Oil tstat by-pass for free!
- Thread starter JBarros
- Start date
For those thinking about doing this modification, it is best to make sure it is actually needed. This article is a good read: http://www.hotrod.com/articles/engine-oil-temperature/
"For a dual-purpose car, engine oil needs to be at least 220 degrees F to burn off all the deposits and accumulated water vapor. For every pound of fuel burned in an engine, the combustion process also generates a pound of water! If engine sump temperatures rarely exceed 212 degrees (water’s boiling point), the water will mix with sulfur (another combustion by-product) and create acids that can eventually damage bearings.
As for ultimate power potential, the general consensus among most racers is that hot oil and cool water make more power in most engines. Cold engine oil causes excessive frictional drag on the bearings and cylinder walls. A quality conventional motor oil will tolerate oil sump temperatures of up to 250 degrees, but starts breaking down over 275 degrees. The traditional approach is to try to hold oil temperatures between 230 and 260 degrees. Even on a short-duration, drag-only combo where oil is frequently changed, I would not want to routinely see under-200-degree oil temps.
A full-synthetic oil will withstand sump temperatures in excess of 300 degrees, and for hard-core professional racing, some oval-track race teams are experimenting with ultra-thin, specially formulated, race-only synthetics operating at 350 degrees or even higher.
Also remember that a high-end engine is built as a total combination. Piston-to-wall clearances, piston ring end-gaps, and bearing clearances are specifically tailored to match the engine oil’s characteristics and intended operating temperature."
"For a dual-purpose car, engine oil needs to be at least 220 degrees F to burn off all the deposits and accumulated water vapor. For every pound of fuel burned in an engine, the combustion process also generates a pound of water! If engine sump temperatures rarely exceed 212 degrees (water’s boiling point), the water will mix with sulfur (another combustion by-product) and create acids that can eventually damage bearings.
As for ultimate power potential, the general consensus among most racers is that hot oil and cool water make more power in most engines. Cold engine oil causes excessive frictional drag on the bearings and cylinder walls. A quality conventional motor oil will tolerate oil sump temperatures of up to 250 degrees, but starts breaking down over 275 degrees. The traditional approach is to try to hold oil temperatures between 230 and 260 degrees. Even on a short-duration, drag-only combo where oil is frequently changed, I would not want to routinely see under-200-degree oil temps.
A full-synthetic oil will withstand sump temperatures in excess of 300 degrees, and for hard-core professional racing, some oval-track race teams are experimenting with ultra-thin, specially formulated, race-only synthetics operating at 350 degrees or even higher.
Also remember that a high-end engine is built as a total combination. Piston-to-wall clearances, piston ring end-gaps, and bearing clearances are specifically tailored to match the engine oil’s characteristics and intended operating temperature."
I agree with you and don't run mine that high. BUT, it's technically still acceptable. I am not going to spend $76 to download the J304 SAE Standards Definition, but I do remember enough of it that I can loosely quote enough of it for you.
First you have to look and see if BMW has ever altered their oil requirements for the N54, and they haven't. Next you have to see when they developed the N54, and that was back in 2004-2007. Back then the most current SAE standards for oil were the J304/199906 standard published in 1999. The next iteration was released in 2007 then the subsequent one was 2016. So the N54 utilized 1999 oil testing standards (keep this in mind).
All testing was performed at 100C and from memory verified at a +/-15% deviation. Which means the oil was tested at 85C, 100C and 115C. That translates to the SAE running their tests and validating the performance of oil at (get ready for it) 243.8F.
So is 240F "way too hot"...even according to 1999 standards no. It's within the standard test parameters and all oils are guaranteed to perform at the SAE labeled levels at 240F. Is it on the ragged edge? Well, yea.
But on the inverse 180.2F is the lowest they certify their numbers to as well....so anyone saying 180.2F is too low is talking out their ass. 180F still meets all the standards required by the SAE for water vaporization, viscosity, etc. But 180F gives a bunch of headroom where as operating at 240F yields little *guaranteed* headroom. There are even oils tested beyond SAE standards that perform fine up to 300F...but those aren't your oils available at your local parts store either.
As long as you are running between 180F and 240F any oil tested in accordance with SAE standards, with the correct additive package, in the correct viscosity will work.
(In other words, there's enough variability built into the standards definition that this *is not* a hill to die on)
This exactly this, these guys are acting like this mod lowers temp below 180 or something it might lower it about 20 degrees so you might run 220-230, there's nothing engine degrading about it, but by all means run your temps in 250s lol and think it's good for your engine. Great post @dyezak
BMW specifies their LL-01 synthetic. Without really doing a bunch of research, I would imagine that the LL-01 exceeds SAE specs. Most performance oriented stuff exceeds the basic SAE specifications.
This is an nice article of testing a few oils from 2012: http://www.speedtalk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=31363
In that article it talks about thermal break down. According to this article, the average thermal breakdown temperature of the tested synthetic oils was about 282 degrees. Well above 250 degrees everyone seems worried about. These test are done on your typical off the shelf oil from 2012. Most N54 owners who are into the performance end use even higher end oils than what was tested. Heck, even BWM only sees oil temperatures around 300 degrees as "way to hot", which is when factory programming starts cutting power.
This is an nice article of testing a few oils from 2012: http://www.speedtalk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=31363
In that article it talks about thermal break down. According to this article, the average thermal breakdown temperature of the tested synthetic oils was about 282 degrees. Well above 250 degrees everyone seems worried about. These test are done on your typical off the shelf oil from 2012. Most N54 owners who are into the performance end use even higher end oils than what was tested. Heck, even BWM only sees oil temperatures around 300 degrees as "way to hot", which is when factory programming starts cutting power.
So whats the problem with running at 220-230 and creating more headroom? I'm done with this thread we have a bunch of ignorant folks SMH, cheers!
The problem is that this modification greatly slows down the rate the oil heats up and is unnecessary. 220 is also on the very low end of the ideal operating temperature of oil in our cars.
Ignorance is simply someone who isn't educated in the topic at hand. The purpose of any forum is the sharing of ideas. Just another fancy way of saying facilitation of education.
