Precise Oil Temperature Control for Your BMW

Upgrade your BMW engine's oil temperature control with Improved Racing's high-performance oil cooler adapter.

Designed to address flaws in the factory's restrictive oil cooler adapter and faulty internal flow control valve, this upgrade ensures precise oil temperature control. The factory BMW oil thermostat opens at around 221°F (105°C). Improved Racing's thermostats are available in two lower temperature ratings (180°F and 200°F) for additional cooling.

Improved Racing's Gen 2 design improves on our original EBW-100 adapter by expanding compatibility to all OEM engine variants. We learned that there are three different OEM oil cooler adapter and line variants, and all four are now covered between the two new adapters, EBW-101 and EBW-102:

• EBW-101: Features bottom-mounted lines. Can be used with aftermarket -10AN lines, or with the factory lines using the optional factory line adapter (part number EBW-101-98). This model will fit all OEM engine variants with lines that mount to the bottom of the oil cooler adapter, including those that use M8 and M6 screws to secure the lines.

• EBW-102: Features top-mounted lines. This version can only be used with OEM engine variants where the factory lines are mounted to the top of the oil cooler adapter. Works directly with the factory lines; no separate factory line adapter is required. Will not work with aftermarket AN lines (use EBW-101 instead for AN lines).

Improved Racing's thermostat provides quick engine warmup, prevents overcooling, and delivers full oil cooling capacity on demand. Trusted by professional race teams around the globe, Improved Racing's thermostats are highly reliable, are backed by a lifetime warranty, and are made in the USA.

Option to Use the Factory Oil Cooler and Lines

As most customers prefer to keep the factory BMW oil lines, we made the Gen 2 design much easier to use with factory lines.

The optional factory oil line adapter kit allows you to use the factory oil cooler lines for a simple, plug-and-play installation. For maximum performance, the factory oil cooler and lines may be replaced with an aftermarket cooler and AN lines (-10AN line size is recommended).

Please note that some applications, including many non-performance trims and most SUV's, use a water-to-oil heat exchangers instead of air-to-oil coolers. These applications require plugging the coolant supply and return ports, as well as adding an external air-to-oil cooler and lines (factory or aftermarket). Please note the EBW-101 and EBW-102 thermostats cannot be used without an oil cooler.

Application Guide

Determining Your Application

There are several variants of OEM oil cooler thermostat housings available from the factory. First, use the guide below to determine the type of thermostat housing you have. Then, use the application table in the following section to determine which Improved Racing thermostats are compatible.

1. Bottom-Mounted Lines and M8 Screw Securing Factory Lines from Below

The most common variant has factory lines mounted to the bottom of the adapter, and uses an M8 screw to secure the factory lines to the thermostat housing from the bottom. This variant is commonly found in N54, N55, and other engines.

2. Bottom-Mounted Lines and M6 Screw Securing Factory Lines from the Top

Another common application is very similar but uses a long M6 screw inserted from the top to secure the factory lines to the thermostat housing. This setup is often found in the S55 engine in the M2, M3, and M4 and in some N55 engines.

The M6 screw can be seen in the up-close photo below.

3. Top-Mounted Lines

A third variant has top-mounted oil cooler lines, as seen in the photo above. This setup is found in many vehicles with the N55 engine.

4. No Factory Oil Cooler

Some engines do not have an oil cooler from the factory. These engines have no oil lines near the filter, as shown in the photo above. If your vehicle has no cooler, you will also have to install a BMW factory filter housing that will accept the Improved Racing oil cooler adapter, OEM BMW part number 11428683206 or 11428642289. You will also have to install an OEM BMW oil cooler and lines, or aftermarket oil cooler and lines.

5. Factory Water-to-Oil Cooler

Some applications use a water-to-oil cooler from the factory, shown in the photo above. On some vehicles, this cooler is hidden under a plastic cover.

This setup is often found in the following in non-performance trims, including most SUV's. It is commonly found in vehicles with the N20, N26, N51, N52, and N53 engines.

If your vehicle is equipped with the water-to-oil cool circled in red in Figure 1 below, you will need to perform these additional modifications to replace it with an air-to-oil cooler:

1. 1. Cap off the coolant feed and return ports at the source.

   2. Install an OEM BMW air-to-oil cooler and lines with EBW-101 or EBW-102, or install an aftermarket air-to-oil cooler and aftermarket AN lines with EBW-101.

      Warning: A cooler must always be equipped. Do not cap off the inlet and outlet ports of the oil cooler thermostat. This will result in the complete blockage of oil flow to your engine!

Figure 1

Applications

Improved Racing's thermostat is designed for a direct fit to any BMW engine equipped with oil filter housing part number 11428683206 or 11428642289 (circled in blue in Figure 1 above). The application is extremely large and covers most BMW cars and SUV's across all series!

You may view our complete application list, including chassis and engine code, in the EBW-100 Complete Application Reference file found in the documentation section at the bottom of this page.

Compatible applications include vehicles equipped with the following BMW engines:

• BMW N20 engines

• BMW N26 engines

• BMW N51 engines

• BMW N52 engines

• BMW N53 engines

• BMW N54 engines

• BMW N55 engines

• BMW S55 engines

After determining what type of factory oil thermostat housing you have in the previous section, use the table below to determine the compatible Improved Racing thermostats for your engine. If you have questions or need assistance, please reach out to us and our product experts will be happy to help you.

Specifications

Temperature Rating Specifications