Hello friends,


So a friend of mine just phoned me and told me he installed an eBay intercooler for his r53. He is convinced it was a significant improvement over stock. My question is, does anyone have any credible experience with these? I have never been one to buy anything over $10 off eBay, let alone parts with lots of welds! Now the cool part is he paid (supposedly) about $200. Significantly cheaper than the GP alternative. So, what do you guys think? Buy an eBay and spend the difference on some form of IC spray kit or just fork out for a GP IC?

Cheers

 

I did some research on this with other NAM guys. They all said stay away. From what I can see I. Those pics, it looks too tall, and the mounting tabs are questionable. If the IC is too tall, it'll hit the hood, and or worse, air won't get into the scoop bc the opening is being blocked.

Now, which one did he get? I've seen 2, ones a big GP style, the other is the front flow thru style.

 

They are junk. Most likely it is Godspeed which is a horrible GRS knockoff. Tests were run on these in the past and stock out performed it. My advice is to save your money.

 

Yep I believe he said Godspeed. Thanks for the heads up, I thought it sounded a little to good to be true!

 

Seriously, dude, buy known quality from vendors that actively support the MINI community and NAM members.

 

For R53s, even the high-quality coolers don't give real world performance improvements. The best bet is to find a GP intercooler and hardware--it's basically the stock cooler with a couple of extra rows.

 

I have decided to just find a GP and get the DDM Air diverter from Way.

 

Is there no way to "make" a GP IC? By modifying two regular ones? Or would that simply not be cost effective? Anyone done research?

 

I would be curious if that would be effective. Makes sense since its basically the same with more rows.

 

By the time you got the materials, you might as well as just purchase the GP.

 

Even if you are a pro at welding aluminum (something very few can do), i think just buying the gp would be more cost effective...and work better i bet!!