I couldn't find any hard data showing comparisons of the stock IC vs Ebay IC and no info about the M7 heatshield, there is literally nothing. So I figure that maybe this comparison from my logs will help anyone in the future and dispel some myths.
Been logging for the past couple month to monitor the health of my car, since I just modded it from bone stock a couple months ago. There was plenty of data to match ambient temps for fairness and the actual test drive is the same commute I make everyday after work. Taken using my OBDLink LX adapter and Torque Pro, graphing in Excel.

A quick word about the M7 Heatshield. Don't use the replacement cover bolt they provide. It's only purpose is be a longer post so that the shield can loop onto. The problem is that is really not worth the risk of cracking your valve cover. You could literally just DEI gold tape it to the valve cover. Also, I was kinda annoyed that they have a misprint on the instructions that says to torque the bolt down to "100 ft-lb or 12nm". If you can see, 100 ft-lb is way more torque than 12nm. They meant to say 10 ft-lb, but by the time I realized that, I had cracked my valve cover. Luckily it was outward and benign, not inward and f*cked. Some JB Weld fixed it right up.

What was most impressive, was that after my 1hr drive I immediately turned off the car and ran for my laser thermometer. Everything in the engine bay was warm, but touchable. The warmest area, besides the coolant tank of course, was the valve cover and it was only 140*F. The hot side IC horn was 115*F and the cold side felt like the car was never on. The AeroGel shield was only 130*F. I could literally touch anything in the engine bay and hold my hand there not be burned. I've never been able to do that before and I opened my hood alot.

 

Interesting post!

Thanks.


- - - I was stunned when I first touched my i/c after a spirited run, it does indeed get toasty!

A quick note:
it looks like the M7 instructions do actually spec for in-lbs



For whatever reason, I've never considered this heatshield, but recently installed a header and have noticed a slight uptick in my temps.
I debated back and forth over wrapping the header but finally decided not to.

Appreciate the reminder that the M7 thingy is an option, I just ordered one directly from them, eager to evaluate how it performs.

I did read a bit here on NAM and not much info really considering it has been around since 2007.

The most common critique is blockage of air flow, but most reports state that it does indeed work for lowering topside temps.

@NC TRACKRAT is someone whose opinion I trust and he had good things to say about it:

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ml#post4263259

:

Did you happen to measure any boost pressure difference between the stock vs. ebay i/c?

I notice that your max boost is indicated at 12psi, do you have a big valve head?

I'm on stock head, stock i/c, and stock 11% JCW pulley and get 15.8psi max boost.

 

I'm probably just unlucky then LOL or I really need new glasses. I'll have to post pic on the printout I received,

My approach to this defect was to cut air channels into the passenger side cowl wall. I cut off 2in off the top rim of the cowl to make slot and made big hole at the bottom, close to the expansion tank to cool. You can kinda see it here : https://photos.app.goo.gl/wjCTEsCUccsAjiyo8 This allows convection to do it's thing and flow cooler air at the bottom over the coolant tank's heatfins, and the hotter air to flow out the top slot, out through the passenger cowl.

The 12 psi max boost for the graph was the max boost reached in aggressive city driving, not WOT. My bad for the confusion.
I did a WOT test between the two intercoolers, but it was before the headshield. So strictly just the two IC being compared:
https://imgur.com/a/RrTq4EQ
It only dropped about .5psi on the boost from what I getting before. I can live with that for cooler temps and since its really just my daily and not a track car. I have a normal MCS 17% pulley, CAI, stock head & injectors, oneball exhaust.

 

Inventive idea with the finned coolant tank,
I have never seen that done before.

 

Thanks! I've never seen anyone else do it either, and was kinda worried people would think I'm crazy (which is kinda true actually).
It works though! My temp gun showed it actually helping the coolant tank lose more heat via convection into the air and cooldown after the car is off is noticeably faster.

The heatsinks have ThermalRight 13w/mk thermal pads underneath in the center, and the edges (3mm around each thermal pad) are lined with steel epoxy to adhere it to the tank and give some help in thermal transfer.
Should paint it black so it doesn't look dodgy, but I kinda like seeing the two different metals and the DIY-ness of it.

The idea kinda hit me in the head because I was previously making a custom chiller for my graphics card and I saw an opportunity to apply the same principles. Wasn't sure how well it would work at the time, but I figured it couldn't make anything worse. Need anything I could get since this car is so hot!

 

Learned to make a better graph and the weather was a bit warmer today. Seemed like good times to compare logs.

 

WOT & Recovery Test. The Stock IC graph looks compressed because it took longer for the IAT to cool down from maximum to cruising temp. So the 62mm eBay IC + Diverter + M7 Heatshield cools down from max to cruising faster than the stock IC.
The stock IC took about 5 mins to go from max IAT to lowest cruising temp. The ebay IC combo did it in about 1m40s.

Max boost and IAT on eBay IC combo was 16.19 psi @ 111*F. Stock was 15.7 psi @ 140*F.

 

I'm the idiot. M7 did put "in-lb" on the instructions. My noobie self couldn't conceptualize 100 in-lb. I don't even own a torque wrench that small. Something else I need to get for tool box.

 

I'm a bit of a data analysis nerd. Would you mind sharing your raw csv files with me? I'd like to do a more direct comparison of boost pressure vs IAT and applying some statistical analysis.

 

Yeah no problem. I'll post a link to the raw csv files when I get home from work later today.

 

Here are some photos of the actual mods installed on the car. The diverter is a HVAC air vent from Home Depot. The scoop ramp is a sheet metal cut-out that is steel epoxied onto the intercooler. I think I will end up cutting the scoop ramp across, leaving maybe an inch wide tab on the IC, Then I can go back and drill holes and bolt on the scoop ramp, which will let me get access to the upper radiator hose or anything else up there with ease if I need to.

I think it looks slick with the diverter painted black and the MINI decal on the scoop ramp.

 

 

I am hardly a "data nerd"; but I often considered converting to the larger IC.
I'm always watching my air, water & oil temps. I certainly appreciate your ingenuity.
Thanks for the into and sharing the results.

BTW: I also fabbed a PS fan air inducer and stone deflector from a home air con diverter. The reverse louvers do a pretty good job allowing air in while keeping pebbles and such out of the fan.

 

Ok so here are all the csv files for the charts I made above.
I did notice something that stood out. In my WOT comparison chart, the IATs for the stock IC are already at 96*F before starting WOT (eBay IC started at 74*F). This could definitely skew the interpretation, so I added another stock IC WOT pull csv file to maintain fairness and openness to me being wrong about all of this. The only conditional difference is that the other stock data was taken when the ambient temp was 50*F.

The result for the 50*F ambient Stock IC WOT pull was 16.5 psi @ 120*F max IAT. It never fully recovered down to 62.6*F, it took 5-6mins to cool from 120*F down to 66*F. This also means the stock IC has a higher max IAT than the eBay Intercooler & M7 Heatshield, even with a 13 degree advantage!! (eBay max IAT 111*F in 63*F)

I won't make your mind up for you, but I think it's a pretty clear cut decision towards the eBay IC w/ DIY diverter + M7 Heat Shield. In both city traffic driving and performance the stock IC with no heatshield is miles behind, even in the cold with a 13*F degree advantage. I also believe this should put to rest elitest nonsense that the only choices worthwhile you have are for your R53 is the GP IC ($1200), AirTec($700) or just suffering with the stock IC because "the OEM knows best". Well these results were achieved with $300 and some elbow grease on a 17% pulley.

edit: To be clear, since I don't have enough data I am not claiming that the eBay + Heatshield is better than the GP IC, AirTec, DOS or that any brand is a waste of money. I'm simply saying that if you're budget conscious, my test on my personal daily driver shows you can get good gains that make difference over the stock setup for just $300.

 

Thanks! I love thinking out of the box, in a real effective way, not that for the sake of being different with no functional gain or without anything to add other than for ego stuff. I love applying proven concepts from other fields and knowledge bases to new areas of opportunity for improvement within whatever I happen to be doing and sharing it with others for the sake of knowledge.

Brilliant! I was planning on making just scoop for the PS with the leftover sheet metal. I saw Regarding Automobiles on youtube made it, but the reverse louver idea sounds like it would be better for guiding the air and more compact than a 1.5in tall, metal upside-down scoop.

 

Last set of project photos showing the insides of the inlet ports. As you can see below the eBay Intercooler comes with thick and flat inlet faces. I think the Airtec does as well, from the phots and video's I've seen.
So I decided it was probably a good idea to remove as much wall of the inner wall as possible and to also to remove the flat face by tapering it down all the way to the outer edge of the inlet. After running out of Dremel sanding wheels, I then sanded the ports and anywhere I could reach inside with 2000 grit sandpaper and now its almost mirror shine. The idea being to give as much airflow as possible to reduce any pressure loss that these bigger intercoolers are sometimes known to suffer from after install.
I didn't see any pressure drop as far as I can tell. It seems to hit the same max psi like it did on the stock IC. I'm not quite sure if it was my handiwork with the inlets that is responsible for that or perhaps the 17% is better than a 15% or JCW pulley at not dropping pressure with a bigger IC. Not quite sure, but a good outcome.