Quote:
Originally Posted by M_Power Rob
This is not meant to reduce the empathy for the OP or anyone else who may face these issues (whether oil cooler or radiator damage) however its not like BMW didn't do any R&D on this car, the G Series M cars or any other cars you want to throw into the mix.
Plenty of research was done in multiple locations and under multiple conditions. Unfortunately, shit happens. Its not like 90% of these cars are coming in with damage. These are truly isolated incidents (considering the number of cars in circulation around the world). I am not blaming any driver but its not always an unavoidable situation. Some people pay no attention and some dont care (I see people launch over speed bumps at 30-40mph as they have no care in the world), they just drive along like driver and the car are invincible (or they want/hope to be). Its Murphys Law at play here, it is what it is.
Those screens are not going to prevent damage causing rocks/debris from doing their damage. Will they stop certain smaller debris, yes, but that smaller debris is not really the killer here. How often do you encounter bouncing rocks? Why you ask, cause unless its a damn huge rocks, how is it going to hit the cooler (how many inches from ground to cooler face? That is a more than decent size rock that everyone should avoid, no matter what car they drive.) If you have lowered your car so much that small rocks will not pass through, well that is on the car owner, not BMW. The CFS heat exchanger I have comes with a "rock guard" which will do nothing to stop a debris/prevent damage from anything other than small innocuous items.
To literally stop/prevent the damage, you would need a very sturdy steel plate...and that would not be a feasible option as it would defeat the purpose of the cooler.
My B9 S5 had a plastic honeycomb in front of the intercooler...sure not going to stop any debris of damaging size. Case in point, my tuner has a B9 S5 and he had debris fly through that honeycomb on I95...result, smashed honeycomb and hole in the intercooler.
Sorry for the rant, and sorry if I offended anyone. My take, gotta pay if you want to play. Just my two pennies...
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Show me non-M car that has had this happen to them. You won't find any because they don't have this design flaw. Just like not having protection on the front radiator (for AT) and front heat exchangers on the G87. These can be addressed by BMW engineers without using massive plates as you suggest. The bean counters however have looked at the likelihood that something will happen and have accepted the risk (on your behalf) to cut cost. I think any reasonable person understands this is rare but who wants to take that chance when you could lose your engine and all the headache and depreciation that comes along with that?
Anyone who buys an M car already pays to play by spending much more on an M vs the standard model. To expect buyers to first beware of the issue and then have to address it isn't paying to play, it's ridiculous.
P.S. I wasn't offended by your comments. Anyone should be able to discuss an issue and offer other perspectives. It's how we all learn from each other.