track temperature issues

[Jon8710]

Hello chaps

I did an evening track day the other week at snetterton and noticed that the temperature gauges where getting to levels iv not seen in the CSL before.

after about 10min of spirited driving I notice the water getting to over three quarters and the oil getting to about 130ish if not a little over.

if I eased of the water would drop quite quickly to half way and the oil drop a little but the water would shoot up again after a hot half lap.

it was a warm day around 26 degrees but I have done loads of track days in my 328i track car and the water never budges.

im sure this is not normal can any one offer any advise?

I had the head done a few years back by Gareth at elms so hoping this is not an issue.

cheers

[alexk]

hello

I have done a lot of troubleshooting around this issue, as I had the same problem.

Check that the radiator (water) is functioning ok and replace with new.
You may want to replace the clutch fan in case it is broken, although it plays very little role in speeds above 80km/h.

My car had the above two issues.
The radiator after 10+ years had only a 60% functioning area.

[Mike R]

If you read your manual those figures are completely acceptable .

Obviously on track the engine is being pushed much harder than normal road use, so you would expect the temps to rise .

Providing the water temp is not in the red zone, you are within the normal operating range of the car (as in from normal use to extreme use).

With regard to the oil temp, as long as you use a good quality oil and change it regularly (every other track day), then anything below 140°C is fine . A good quality synthetic won't loose it's protective properties until over 140, but seeing these temps on a regular basis does reduce the life of the oil, as it starts to breakdown at high temps.

I have also read that the gauge needle over-reads compared to the ACTUAL temp recorded, but if you go through the process of pulling up the digital figure (there is allegedly a way of doing this so it is displayed on the dash, but you will have to search the internet to find how, as I have never tried it).

Alternatively you can get one of those OBD port scanners that connect to your phone and display this info here .

[cslsuperfan]

Originally Posted by Jon8710

Hello chaps

I did an evening track day the other week at snetterton and noticed that the temperature gauges where getting to levels iv not seen in the CSL before.

after about 10min of spirited driving I notice the water getting to over three quarters and the oil getting to about 130ish if not a little over.

if I eased of the water would drop quite quickly to half way and the oil drop a little but the water would shoot up again after a hot half lap.

it was a warm day around 26 degrees but I have done loads of track days in my 328i track car and the water never budges.

im sure this is not normal can any one offer any advise?

I had the head done a few years back by Gareth at elms so hoping this is not an issue.

cheers

John

as Mike says 130 degrees is fine;

The radiator might need a flush or worst case replacement; bit OTT if you're off the track more than on.

[Mike R]

As an aside, try removing the number plate to get undisturbed air flow through the front bumper. Whenever I am on track, I always run without this an have never had an overheating issues .



Even in the 30°C+ heat at DN12 with the aircon on, I had no issues what-so-ever .

Because the number plate is so easy to remove on my car, I have never tried running with it on track, but imagine it would cause quite a bit of disturbance to the air flow through the bumper.

[Jon8710]

Thanks for all the help gents

it looks like a flush and a new rad might be in order, is it a hard job?

does the csl have the same rad as the standard M3 ?

does anyone know the bleeding procedure ?

cheers

[alexk]

Originally Posted by Mike R

As an aside, try removing the number plate to get undisturbed air flow through the front bumper. Whenever I am on track, I always run without this an have never had an overheating issues .

Or have a Swiss M3 CSL with the tiny Swiss plate... which means the CSL was delivered from the factory without this stupid plate holder.

Originally Posted by Jon8710

Thanks for all the help gents

it looks like a flush and a new rad might be in order, is it a hard job?

does the csl have the same rad as the standard M3 ?

does anyone know the bleeding procedure ?

cheers

The radiator is very easy to replace.
The bleeding is rather easy, there is a bleeding screw on the left side of the radiator, where the hose attaches.

One more thing from me, as Mike mentioned that the readout of the gauge is not proportional.
I have done a lot of tests to see what the actual temperature is versus what is indicated.
I think I have a post somewhere about this but from memory, the jump from the 1/2 to the 3/4 is something like 5 degrees celcius.
So middle reads when you have 87-90. Then it goes to 95C for example and you are at the 3/4.
Is it so tragic ? Nope. But always best to be below 92C or so.

[AlexGTT]

Do a quick technical thread search on this subject and there's a very comprehensive thread on all this.

Or, just ask Shim.

............Second thoughts.................don't get him started.

[shimmy]

I suspect it is airflow on hot days and wouldn't be surprised if the number plate is the solution alive tried everything else.

Also mayeb help by removing pollen filter housing so the air has soemwhere to leave

[Jon8710]

Just one more thing
Will the CSL use the same rad as a standard car?
I see nissens do one on eBay and I've got one of these in my track car and
Have never had any issues with it.
Can anyone comment on this?

Thanks