Hey guys, I was under my friends 3 series BMW tonight and saw that the stock oil pan was molded with heat sinks. I think this is a great idea for the 13B.

I wonder if anyone is producing something like this, if not, I'm sure fins could be welded on. Also, I am curious if this is really that effective in cooling the pan and the oil.

 

Pineapple Racing sells the Xcessive oil pan that has the fins.

http://www.pineappleracing.com/index...PROD&ProdID=20

 

Cool, but wow they are really proud of their oil pan, it also looks like a deeper sump, something for racing only. IMO the BMW one looks better with more heat sinks.

Is there any positive feedback from anyone using their oil pan? What about any other manufacturers of a heat sink oil pan?

 

Keep in mind that most other cars don't have dedicated oil coolers, so the rely on other means (such has the heatsinks) to cool their oil.

 

^ Good point. Actually while I was under the BMW I was looking to see if it had an oil cooler and it didn't.

I think it would be interesting to see numbers, whether for BMW or the 13B, on an oil pan like this to see how effective it is on keeping things cool. How many degrees lower in temp would it show.

Let's say this heat sink oil pan is effective. The oil pan itself would have have an overall lower temperature than a standard oil pan and being attached to the engine might actually be a heat sink for the block itself (That last part may be stretching it). The oil flowing back into the heat sink oil pan would not absorb as much heat as in a standard oil pan, therefore the oil would have lower temps overall before cycling back into the oil cooler, making the oil cooler more efficient.

OR would something like this fall into the law of diminishing returns.

 

It could help assist for those using a single stock oil cooler. However, I don't think it would be nearly as effective as a properly ducted oil cooler; it just introduces less risk than an oil cooler (i.e. another failure/maintenance point).

Also keep in mind that those aftermarket oil pans for the FD typically extend down further to be able to get more air for cooling. This causes problems on the street:

https://www.rx7club.com/3rd-generation-specific-1993-2002-16/caution-those-who-upgraded-their-oil-pan-war-room-pic-445974/

If you are building a track only car, it would be something to look into but IMO it can be a dangerous upgrade depending on the condition of your public roads. Given you are in the Midwest with me, I wouldn't recommend it.

 

same thing on diff covers. plus it adds some rigidity