wasn't there a lot of uproar also from the BMW community over the lack of sufficient oil cooling for the 135/335/N54 powered vehicles?

From memory, BMW eventually caved and an additional oil cooler was retrofitted. The engine has an oil to water heat exchanger as standard in the oil filter housing. Retrofits had an extra oil to air cooler mounted in the fender with a louvre near the front of the tyre. Retrofitted models also have two large-ish oil hoses running across the engine from the filter housing to the fender.

So effectively the 2013+ heat exchanger doesnt really do much. Mine almost gets to 220 also and its a 2014 MY. This is with spirited driving then followed by stop go traffic.

put it this way, if your coolant temp is 100*c then your oil temp cannot be cooler than 100*c. I find that once you get the oil above 90*c it's hard to get it down again no matter how gently you drive after thrashing it. The engine needs to be switched off and rested.

Personally, i still think the oil to water setup is sufficient for most drivers. It's certainly better than nothing

There's something wrong with your car if you go into limp mode after 1 or 2 WOT pulls.

i was coming back from the airport this morning and was driving 70-80mph the whole time and the temp was close to 220.. usually it sits at about 200... highest it got was 240 in stop and go traffic.

Lately here in El Paso, TX. we have had 100+ weather and I have noticed that my oil temp went passed the 240 into the 260 rage I am guessing. About two days ago it went to 280 and above it was 112 and I was driving home I definitely felt that limp mode and it sucked. I wonder with the weather that we are having if this is going to be the norm I don't think i will be able to drive the Z often we are getting this weather all summer long.

I haven't experienced 112°F in my Z, but 90°F and aggressive driving with a 34 row oil cooler hasn't caused any excessive temps. Preciously I sometimes saw 280°F and backed off to get temps down. As many have noted, a block off plate in the winter allows oil temps to get sufficiently warm enough in a reasonable amount of time.

This is why the oil cooler is my favorite mod.

I used to hit 230-240F when driving aggressive on the highway in 90-100F weather. Last oil change I went synthetic 5w-30 and it seems to have helped keep oil temps in check. I've driven in 95F weather spirited and have yet to crack 230F. Anyone else notice this. Also it seems most of these higher oil temps are on the 6spds.

I had (perceived) heat problems in both a 6MT and 7AT. Oil cooler got me where I "want" to be. 98°F ambient and hard driving and I never get near the temps I experienced before.

220* F is fine. Try the arc fins for a modest drop -- you really aren't seeing temps that point to the need for a cooler.

Now if you start tracking it -- that might me a different matter, but your range is is safe, if slightly warmer than optimal for max power (and I mean like a 10-15* F drop would be perfecto).

I will say that lugging the engine AT ALL, greatly heats up the oil. Now, I can only speak for the AT, but I'm sure you get the same consequence with the MT if the gear isn't quite optimal for load/road speed.

Running any temps lower than 200-210 wont burn off the moisture that is in the oil from sitting. So running lower than that may give more power but is it good for the engine?

200°F at the temperature sensor will have the oil well above 212°F during its circulation and so you will be burning off moisture.

I talked with folks from Z1 to confirm and they claimed a pretty low metered temperature to get the oil warm enough to address the moisture issue. I forget the value they cited.

Now, all this moisture talk has me wanting to visit an Onzedge thread.

thats a real good question i'm curious as well. my avg oil temp srems to be 210 in heavy stop n go traffic at 90 degrees ambient with my 34 row cooler but 170-180 on highway cruise in warm weather cold weather a little lower. plus my headers arent heat wrapped so i imagine its higher than it should be at times.

i have yet to do a track day sincr getting headers but prior i would see around 220 after 5 or 6 consecutive hard laps

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Don't forget that a block off plate will help if you're worried about too much cooling. I use one in the winter per the wise suggestion of a friend who did my installation.

I found Z1's reply to my question and they said that as long as your oil temps reach 180°F, then it will be warm enough along its flow path to burn of moisture. Seems plausible.

i've no wise friends unfortunately.

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I guess modern oils are less susceptible to moisture than "back in the day" anyhow. But too cool cant be very efficient for the oil to do its job.
:tup:

Just a brief clip from Hot Rod:

"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.



Read more: http://www.hotrod.com/feature_stories/1310_engine_oil_temperature/?__federated=1#ixzz358qKNkjn"

Lots of info out there. Because it is on the internet, I'm sure it is all correct.

If I remember correctly for a previous post in another thread z1 examined the oil path and the placement if the oil temp sensor and has stated that the oil temp sensor is on the inlet path before the oil goes into the engine. If the gauge is reading 180F then that is the coldest point (after the cooler if you have one) and the oil will be hotter once it hits the engine up top.

Some ppl seem to think there is about a 20 deg difference between the gauge reading and what the temp is of the oil in the engine.

If you think about it, this might be somewhat close as stage 2 limp mode kicks in when the gauge reads 280F but the oil would actually be around 300F in the engine.


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Anything empirical I can find on modern oils basically points to anything below 300* as acceptable for short periods of time. Running over that on an enduro race could present a problem...

I've found less clear info on how cool is too cool, but if memory serves, ol' A.G. Bell (another plug by me for he :p ) notes in several engine building and tuning texts that anything below about 160* F is insufficient for optimal lubing. Technical papers by SAE and whatnot may yield more specific values...

I usually aim for about 175* - 180* as a good lower bound for high load, with about 200* - 210* as ideal, based in part on evidence that the OEM Nissan tune tends to pull a little ignition timing above as you creep above 200* F.

Any water or fuel that may be in the oil is almost certainly not a significant factor at that point (and ideally those values began close to zero anyway...), as another poster noted.

Nissan's 260* F (is it 280*F?) limp mode threshold is undoubtedly tied as much to minimizing warranty claims as anything.

Otherwise I am unaware of any clear data on the point at which the VQ37HR components will begin to fail based on over-heated oil providing insufficient lubrication.

That's all assuming, of course, that the OEM gauge data and what the ECU responds to is consistent with the values obtained from empirical testing...

This is the best source for oil info
Bob Is The Oil Guy | The Internet's Number One Motor Oil Site

Oil temps: 335 comparitive observation.
 

Stage 1 limp is at 260F with a rev limit of 5000 rpm I believe and then a stage 2 limp at 280F with a rev limit of 3000 (or 2000?) rpm.

I was just trying to point out that the gauge is reading the coldest point. The oil will be hotter once it enters and cycles through the engine back into the pan, according to the temp sensor placement found out by z1.

Edit. I do remember reading a claim by some one on here that said that the bearings in the motor are of a softer metal (not lead based) and anything over 240F was not good. I think they had taken apart and engine or something. I'll see if I can dig up the thread.


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