Competition Series Front Mount Intercooler for E-Chassis N54/N55 Engine Standard Kit

Competition Series Front Mount Intercooler for E-Chassis N54/N55 Engine Standard KitOur Competition FMIC spent over a year of development and testing with our 135i Time Attack Race Car, With the scorching heat found on Southern California racetracks, we pushed our 135i Time Attack Race Car to the limits in 100+ degree weather on numerous occasions. The results were 6 design revisions improving cooling efficiency and internal flow characteristics to introduce you to the ultimate intercooler solution for your 135i, 1M, 335i and X1

Our Competition FMIC spent over a year of development and testing with our 135i Time Attack Race Car, With the scorching heat found on Southern California racetracks, we pushed our 135i Time Attack Race Car to the limits in 100+ degree weather on numerous occasions.  The results were 6 design revisions improving cooling efficiency and internal flow characteristics to introduce you to the ultimate intercooler solution for your 135i, 1M, 335i and X1 xDrive35i!

Key Features:

• Standard Kit comes with Charge Pipe Kit
• Large 20"x5.5"x6" (26.5"x5.5"x6" with end tanks) High Density Bar & Plate Construction Intercooler Core
• Cast end tanks for improved durability and internal flow characteristics.
• Mirror polished finish on intercooler assembly and piping.
• Optional Type III Hard Black Anodizing (for stealth) finish on intercooler, end tanks and all piping.  Hard anodizing helps   improve durability of intercooler fins against damage from road debris (rocks).
• Complete all aluminum intercooler piping, replaces all OEM rubber hoses with hard piping for improved throttle response and faster boost spool up.
• Improved intercooler inlet and outlet pipes for better flow characteristics.
• Intercooler piping features beaded ends, silicone "hump" hoses and T-bolt clamps to prevent intercooler piping from coming off from boost.
• Optional Carbon Fiber Shrouding to direct airflow through the intercooler for improved efficiency.
• Maintains ALL factory components.
• Includes all hardware needed to install.
• Developed under the harsh conditions of racing on our 135i Race Car.
• Limited Lifetime Warranty.

The heart of the ER Competition FMIC is the massive 20x5.5x6" (26.5x5.5x3" with end tanks) high density bar and plate intercooler core. It features 660 cubic inches of very efficient high-density bar & plate core (35% larger) versus the factory 425 cubic inches of less efficient tube & fin core.  Through extensive testing of different types of intercooler cores (tube & fin, bar & plate) we found that the high-density bar and plate core to be the most efficient. Independent testing (all data & dynos shown below have been independently conducted by our customers) has shown that our FMIC is so efficient in cooling that it has cooled intake air temperatures (IAT) to almost ambient (outside) temperatures. We also did extensive testing on the proper size to use to effectively cool the hot charged air as well as fight off heat soaking (when the intercooler cannot transfer heat away faster than the heat building up from the hot intake air). Heat soaking is not an issue at all as shown by consistency of the IAT staying in the same temperature range throughout the WHOLE RPM powerband. Also, our FMIC recovers so fast after a full throttle pull that once you shift, it recovers completely. This is why pull after pull, our FMIC does not heat soak. Beat on it all day long and the IATs will consistently be near ambient temperatures. Our Competition FMIC is just what it is, designed for competition. The other intercoolers may be adequate if you lived your life a ¼ mile at a time (with hours between runs to cool down), they will definitely heat soak under harsher conditions like road racing where you're at full throttle for at least 20 minutes. With numerous laps around our local racetracks in 100+ degree weather, heat soak is not a problem on our 135i Time Attack race car.  With its size and ability to support over 600hp, it is most likely the "last intercooler you will ever buy".

One of the most overlooked aspects of intercooler design is the intercooler end tank and piping.  Having shorter and less bends on the intercooler piping will promote better internal flow.  This helps in reducing turbo lag, increase throttle response and faster boost spool ups.  An intercooler end tank must be designed to channel and distribute air coming in from the inlet efficiently throughout the intercooler core.  Our end tanks design has been revised numerous times to promote smooth internal air flow. The cast end tanks allow us to have nice smooth radius on the inner edges of the end tank, causing less turbulence.  The inlet pipe angle has been changed to provide a smooth entry into the end tank and removes an extra bend that the factory hoses have.  Rubber hosing expands under boost pressure.  This expansion disrupts internal flow and causes turbulence, all of which slow down airflow velocity (which causes slower boost spool up and decreased throttle response).  By replacing ALL the factory rubber hoses with hard piping, noticeable increases in boost spool up and faster throttle response can be seen.  That is why our FMIC kit comes with a new upper intercooler piping whereas brand FMIC kits do not.

Our Competition FMIC sits in the factory location underneath the radiator.  Why you ask?  The radiator fan and radiator shrouding extend from the radiator above, all the way down to the factory intercooler. By sitting our FMIC in the same location, we can take advantage of the radiator fan sitting behind the intercooler to pulling air through the intercooler core.  This makes for even greater efficiency, just like how the BMW engineers designed it to do.  With the optional Carbon Fiber FMIC Shrouding Kit, even greater efficiency can be had.  The carbon fiber shrouding channels airflow from the center grill to the intercooler core. Air wants to travel through the path of least resistance, which in this case is around the intercooler core instead of through it.  The carbon fiber shrouding prevents this and forces air to travel through the core. This is one of the many reasons why our FMIC performs as well as it does.  Even with just a small fan on the dyno, intake air temperatures are still very low.  Also, by maintaining the factory configuration, we do not block airflow to the radiator at all.  The cooling system on the N54 & N55 engine is already at its maximum capacity and we have seen overheating issues with both oil and coolant while racing.  By having an intercooler blocking half the airflow the radiator will definitely not help its cooling efficiency.

Unlike turbo kits and other parts where the main power adder is constant, intercooler gains (or recovery) is based largely on how badly the current intercooler setup working and will vary from setup to setup. Dyno graphs do not properly show the performance of intercoolers; intake air temperatures do as that is the job of the intercooler.  A car running factory boost pressures and our FMIC will see lower gains than another car running more boost (software upgrade) with the same FMIC.  Even running upgraded downpipes and exhaust will affect overall gain (or recovery).  However, it will still be a question people will ask, and the simple answer is on average, you will see a 15 to 25 hp to the wheels gain based on your modifications. On high boost cars, we have seen 25+ hp gains.  

All our intercooler applications come standard with a mirror polish intercooler and piping. We also offer and stock our intercooler applications with Type III Hard Black Anodizing for the guys that want the stealthy look. With the Type III Hard Anodized FMIC, it is very hard to tell there is a FMIC on the car. Most of our customers with the Type III Hard Anodized FMIC comment that unless you know there is a FMIC on the car, nobody notices it. Another added benefit of the Type III Hard Anodizing is that it makes the intercooler fins harder and stronger, which makes it less prone to getting bent/damaged from road debris like rocks etc... We opted for the Type III Hard Anodizing over the Type II color anodizing which is only aesthetics for this purpose only (even though it cost us considerably more to anodize Type III than Type II). We started using the Type III Hard Anodized Black finish on our rally car customer's FMIC's years ago.  Rally cars go through tremendous amounts of abuse, and it was quite common to take hits on the intercooler from debris on the course.  In fact, after 1 event, we would often see a large portion of the intercooler fins bent (killing efficiency) and fixing them was after each event was quite tedious.  After the Type III Hard Anodizing, we notice a big difference as there was considerably less damage.  Even after hits and even accidents, the FMIC could take more abuse than before.  Testing has shown no noticeable ill-effect from the Type III Hard Anodizing on performance (regular spray paint etc... has shown ill-effects on performance).  Eventually, we started utilizing the same Type III Hard Anodize Black on our street cars and now on our FMIC applications.