[fortythirtyfive]

Currently having an issue where my engine bay is running a tad too warm - for the record I know N55’s run notoriously warm.

My retrofitted icons are shutting down because the heatsinks are too hot to touch. I’m burning through o2 sensors and my tape wrapped stuff under the bonnet is turning gooey.

I removed the engine cover a while ago, I’m considering removing the acoustic foam on top and I also have a vented hood installed. Is there anything else I can do to try and lower temps? I considered ceramic coating or wrapping the downpipe but wasn’t sure if this would help.. surely the cat would have held more heat?

I run MHD, a catless downpipe and a VRSF hd 5” fmic.

I’m now considering some heat shielding towards the headlight mounts to try reflect some heat out.

Is this really the norm for tuned N55’s?

[n55david]

Originally Posted by fortythirtyfive

Currently having an issue where my engine bay is running a tad too warm - for the record I know N55’s run notoriously warm.

My retrofitted icons are shutting down because the heatsinks are too hot to touch. I’m burning through o2 sensors and my tape wrapped stuff under the bonnet is turning gooey.

I removed the engine cover a while ago, I’m considering removing the acoustic foam on top and I also have a vented hood installed. Is there anything else I can do to try and lower temps? I considered ceramic coating or wrapping the downpipe but wasn’t sure if this would help.. surely the cat would have held more heat?

I run MHD, a catless downpipe and a VRSF hd 5” fmic.

I’m now considering some heat shielding towards the headlight mounts to try reflect some heat out.

Is this really the norm for tuned N55’s?

What? I don't have any issues..

[LA1Z24]

You're engine is not running too hot. Aftermarket headlights, are the issue here. The other issue is most electrical tape is not made for the engine bay. Tape made for the engine bay is fabric, and will not turn to mush at 90*f

https://www.amazon.com/Automotive-Ha.../dp/B07Y9VTPTF

[n55david]

Originally Posted by LA1Z24

You're engine is not running too hot. Aftermarket headlights, are the issue here. The other issue is most electrical tape is not made for the engine bay. Tape made for the engine bay is fabric, and will not turn to mush at 90*f

https://www.amazon.com/Automotive-Harness-Wrapping-Adhesive-Damping/dp/B07Y9VTPTF

Ahh so that's his deal..
Yeah you need special tape..

His 02 sensor issue is a separate issue.. routing is number one issue for killing 02 sensors with too much tension being second.

[fortythirtyfive]

Originally Posted by LA1Z24

You're engine is not running too hot. Aftermarket headlights, are the issue here. The other issue is most electrical tape is not made for the engine bay. Tape made for the engine bay is fabric, and will not turn to mush at 90*f

https://www.amazon.com/Automotive-Ha.../dp/B07Y9VTPTF

It’s not just the stuff I’ve taped up, OEM harness stuff is hanging off

As for the headlights they’re oem. I retrofitted a new pair of lci icons in 2020 and have had issues everytime things get too warm. Admittedly the passenger side has been opened and slightly modified but nothing of the original equipment has been altered - the driver side has the same fault and hasn’t been modified yet. I installed a separate led system for the DRL’s which doesn’t utilise any of the OEM heatsinks, they actually don’t give off any heat as they’re 5v leds.

The issue of them shutting down is that the heatsinks for the DRL boards and the actual ballast modules are being cooked by engine bay heat. I know this because the second the temperature drops on the OEM heatsinks the codes clear and the headlights reset. If they don’t cool however they stay offline.

[n55david]

Originally Posted by LA1Z24

You're engine is not running too hot. Aftermarket headlights, are the issue here. The other issue is most electrical tape is not made for the engine bay. Tape made for the engine bay is fabric, and will not turn to mush at 90*f

https://www.amazon.com/Automotive-Harness-Wrapping-Adhesive-Damping/dp/B07Y9VTPTF

So what the oil temp Guage showing on the dash and what's the coolant temp showing when you check through whatever software you're using for that stuff?

[terryd5150]

Originally Posted by n55david

So what the oil temp Guage showing on the dash and what's the coolant temp showing when you check through whatever software you're using for that stuff?

^^^^ THIS ^^^^^

Let's start by defing exactly what "hot" is.

[LA1Z24]

Originally Posted by terryd5150

^^^^ THIS ^^^^^

Let's start by defing exactly what "hot" is.

Lets be honest here...If it was actually too hot, this thread would have been pre-empted with MY TEMPERATURE GAUGE IS HIGH but that statement is absolutely missing from this thread...Which means the gauge is most likely normal.

[fortythirtyfive]

Originally Posted by n55david

So what the oil temp Guage showing on the dash and what's the coolant temp showing when you check through whatever software you're using for that stuff?

So I finally got a free moment to give the car a gentle run and read some temperatures..

Oil temperature was slap bang in the middle at 12o’clock, coolant however is reading 117c.

I didn’t have any standing traffic so the headlights for example didn’t fail. If they do I’ll get another log of temperatures

[kickthecan]

So from experience, the coolant temp gauge, if there was one on the f30 cluster, should be near or smack dab in the middle.

The oil temp gauge, however, should not be. I guess it depends on the climate, but the middle oil temp is like, what, 250 F? Even during triple digits where I'm at, I don't hit that unless I'm really hammering it or something, but I don't recall hitting that. I'm pretty sure it starts to become a real problem if it goes beyond 250

It's just weird if that will cause things to melt and all that in the engine bay...

[fortythirtyfive]

Originally Posted by kickthecan

So from experience, the coolant temp gauge, if there was one on the f30 cluster, should be near or smack dab in the middle.

The oil temp gauge, however, should not be. I guess it depends on the climate, but the middle oil temp is like, what, 250 F? Even during triple digits where I'm at, I don't hit that unless I'm really hammering it or something, but I don't recall hitting that. I'm pretty sure it starts to become a real problem if it goes beyond 250

It's just weird if that will cause things to melt and all that in the engine bay...

I had to read the coolant level via MHD’s sensor output.

Oil temps are about 120c on European cars at 12o’clock. I think the ambient temp outside was about 19c.

Right now though I’m just idling the car and oil is sat at around 105c. I have got it running until I loose headlight power again and I’ll measure temps again. Looking at the coolant levels I am slightly under the minimum mark so I’ll order some in to do a flush.

As the headlight DRL heatsinks were modified I would have been sus about these, but the fact is I put these back to stock. I used OEM grade heatsink plaster to reattach the boards, the heat transfer from the OEM leds to the heatsinks is evident as they're are scolding hot, however to make sure I’m doing everything possible I have a new set on order.

[kickthecan]

Originally Posted by fortythirtyfive

I had to read the coolant level via MHD’s sensor output.

Oil temps are about 120c on European cars at 12o’clock. I think the ambient temp outside was about 19c.

Right now though I’m just idling the car and oil is sat at around 105c. I have got it running until I loose headlight power again and I’ll measure temps again. Looking at the coolant levels I am slightly under the minimum mark so I’ll order some in to do a flush.

As the headlight DRL heatsinks were modified I would have been sus about these, but the fact is I put these back to stock. I used OEM grade heatsink plaster to reattach the boards, the heat transfer from the OEM leds to the heatsinks is evident as they're are scolding hot, however to make sure I’m doing everything possible I have a new set on order.

Yes, 105c isn't bad and is on par with what my car would do on the highway.

When I referred to the coolant temp, I wanted other people to know/realize that, yes, middle of coolant temp is normal for cars, but we don't have a coolant gauge and middle of oil temp gauge isn't necessarily a good thing either.

Are other people running into heat issues with your headlights?

[n55david]

230 to 250f is normal for oil on our cars at full operating temo.

[terryd5150]

Originally Posted by fortythirtyfive

I had to read the coolant level via MHD’s sensor output.

Oil temps are about 120c on European cars at 12o’clock. I think the ambient temp outside was about 19c.

Right now though I’m just idling the car and oil is sat at around 105c. I have got it running until I loose headlight power again and I’ll measure temps again. Looking at the coolant levels I am slightly under the minimum mark so I’ll order some in to do a flush.

As the headlight DRL heatsinks were modified I would have been sus about these, but the fact is I put these back to stock. I used OEM grade heatsink plaster to reattach the boards, the heat transfer from the OEM leds to the heatsinks is evident as they're are scolding hot, however to make sure I’m doing everything possible I have a new set on order.

Are you running the heatsinks that are supposed to be used?

I see you reference OEM, but are they the correct size for this lighting application?

My first thought is you're pulling too much current for these heatsinks and need bigger ones (potentially larger gage wiring and fuses too).

[n55david]

Originally Posted by terryd5150

Are you running the heatsinks that are supposed to be used?

I see you reference OEM, but are they the correct size for this lighting application?

My first thought is you're pulling too much current for these heatsinks and need bigger ones (potentially larger gage wiring and fuses too).

This

[LA1Z24]

In post number 1 he says he has ICON headlights which are an aftermarket installation, post number 5 he claims he has stock headlights. Which way is up?

[fortythirtyfive]

Originally Posted by kickthecan

Yes, 105c isn't bad and is on par with what my car would do on the highway.

When I referred to the coolant temp, I wanted other people to know/realize that, yes, middle of coolant temp is normal for cars, but we don't have a coolant gauge and middle of oil temp gauge isn't necessarily a good thing either.

Are other people running into heat issues with your headlights?

There's not a whole load of people who have retrofitted LCI headlights onto non LCI cars (specifically the F32/F82/F80 design as they use top mounted heatsinks).

Originally Posted by terryd5150

Are you running the heatsinks that are supposed to be used?

I see you reference OEM, but are they the correct size for this lighting application?

My first thought is you're pulling too much current for these heatsinks and need bigger ones (potentially larger gage wiring and fuses too).

The heatsinks cannot be upgraded or made bigger, the wiring is also the original harness so I would hope they spec'd that correctly before building the 4 series lol.

Originally Posted by n55david

This

Originally Posted by LA1Z24

In post number 1 he says he has ICON headlights which are an aftermarket installation, post number 5 he claims he has stock headlights. Which way is up?

Lets clarify something because a lot of people are jumping on the back of this without fully reading the post.

The headlights are OEM icons. LCI adaptive LED headlights.. whatever you wanna call 'em.

They're not aftermarket, never have been and never will be because there's no such replicas.

I opened them up to modify, this consisted of painting the shrouds and installing LED tape behind the rings; which are not in ANYWAY hooked up to the original wiring, nor do they interfere with any heatsink designs, the LED tape at most heats up to 19c. The rings from factory are actually lit by the LED boards in the top of the headlights, they use light guides to reflect the LED intensity around the acrylic rings, this is why I am able to place LED tape behind the light guides to run custom modes like start up / shut down animations as well as using them for turn signals.

For example.. saying that these modifications have caused interference is like saying "I've installed a flashlight to my hood and that is EXACTLY why my tyres are overheating".. A, the tape produces zero heat.. B, they use a custom made controller using its own power, and for the record this is separate and OUTSIDE of the headlight housing.

The oem DRL heatsinks cannot be "upgraded" or "modified" as they need to be a specific shape to fit the headlight housing duct. The only real difference between these and the F30 LCI build is that F30's have their DRL heatsinks mounted underneath, the F32/F80/F82 headlight design see's these mounted up top.

When I first began fitting these headlights I removed the LED boards from the heatsinks to try coloured LED boards. However as I had plans to do something else I placed the original boards back onto the heatsinks. These are correctly mounted and transferring heat successfully because the heatsinks are actually reaching 82c, bare it in mind the OEM boards output over 20W's of light power.

Now back to my last post, I have decided to replace the DRL modules with a brand new set (when they arrive) for arguments sake so that nobody can point the blame at these, just because they were unmounted and reattached. I can guarantee that they will make zero difference but hey it'll hopefully show that they're perfectly fine.

[LA1Z24]

https://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=1865332


They look highly modified to me. In one of your own pictures it even looks like you were grinding away at the heat sync itself?!?!?

[thejeremyman9]

Originally Posted by fortythirtyfive

So I finally got a free moment to give the car a gentle run and read some temperatures..

Oil temperature was slap bang in the middle at 12o’clock, coolant however is reading 117c.

I didn’t have any standing traffic so the headlights for example didn’t fail. If they do I’ll get another log of temperatures

Originally Posted by kickthecan

So from experience, the coolant temp gauge, if there was one on the f30 cluster, should be near or smack dab in the middle.

The oil temp gauge, however, should not be. I guess it depends on the climate, but the middle oil temp is like, what, 250 F? Even during triple digits where I'm at, I don't hit that unless I'm really hammering it or something, but I don't recall hitting that. I'm pretty sure it starts to become a real problem if it goes beyond 250

It's just weird if that will cause things to melt and all that in the engine bay...

Man there is some misinformation here about oil temps and coolant temps....

The oil temp gauge DOES sit right near the middle under normal operating temp, which is about 245F. The OEM oil t-stat doesnt even open fully until around there (forget the exact number), which is why everyone always panics and posts about oil temps when they get their first BMW/F-series. Also the same reason why people install the Mosselman t-stat... This doesnt really depend on your climate at all if you give the car enough time to warm up, since the oil t-stat opens at such a high temperature. This is by design. OF course they are exceptions if you are in sub-zero temps or dont get your car full time to warm up, which can take 15+ minutes.

As far as coolant temps go, 117c is too high. I couldnt easily find the table, but there is a table that shows the coolant temp targets/ranges for the DME, including the thresholds where the car will start to (1) reduce AC output, (2) reduce engine power, and then (3) throw drivetrain malfunction and go full limp mode. The highest i have ever seen is around 230F. Note that coolant temp target is controlled by the DME, so the car will actually target a HIGHER coolant temp when its COOLER outside. If it gets hot outside, OR, or go into sport/+ mode and start driving hard, the coolant temp target will be LOWER, down to about 185F (lowest ive seen without a tune option enabled). The lower coolant temp targets can actually drag oil temps down, so those will be impacted by your coolant temp target.

[fortythirtyfive]

Originally Posted by LA1Z24

https://f30.bimmerpost.com/forums/sh....php?t=1865332


They look highly modified to me. In one of your own pictures it even looks like you were grinding away at the heat sync itself?!?!?

I mean yeah they're modified, but nothing to the extent that I couldn't revert them if I wanted to standard functionality if I really wanted. But that's not why I bought a set of icons for.

Those heatsinks were my custom versions from when I wanted to create a custom light tube system, this required re-engineering the optics that reflect the light so that I could run a larger footprint chip, hence the zip ties rather than heatsink plaster. Further down the thread chain should be a set of photos with the original BMW heatsinks and modules installed.

For the record I was having these "shut down failures" prior to modifying them - I did a road trip 2 weeks after install and a 3 hour journey sprung a shutdown the second I pulled up.

Originally Posted by thejeremyman9

Man there is some misinformation here about oil temps and coolant temps....

The oil temp gauge DOES sit right near the middle under normal operating temp, which is about 245F. The OEM oil t-stat doesnt even open fully until around there (forget the exact number), which is why everyone always panics and posts about oil temps when they get their first BMW/F-series. Also the same reason why people install the Mosselman t-stat... This doesnt really depend on your climate at all if you give the car enough time to warm up, since the oil t-stat opens at such a high temperature. This is by design. OF course they are exceptions if you are in sub-zero temps or dont get your car full time to warm up, which can take 15+ minutes.

As far as coolant temps go, 117c is too high. I couldnt easily find the table, but there is a table that shows the coolant temp targets/ranges for the DME, including the thresholds where the car will start to (1) reduce AC output, (2) reduce engine power, and then (3) throw drivetrain malfunction and go full limp mode. The highest i have ever seen is around 230F. Note that coolant temp target is controlled by the DME, so the car will actually target a HIGHER coolant temp when its COOLER outside. If it gets hot outside, OR, or go into sport/+ mode and start driving hard, the coolant temp target will be LOWER, down to about 185F (lowest ive seen without a tune option enabled). The lower coolant temp targets can actually drag oil temps down, so those will be impacted by your coolant temp target.

Thanks man, appreciate the insight into how it's targeting temps. New coolant due tomorrow so I'll do a few flushes with my spare distilled water and then I'll get new coolant in and see how we run temps wise over the next week or so.

[HighlandPete]

Originally Posted by thejeremyman9

As far as coolant temps go, 117c is too high. I couldnt easily find the table, but there is a table that shows the coolant temp targets/ranges for the DME, including the thresholds where the car will start to (1) reduce AC output, (2) reduce engine power, and then (3) throw drivetrain malfunction and go full limp mode. The highest i have ever seen is around 230F. Note that coolant temp target is controlled by the DME, so the car will actually target a HIGHER coolant temp when its COOLER outside. If it gets hot outside, OR, or go into sport/+ mode and start driving hard, the coolant temp target will be LOWER, down to about 185F (lowest ive seen without a tune option enabled). The lower coolant temp targets can actually drag oil temps down, so those will be impacted by your coolant temp target.

Thinking of this data?

The engine control unit regulates the following temperature ranges:
• 108°C/226°F = Economy mode
• 104°C/219°F = Normal mode
• 95°C/203°F = High mode
• 90°C/194°F = High mode and control with characteristic map thermostat

System Protection
If the coolant or the engine oil overheat during operation, certain vehicle functions are influenced to the effect that more energy is available to the engine cooling system.

These measures are divided over two operating modes:

• Component protection
- Coolant temperature between 117°C/242°F and 124°C/255°F
- Engine oil temperature between 150°C/300°F and 157°C/314°F
- Result: The output of the air conditioning system
(up to 100%) and of the engine is reduced

• Emergency
- Coolant temperature between 125°C/257°F and 129°C/264°F
- Engine oil temperature between 158°C/316°F and 163°C/325°F
- Result: The power output of the engine is reduced
(up to 90%)

[n55david]

Could be a failing waterpump if this is the actual temp range he is seeing.