them are no worse then all the brand name units. Sooner or later there will be several ebay ones avaliable and we will know which ones are good.

[bdkevoIX]

Originally Posted by retrodrive

Supra guys have been using ebay intercoolers for years. There is nothing wrong with that. Some of them are no worse then all the brand name units. Sooner or later there will be several ebay ones avaliable and we will know which ones are good.

Yea, but those supra guys don't run 30psi on straight 93 octane.
Alot of evo guys run ebay intercoolers as well.
But no way in hell those guys will be able to run 30psi on 93 octane.

[HennarotM3]

Originally Posted by retrodrive

Supra guys have been using ebay intercoolers for years. There is nothing wrong with that. Some of them are no worse then all the brand name units. Sooner or later there will be several ebay ones avaliable and we will know which ones are good.

Originally Posted by bdkevoIX

Yea, but those supra guys don't run 30psi on straight 93 octane.
Alot of evo guys run ebay intercoolers as well.
But no way in hell those guys will be able to run 30psi on 93 octane.

Right, but I don't think anyone's claiming that an ebay intercooler for the 335i is good for 30psi on 93 octane either. You're the only one speaking in terms of your example.

Someone will get one of these and try it out, then we'll at least have some idea about the build quality. As many have mentioned, the technology isn't that complicated; it's more about how well the thing is put together.

[benton0311]

There are plenty of Supra, Subaru, and Mitsu/DSM guys running 30+psi on a plethora of different intercooler designs. Not many of them are foolish enough to do it routinely on 93 - just because you can doesn't mean you should (this is like rappelling with twine just to say you could do it).

Also, that example is so completely irrelevant to the intended use of the aforementioned intercooler that it is just plain silly.

One thing to always remember with intercoolers is that there is a point of diminishing returns especially in regards to size. An intercooler can only cool the air to ambient air temperature. Once that point is reached then the extra core size is only imposing an additional restriction on the turbo and, in addition to creating excess lag due to the turbo needing to fill the core, possibly contributing to power loss due to having to push a small turbo outside of it's efficiency range.

So yes, if you're using a GT42R on a 2 liter four then yes, it will move enough air and require a huge intercooler for maximum efficiency. Running a 16G or a VF39, or the two tiny turbos on the N54 then a properly sized intercooler with a good bar and plate core is the best best.

Of note:

Tube and fin cores = better cooling with higher restriction
Bar and plate cores = slightly less cooling with much less restriction

The stock intercooler is tiny, cheap, and tube and fin. A slightly larger size is still better and a bar and plate core will lead to the lowest pressure loss on turbos that are already operating at 100%.

[Rafstar]

[bdkevoIX]

Originally Posted by benton0311

There are plenty of Supra, Subaru, and Mitsu/DSM guys running 30+psi on a plethora of different intercooler designs. Not many of them are foolish enough to do it routinely on 93 - just because you can doesn't mean you should (this is like rappelling with twine just to say you could do it).

Also, that example is so completely irrelevant to the intended use of the aforementioned intercooler that it is just plain silly.

One thing to always remember with intercoolers is that there is a point of diminishing returns especially in regards to size. An intercooler can only cool the air to ambient air temperature. Once that point is reached then the extra core size is only imposing an additional restriction on the turbo and, in addition to creating excess lag due to the turbo needing to fill the core, possibly contributing to power loss due to having to push a small turbo outside of it's efficiency range.

So yes, if you're using a GT42R on a 2 liter four then yes, it will move enough air and require a huge intercooler for maximum efficiency. Running a 16G or a VF39, or the two tiny turbos on the N54 then a properly sized intercooler with a good bar and plate core is the best best.

Of note:

Tube and fin cores = better cooling with higher restriction
Bar and plate cores = slightly less cooling with much less restriction

The stock intercooler is tiny, cheap, and tube and fin. A slightly larger size is still better and a bar and plate core will lead to the lowest pressure loss on turbos that are already operating at 100%.

I agree with most of what you said, but tuners are getting better at what they do than ever before.

With the right combination of parts including a very efficient intercooler, it is possible to run 30psi with 93 octane ONLY.
You don't even need a 42r. This was done again and again on 35r.

Not only it is POSSIBLE, it is shown to be just as reliable as running race gas at the same boost pressure.

Buschur racing (#1 or #2 evo tuner in U.S with an 8sec evo) has produced more than 10 evo's recently making over 500whp on their mustang dyno, all on straight 93octane, consistenly running 10sec passes@135+mph.

All I am saying is that even though ebay intercooler design may be OK for most 335i applications, but there is no way in hell you will extract the maximum power output using low octane fuel.

Sorry if this kind of got off topic.

[bdog2]

Nice find!