This is a great idea. I’d like to be able to get the right fittings as well as I mentioned above. A little more involved, but better functioning for guys like us in the north with cold winters.

But keeping the stock heat exchanger helps with fluid heat up when it’s cold outside. So one could ADD a Tstat and the BMS cooler as I suggested above may be an even better solution.

AT oil heats up by itself very quickly no matter of heat exchanger... the purpose of that heat exchanger is really to combat high temps, not the low ones...

When running 3" jpipe that stock heat exchanger is in the way,like to get rid of it and run it separate to a cooler,seems I hear no issue when running without the stock heat exchanger

No issues at all. That's what we do with our transmission oil cooler, you should get it :)

Thanks, Payam. I’m getting very close to pulling the trigger. But has anyone used it in a real winter yet and reported transmission temps? I want data!

I've mostly only tested extreme heat at 110F+ Lowest testing done here is at 35F lol.

Thanks, Payam. But FYI, water freezes at 32F LOL. We need to see how the thing works when there’s ice and snow everywhere!
(AKA “winter”)

I've ran non-thermostated trans coolers on other vehicles here in Michigan and in the winter i'd be lucky to find 110-120 degrees unless on the road for hours and itll be double digits most of my trip.

There is definitely merit in having a plan to get the fluid to at least a reasonably warm temp somewhat quickly. Or plans to bypass the aftermarket unit and use the stock piece in winter, but thats a hassle.

Exactly why we need a 160F thermostat in the ATF cooling loop with the engine coolant. When the ATF leaving the AT is <160F the ATF passes through the OEM heat transfer unit (180-200F), but when the ATF leaving the AT is >160F the ATF passes through the trans cooler.

+1 for bundling a t-stat. Been down to 0F several times the past few years, 35F is warm for mid-Jan here.

We'll have a variant up in a couple of months, just in time for winter :)

Excellent! I hate futzing around with connectors. Gimme what works - once!

just got around to installing this. gotta say, this is the most janky mounting system I've seen. Also, no thought to any modifications for the wheel well liner.. guess I'll find some kind of vent to mount in it or drill a bunch of small holes

The bottom pinch mount would not stay solid, it would pivot around easily. I drilled another hole through all the bits and the chassis to prevent this from moving. Feels a LOT better with this third bolt. This cars a 2010 xi and the outer side of the seam had longer material than the inner. That coupled with the spot welds made the pinch mount insecure

https://i.imgur.com/nmeYc69l.jpg


keeping it clear of the intercooler hose

https://i.imgur.com/D6RHXW7l.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/nq7zz2Jl.jpg

I was always curious about the mounting solution on this kit. I am sure it is cost effective but not my favorite solution. Thanks for the honest feedback.

How is the cooler working out in terms of performance?

Can't say, car is apart still. lots of work queued up. Adding the bolt to the lower mount made it nice and solid. The top seems fine enough.

meh, just drilled some holes...

https://i.imgur.com/CFLA64Ml.jpg

👀

Thanks for the photos and advice. Ideally for me, I would love to be able to keep the stock coolant heat exchanger for quicker warm ups, especially in cold weather, and to integrate a thermostat that opens at ~160F to then shunt the transmission fluid to this transmission cooler.

We opted a no drill PNP style bracket system. Out of the few hundred we have sold, that's the first issue I've heard about the bracket being loose.
Sounds like you found and easy fix for it.

Not sure on the fender liner stuff, it's not a sealed piece. Air will go through it
no matter what and you'll have increased performance over stock.

Not sure if it's the same on all cars, but on this one the tab that sticks down for the lower clamp on the outside is longer than the one on the inside. Either that caused the instability or a spot weld was thicker in one spot causing it to not seat properly.

I also noticed that the top bracket had a notch machined out of it, but there was nothing on the rail that would interfere there.

Also 1 quart of fluid seemed way too much. I got about maybe half to 2/3rds of a quart, though I didn't have much leak out when I pulled the heat exchanger.

Also of interest, this cooler is much taller than the fill plug on the transmission. I'm guessing this may complicate things.

I injected around half a quart of oil into the trans cooler once it was in place before it started spilling out. Then I went to fill via the trans drain plug and it started pouring out quite rapidly.

Once I'm ready to start the car again, I plan on lowering the trans cooler and letting it warm up and circulate fluid. I'll then do the standard fill procedure via the fill plug so that it's just slowly dripping out. Thoughts on this?

Yes, the tab where it sticks down is where we clamp to. That's the normal location.

The top notch should be where the frame has a weld seam.

Adding fluid will depend on how much was leaked etc, our 1qt is just an estimate and a minimum amount for purchase lol. Fill plug being under the cooler has nothing to do with it, it's a full pressurized system. You should just fill fluid just like the manual states.

So you're saying gravity will not cause the fluid from the cooler to drain down into the trans/pan? Seems a bit counter intuitive unless I'm missing something.

When the car is not running it will. You need to fill the transmission when the car is on.

While the car is on and running on the lift, you will put the car in different gears.
Add oil to the trans as needed until you see it leaking. That's when it's full.

What is the minimum trans fluid temperature that we would want before wide open throttle or racing situations?
I installed the BMS trans cooler kit this past May. The kit is awesome and it definitely worked great this summer. Here in the south east I hardly saw 160 degree trans temps during mid 80's and 90 + degree weather.

Now that Fall has begun I took the car out the other evening with ambient temps around 55 degrees. It took almost 30-40 minutes just to get the trans fluid to 120 degrees. Is 120 degree trans fluid enough to enjoy the car or will I need to block vents / install thermostat for colder months? Besides the cooler temps my transmission has been super happy since installing this kit on a MMP s3 / full e85 / PI e92.

120* is fine to start playing with it.