[Rule77]

I’m in the process of researching fmic’s. I don’t want to break the bank but also want something that I won’t have to buy again down the road. I’m planning on running my stock turbos until the die with mods that I have. I’ve looked at ARM Motorsports 5” and 7”? Does anyone on here use their fmic’s? Also considering the BMS 7” or VRSF 7”? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated
Thanks!

[Torgus]

Buy it once and get the VRSF race or BMS race intercooler. If you really never plan on upgrading than get their 7''. $300 vs. $500 give or take.

[Payam @ BMS]

I have the E series RACE on my 750whp 335i. It's awesome and I won't go any other route especially for the price and quality IMO.

https://burgertuning.com/products/e-...9b648090&_ss=r

[codesx]

I have the BMS 5". It's OK if you are either stopping at 15 PSI or going to run WMI.
I'd love to compare this against the BMS 7", pre WMI. Alas, my budget at that time leaves me OK, but also dreaming of what-if.

BMS quality is absolutely pristine / show-room.
It could have been dropped from a low-flying plane and likely look/work just as well, with their shipping packaging.

[Pinscher]

Looks like some of the people here are biased. I'm new so i'm likely going to shoot myself in the foot with this post.

VFSR is just a standard run of the mill inter cooler being sold at a more premium price, so I don't get where bias is coming from. They like to say, "4th gen this, 8th that." to me that means they got it wrong 8 times before the got it right...

first i'll say, if you're not running big turbo's then you don't need a big intercooler.

Second, If you plan to go to big turbo in the future, and until that point, a big 7"+ Intercooler will only introduce turbo lag into your system which is often described as lag-less with a stock setup.

If you're gonna buy a big turbo it's going to cost you a pretty penny + you can juts upgrade FMIC at that point and sell off your smaller one. People will buy a used 5" stepped FMIC.

A guy I know provided some numbers to me on a 5" stepped. He said during a 2 hours of sprinting driving session through the mountains of B.C., the cooler would peak at 126 degrees, and within 10 sec of letting up on the throttle temps would "rapidly" drop down to 95.

[Dave @ BMS/Fuel-It!]

I've always built for headroom...7inch imo

I've tested / used probably 8 FMIC's over the years with my 335s- on oem, upgraded hybrids & a single turbo setup.

[codesx]

Originally Posted by Pinscher

Looks like some of the people here are biased. I'm new so i'm likely going to shoot myself in the foot with this post.

VFSR is just a standard run of the mill inter cooler being sold at a more premium price, so I don't get where bias is coming from. They like to say, "4th gen this, 8th that." to me that means they got it wrong 8 times before the got it right...

first i'll say, if you're not running big turbo's then you don't need a big intercooler.

Second, If you plan to go to big turbo in the future, and until that point, a big 7"+ Intercooler will only introduce turbo lag into your system which is often described as lag-less with a stock setup.

If you're gonna buy a big turbo it's going to cost you a pretty penny + you can juts upgrade FMIC at that point and sell off your smaller one. People will buy a used 5" stepped FMIC.

A guy I know provided some numbers to me on a 5" stepped. He said during a 2 hours of sprinting driving session through the mountains of B.C., the cooler would peak at 126 degrees, and within 10 sec of letting up on the throttle temps would "rapidly" drop down to 95.

Pew, Pew, Pew. I love the 'know a guy' story. Sorry bro, I have to have fun with it


That's a 5" FMIC with sub zero C going in the front. Sure is sh!te ain't a summer day. A 'daily' needs to be valid every day of the year. I've lived in the rockies in BC, Alberta and also driven in Alaska. Yes, he would get less knock too. Irrelevant. I don't change cars based on what hill I'm on.


Nobody here needs a friend to say which FMIC will work for their application. We've experienced it ourselves.
There is the general concept of requirements and sizing, and then there is platform bias/opinion.


Bias? Yes.
Experience? Yes.
I'm still in favor of my earlier post. Balance. It depends on what you intend to do and in what environment. Then there is forward thinking.

[Pinscher]

Originally Posted by codesx

Pew, Pew, Pew. I love the 'know a guy' story. Sorry bro, I have to have fun with it


That's a 5" FMIC with sub zero C going in the front. Sure is sh!te ain't a summer day. A 'daily' needs to be valid every day of the year. I've lived in the rockies in BC, Alberta and also driven in Alaska. Yes, he would get less knock too. Irrelevant. I don't change cars based on what hill I'm on.


Nobody here needs a friend to say which FMIC will work for their application. We've experienced it ourselves.
There is the general concept of requirements and sizing, and then there is platform bias/opinion.


Bias? Yes.
Experience? Yes.
I'm still in favor of my earlier post. Balance. It depends on what you intend to do and in what environment. Then there is forward thinking.

Nice job with the assumptions. It is summer here and not close to sub zero temps.

Nice to know that you think an upgrade fmic with 50% more capability isn't suitable for someone using stock turbos...i don't see any logic on that, but hey, Who cares anyways.

Btw, stock fmic is "valid" every day of the year....

[codesx]

Originally Posted by Pinscher

It is summer here.

Heat soaked 5" FMIC on a summer day, dropping IATs over 30* in 10 seconds?
Sign me up!

[Rule77]

Originally Posted by Payam @ BMS

I have the E series RACE on my 750whp 335i. It's awesome and I won't go any other route especially for the price and quality IMO.

https://burgertuning.com/products/e-...9b648090&_ss=r

I’ve heard nothing but good things about the BMS 7.5” fmic but is it to much for my car since I’m on stock turbo’s?

[THE BEAST]

Originally Posted by Payam @ BMS

I have the E series RACE on my 750whp 335i. It's awesome and I won't go any other route especially for the price and quality IMO.

https://burgertuning.com/products/e-...9b648090&_ss=r

Same......ZERO regrets

[rickz96]

Originally Posted by Payam @ BMS

I have the E series RACE on my 750whp 335i. It's awesome and I won't go any other route especially for the price and quality IMO.

https://burgertuning.com/products/e-...9b648090&_ss=r

I have this same fmic and have a bunch of logs showing it will recover from heat soak within seconds and generally be 20 to 25 degrees above ambient in 85 degree weather. I’m running stage 1 hybrid turbos from VTT. Again for the cost and quality this is a no brainer. Buy it once and forget about it.

[Payam @ BMS]

Originally Posted by Rule77

I’ve heard nothing but good things about the BMS 7.5” fmic but is it to much for my car since I’m on stock turbo’s?

Nope, not at all! Just leaves more headroom for yourself in the future.
We have tons of people running this on stock turbos with 0 issues or extra "lag" lol

Originally Posted by THE BEAST

Same......ZERO regrets

Originally Posted by rickz96

I have this same fmic and have a bunch of logs showing it will recover from heat soak within seconds and generally be 20 to 25 degrees above ambient in 85 degree weather. I’m running stage 1 hybrid turbos from VTT. Again for the cost and quality this is a no brainer. Buy it once and forget about it.

Thanks guys! It's a really awesome intercooler.

[SPANKY]

Originally Posted by Rule77

I’m in the process of researching fmic’s. I don’t want to break the bank but also want something that I won’t have to buy again down the road. I’m planning on running my stock turbos until the die with mods that I have. I’ve looked at ARM Motorsports 5” and 7”? Does anyone on here use their fmic’s? Also considering the BMS 7” or VRSF 7”? Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated
Thanks!

This is a bms favored forum so naturally the BMS race intercooler will be at the top.why push anything else.i think either the bms or vrsf race intercooler will suffice.at the time vrsf was offering the 3" jpipe with their race intercooler while bms wasn't so I went with vrsf.i do have the bms 3" chargepipe so I didn't want to bottle neck it down.they are both made over seas.both perform great.pick your poison.

[Rule77]

[QUOTE=Payam @ BMS;640513]Nope, not at all! Just leaves more headroom for yourself in the future.
We have tons of people running this on stock turbos with 0 issues or extra "lag" lol

Awesome!! What about the j pipe... would you recommend the 2.5” or 3” with my setup?

[Payam @ BMS]

[QUOTE=Rule77;640592]

Originally Posted by Payam @ BMS

Nope, not at all! Just leaves more headroom for yourself in the future.
We have tons of people running this on stock turbos with 0 issues or extra "lag" lol

Awesome!! What about the j pipe... would you recommend the 2.5” or 3” with my setup?

If you have 3" and are getting the E series Race, then I suggest that.

[rhm135]

I have the BMS race intercooler and it works great! My IATs were terrible with my last IC, but I'm also single turbo.

[carlosmp]

I have an E60, and most of the FMICs seem to require a lot more mods than just trimming plastic. Came across the PSP 600ic, E60 535i/Xi Pinnacle Specialty Performance which seems to be specifically designed for the E60. Seen mostly positive reviews, and wondering if anyone has used it. It's "only" a 5"... I'm in South Florida, so normal temps are 90. Don't plan on doing much beyond the factory turbos. Looking at CP upgrade, DCI, and FMIC. exhaust will be at some point next year. Won't do any WMI, etc.

Thanks in advance,

Carlos

[rickz96]

Carlos,

Nice to see someone else modifying their E60. I'm one of those E60 folks as well.

First, I don't have specific experience with that inter-cooler but I did take a look at it the link provided and see it will indeed bolt right in where the stock inter-cooler mounts. With your plans of factory turbos, it might fit your cooling needs. Only reason I say might, is you called out living in Florida, hot ambient temps and heat soak are bad news for IAT's.

In my case, I did a bunch of research and realized that due to supply and demand any FMIC I found specific to the E60 was very costly. So I took the plunge and purchased the BMS. It was cheaper (in your case 99 bux) at the cost of having to figure out how to mount it. I'm ok with that, while I totally understand others are not. I must say though, aside from having to fabricate two L shaped custom brackets it was as simple as trimming plastic.


-Rick

[carlosmp]

Forgot to mention AT... so that means moving the AT cooler for that up a bit for most kits. Almost seems all of the 7"/7.5" FMIC seem to tuck behind the bumper, so not sure about airflow through the unit, although I'm sure it'll eventually get pushed/drawn through.

VRSF - VRSF have a specific "kit" to bolt on for the E60. I had emailed VRSF and Tiago responded with the info. Just waiting for info regarding my AT.

Now it's just a matter of figuring out what would actually fit easily. The Wagner stuff looks solid, but not sure what they have. Ideally, I'd do the EVO2 Competition for the tube & fin, which is much lighter than all of the 7/7.5" models out there. Is it worth the extra $$+ over the VRSF/BMS?

Carlos

[rickz96]

Carlos! AT...yep, you did forget that. My car is is an Xi with a 6M.

Edit: I went out and looked this morning and I have my power steering cooler heat exchanger up front there and the inter-cooler still tucks in nicely.

The BMS definitely tucks up behind the bumper and I shared the same concern you did about air flow. I must say that the intercooler still performs very well with a percentage of it being tucked behind the bumper.

VRSF is really nice, and I would like to see how they mount it. The mounting tabs look identical to the BMS mounting tabs.

Agree Wagner stuff is very shiny and nice! Appears to truly "bolt on" and with the original intercooler piping connections. What I saw though was products for the E60 535d. It looked like the connections and piping were the same, but would definitely want confirmation. I see the same part number shown (200001060) for the 535d as the 535Xi. To your point...I'm not sure if it's worth the money.

[SJ_1989]

Originally Posted by Pinscher

Second, If you plan to go to big turbo in the future, and until that point, a big 7"+ Intercooler will only introduce turbo lag into your system which is often described as lag-less with a stock setup.

While theoretically true it's not enough to notice in the real world. I ran a 7" VRSF on stock turbos with no noticeable lag increase.

[carlosmp]

I don't plan on dragging my car. Just looking to have a bit of get up and go when "needed" . I'm just trying to plan a bit ahead, without paying for parts 2x. I think I'm going to get the CP/DCI and start there. FMIC will be with the second round of BOP later this year. Just doing a bit of research and see what comes up for Black Friday(s), etc.

Carlos

[rickz96]

Originally Posted by carlosmp

I don't plan on dragging my car. Just looking to have a bit of get up and go when "needed" . I'm just trying to plan a bit ahead, without paying for parts 2x. I think I'm going to get the CP/DCI and start there. FMIC will be with the second round of BOP later this year. Just doing a bit of research and see what comes up for Black Friday(s), etc.

Carlos

Sounds good! Keep me posted I'm always interested in a fellow E60 guy.

[carlosmp]

Wagner responded that they don't have anything for the E60 535i. Apparently they only do 535d now...

"Unfortunately we only offer for the d models for the E60, nothing for the 535i."

Carlos.