[Bumpinjeep]

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With the recent oil cooler failure on a new car catastrophe thread, looks like a bunch of us have ordered oil cooler protection. I think having a thread with details on each one would be beneficial for people who have questions.
So far as I can tell, there are 3 options.
Zunsport - $180
Mishimoto - $430
Turner Motorport - $900

I ordered the Mishimoto skid plate as my car is lowered and I wanted the most protection without spending a grand.
The box came in today and I was really surprised at how light it is. The skid plate is bubble wrapped, all of the hardware came in a separate bag in the box and everything was packaged really well so there wouldn't be any dings or scratches in case that bothers you. Very good packaging. The skid plate itself is very sturdy and light, speaking of which, the plate weighs a total of 7 lbs. I haven't had the chance to install it yet but I am assuming that the plastic gard that comes on the car is a couple of lbs, so you would at most see a 4 to 5 pound weight increase at the lowest place in the car, it should have literally zero effect on performance.
But should provide a ton of protection against the elements compared to the stock plastic piece that does absolutely nothing.
TLR
Weight: 7 lbs
Price : $430
Quality: 10/10

Feel free to post your reviews of the other protection plates.

[M_Power Rob]

Turner skid plate can ve had for about ~$750 (not that this price is much better).

https://www.turnermotorsport.com/Sea...87+skid+plate+

https://www.ecstuning.com/b-turner-m...8771la01-02~a/

Milled finish is even cheaper

https://www.turnermotorsport.com/p-1...g80-g82-m3-m4/

[Bumpinjeep]

Originally Posted by M_Power Rob

Turner skid plate can ve had for about ~$750 (not that this price is much better).

https://www.turnermotorsport.com/Sea...87+skid+plate+

https://www.ecstuning.com/b-turner-m...8771la01-02~a/

Milled finish is even cheaper

https://www.turnermotorsport.com/p-1...g80-g82-m3-m4/

Good God, those don't seem to offer that much more protection than the stock unit, unless you hit like a giant stick or something.
The $900 one believe it or is carbon fiber lol.
https://www.turnermotorsport.com/p-2...ler-guard-g8x/

[sclui56]

I received the Mishimoto last week and installed it today, as a suggestion, one should have a couple of the plastic grommets on hand (P/N 7147306224), you may or may not need a spare, I did as I managed to strip one.

I only installed the Turner's on my daughter's M240i so I don't know how well the G8x's are attached, but the concern I have after installing the Mishimoto is that there is NO metal-to-metal mounting point, every bolt/screw is attached to the existing factory plastic grommets. It's something that needs to be checked on now and then.

The Mishimoto instruction says "06. Hand tighten the stock bolts in the remaining mounting points,
once all bolts are started torque all bolts down", well, we cannot really torque the bolts down because they are secured through the plastic grommets, so hand-tight on those. The 7 stainless bolts+washers towards the front can be "torque" down since the other side of the plate has 7 nutserts welded on, so the torque is against those nutserts, won't really do anything more IMHO.

At least I am a bit less paranoid now that the plate is installed.

[M_Power Rob]

Originally Posted by Bumpinjeep

Good God, those don't seem to offer that much more protection than the stock unit, unless you hit like a giant stick or something.
The $900 one believe it or is carbon fiber lol.
https://www.turnermotorsport.com/p-2...ler-guard-g8x/

Yeah, that is a joke. Whats next, tempered glass?

[MPR]

The bolts are secured to plastic up front but if you hit an object, the entire skid plate will be pushed against the oil cooler, versus the object itself hitting the oil cooler. I think you are greatly reducing damage to the oil cooler having the skid plate, regardless of how it’s attached

[sclui56]

MPR Not to be off-topic, I originally thought the Mishimoto could be "better" than the Turner's we installed on the G42's because of the mounting points, but now that I have done both firsthand, I think the Turner's (at least the version for the G42) has more secured mounting due to the 2 brackets supplied by Turner's mounted to the sub-frame. As I indicated above, the Mishimoto for the G8x's is attached only to existing grommets.

This extra protection is simply nuts, BMW could have charged a couple extra bills and included a better mouse trap from the factory.

[Bumpinjeep]

Update,
Installed it, took maybe 30 minutes. Super quick. Also weighed the stock plastic piece.
Stock protection: 2.2 lbs
Mishimoto: 7.1 lbs
Difference is 4.9 lbs at the bottom of the car.

[dominoM]

Understand the Zunsport cover is likely less robust (it's a mesh cover not a skid plate). Would love to see some examples and opinions for that as well.

[1slowspec3]

Installed Southeast Coating and Fab oil cooler guard. Def a minimalist take as it doesnt replace any plastic parts. Its simply bolts on over what’s already there.
Cost around $350 shipped.


https://instagram.com/p/C1LlJngOqHU/

[sclui56]

Originally Posted by 1slowspec3

Installed Southeast Coating and Fab oil cooler guard. Def a minimalist take as it doesnt replace any plastic parts. Its simply bolts on over what’s already there.
Cost around $350 shipped.


https://instagram.com/p/C1LlJngOqHU/

After seeing all the available ones, this is probably what I would have bought even though I opted for the Mishmoto (didn't know of the Southeast at the time). This is by far the lightest purpose-built one, plus it retains the factory mounting of the rubber strip. I didn't consider the ZS framed mesh unit because I felt the markup is absolutely unwarranted, though it may work well for the intended purpose.

Since all these are mounted to plastic grommets, I would think the lighter the better.

[1slowspec3]

I made a short video on the install for the skid plate and some metal mesh.

[dominoM]

Originally Posted by 1slowspec3

Installed Southeast Coating and Fab oil cooler guard. Def a minimalist take as it doesnt replace any plastic parts. Its simply bolts on over what’s already there.
Cost around $350 shipped.


https://instagram.com/p/C1LlJngOqHU/

Interesting. A few general questions.

Did you spec fabrication through SE C&F yourself? And you are the go-between for any of us? It's fine if that is the case, just asking for anyone else that might have the same question.

Watched your video. I'm assuming the oil cooler guard does not require removal of the front bumper (you were doing that for the front inserts).

Thx!

[keonigt]

Originally Posted by 1slowspec3

Installed Southeast Coating and Fab oil cooler guard. Def a minimalist take as it doesnt replace any plastic parts. Its simply bolts on over what’s already there.
Cost around $350 shipped.


https://instagram.com/p/C1LlJngOqHU/

That actually looks really good! I might go this route instead of zunsport.

How was the process in ordering it?

[WhiteRqbbit]

Does that design remove the gurney flap? I think that will have negative effects on the cooling.

[1slowspec3]

Originally Posted by WhiteRqbbit

Does that design remove the gurney flap? I think that will have negative effects on the cooling.

No you keep everything oem in place. In my video you can seen the rubber flap.

[1slowspec3]

Originally Posted by dominoM

Interesting. A few general questions.

Did you spec fabrication through SE C&F yourself? And you are the go-between for any of us? It's fine if that is the case, just asking for anyone else that might have the same question.

Watched your video. I'm assuming the oil cooler guard does not require removal of the front bumper (you were doing that for the front inserts).

Thx!

All you need to do its remove the 9 screws (10mm), put plate in place and using spacers/ new hardware bolt up. No bumper removal needed.

Paul, the owner of SE C&F has authorized as a seller of his product.
I tested it myself and thought it was a good product for the money and its simplicity.

Feel free to DM for more info on here or IG.

[Schulminator]

Originally Posted by 1slowspec3

All you need to do its remove the 9 screws (10mm), put plate in place and using spacers/ new hardware bolt up. No bumper removal needed.

Paul, the owner of SE C&F has authorized as a seller of his product.
I tested it myself and thought it was a good product for the money and its simplicity.

Feel free to DM for more info on here or IG.

DM'ing with Paul now. Going to order this for my G80.

[1slowspec3]

Originally Posted by Schulminator

DM'ing with Paul now. Going to order this for my G80.

Awesome, we been getting a lot of orders in this week from G80/82 owners as well. Please let him know you heard of this from Juan.