just installed DO88 radiator

after doing research on cooling system upgrades, it appears DO88 mentioned a lot in this forum, so I bought they're radiator and oil cooler. Upon installing the radiator I notice there's excessive welds on the inside of the lower neck. Other than that the fitment was good, and no issues so far on both the oil cooler and radiator.

It probably have no effect on the performance, but I was just expecting the quality to be higher than CSF, since it's made in Sweden. I have CSF radiator on my E46 M3 and the welds seemed nicer.

I bought their radiator pack two years ago and the radiator was leaking from one of those side welds.

So what’s the prevailing wisdom on DO88 these days? I’ve seen other threads saying the PS cooler fittings are sometimes leaky, and those radiator welds are not aligned with the premium reputation they have in the market.

I’m looking to upgrade radiator/ps/dct cooler in the coming year. Should I go CSF or is the thinking that DO88 is still the better choice?

CCase wrote

So what’s the prevailing wisdom on DO88 these days? I’ve seen other threads saying the PS cooler fittings are sometimes leaky, and those radiator welds are not aligned with the premium reputation they have in the market.

I’m looking to upgrade radiator/ps/dct cooler in the coming year. Should I go CSF or is the thinking that DO88 is still the better choice?

My experience so far - - installed d088 'Big Pack' this summer. Performance and function, all as expected/advertised; no issues. Showed favorable results during multiple super hot days, even in heavy SoCal traffic.

Since my performance shop installed all components, no first hand 'close-up' observations; i.e welds, etc. That said, my shop would've certainly notified me of visible defects, took pics, etc at time of install.

Vid for reference...

gnx wrote

I bought their radiator pack two years ago and the radiator was leaking from one of those side welds.

Did you contact DO88 about it? Just curious about their warranty and if they give you replacement ?

No, didn’t bother just had it mended.

We stopped selling D088 due to the issues. It didn't used to be this way- they were very good, but now it seems like Every. Single. Unit. has some type of defect. Usually it's mounting tab issues or fan retainers being mislocated, but we've had to repair welds on the last radiator and another pinhole in a defective weld in an oil cooler. On the radiator they literally forgot to finish welding a bead on the side tank!

We've sent them emails every time but they don't seem to have done anything about it.

Having to inquire about a warranty replacement is a huge waste of time. These issues aren't usually discovered until the car is immobilized, in pieces, and a remedy is required right then and there. They may send out a replacement, but then you're doing the job twice. It's easier to handle it in the moment, and I suspect DO88 is happy to count on the end user handling the defects.

deansbimmer wrote

We stopped selling D088 due to the issues. It didn't used to be this way- they were very good, but now it seems like Every. Single. Unit. has some type of defect. Usually it's mounting tab issues or fan retainers being mislocated, but we've had to repair welds on the last radiator and another pinhole in a defective weld in an oil cooler. On the radiator they literally forgot to finish welding a bead on the side tank!

We've sent them emails every time but they don't seem to have done anything about it.

Having to inquire about a warranty replacement is a huge waste of time. These issues aren't usually discovered until the car is immobilized, in pieces, and a remedy is required right then and there. They may send out a replacement, but then you're doing the job twice. It's easier to handle it in the moment, and I suspect DO88 is happy to count on the end user handling the defects.

I wasn’t impressed with a recent install I helped on, making CSF look better and better.

I have the entire CSF cooling system on the car now, but am about to swap the DCT cooler to DO88. The two aren’t even comparable in size- the DO88 is MASSIVE. As I understand it, all other components are relatively the same, but I be wrong.

PWR/C&R has some nice stuff! Worth a look.

C&R/PWR is top notch, every time.
Hard sell though, given the price. Most buyers look at the them and can't reconcile the differences between them and say, Mishimoto.

deansbimmer wrote

C&R/PWR is top notch, every time.
Hard sell though, given the price. Most buyers look at the them and can't reconcile the differences between them and say, Mishimoto.

What are the items they sell for e9x platform? I only saw a radiator in their site.

mikerunt wrote

I have the entire CSF cooling system on the car now, but am about to swap the DCT cooler to DO88. The two aren’t even comparable in size- the DO88 is MASSIVE. As I understand it, all other components are relatively the same, but I be wrong.

It is a huge cooler compared to stock and CSF but the one example I helped install had the hard line/block clocked at a weird angle and we had trouble with it interfering with the passenger headlight.

mikerunt wrote

What are the items they sell for e9x platform? I only saw a radiator in their site.

That’s it and even those require varying levels of modification to fit. Everything else would be custom solution.

Reviving this. I had an OG do88 cooler set up on the car February of 2020. The car ran at COTA any time of the year and water (210 degrees max) and dct temps were rock solid. Oil got hot but nothing scary hot. Unfortunately I went through a tire barrier and destroyed the coolers so I bought new ones. All brand new do88 everything apart from the oil cooler. The water temps get to 230 in about three laps (65 degree ambient! Ridiculous). Dct temps are fine with the new cooler but I’ve got a slon pan and dry break overfill as well. Oil temps still get hot)Litchfield race oil cooler but nothing crazy for s65’s and the car goes into limp mode due to water temps before anything. For the record I’ve vacuum bled the car, regular bled the car, ran just water/water wetter, OE coolant mix, you name it. Car still gets hot immediately. It’s a real shame. Do8& was the best in the business.

As for PWR, Ive got a PWR rad waiting to go in the car (with some other custom cooling goodies from them) but they’re not plug and play. They don’t have pass through space for the ac lines (not a big deal if you don’t have it) or the power steering cooler hard lines. They also don’t have mounting provisions for the PS cooler or ac condenser either. It’s on my list to get it in still but not an easy thing to do and keep all factory mountings.

I have a DO88 radiator I purchased in 2023 and never installed. I rather not go through what everyone is going through… where does one purchase said PWR Rad? Do they make the oil cooler and PS cooler as well? Their website only has F8X stuff on it.

OmairK wrote

I have a DO88 radiator I purchased in 2023 and never installed. I rather not go through what everyone is going through… where does one purchase said PWR Rad? Do they make the oil cooler and PS cooler as well? Their website only has F8X stuff on it.

PWR is very far from plug and play. They don’t have provisions for the PS cooler it ac condenser. You either need to redo all of the lines or notch the cooler itself and find a way to bolt the other coolers in the stack to it.

Lienrocs wrote

Reviving this. I had an OG do88 cooler set up on the car February of 2020. The car ran at COTA any time of the year and water (210 degrees max) and dct temps were rock solid. Oil got hot but nothing scary hot. Unfortunately I went through a tire barrier and destroyed the coolers so I bought new ones. All brand new do88 everything apart from the oil cooler. The water temps get to 230 in about three laps (65 degree ambient! Ridiculous). Dct temps are fine with the new cooler but I’ve got a slon pan and dry break overfill as well. Oil temps still get hot)Litchfield race oil cooler but nothing crazy for s65’s and the car goes into limp mode due to water temps before anything. For the record I’ve vacuum bled the car, regular bled the car, ran just water/water wetter, OE coolant mix, you name it. Car still gets hot immediately. It’s a real shame. Do8& was the best in the business.

As for PWR, Ive got a PWR rad waiting to go in the car (with some other custom cooling goodies from them) but they’re not plug and play. They don’t have pass through space for the ac lines (not a big deal if you don’t have it) or the power steering cooler hard lines. They also don’t have mounting provisions for the PS cooler or ac condenser either. It’s on my list to get it in still but not an easy thing to do and keep all factory mountings.

after the incident, did you replace all the rubber seals and plastic duct/panels around the radiator area? The rad needs to be sealed up properly or performance suffers due to decreased airflow through the radiator.

tdott wrote

after the incident, did you replace all the rubber seals and plastic duct/panels around the radiator area? The rad needs to be sealed up properly or performance suffers due to decreased airflow through the radiator.

This is a two part answer.

Yes, I replaced all the seals, ducting, brackets, crash bar, lines, seals etc… All brand new Oem parts as well. That didn’t work.

Second part, I found a new e92. There was a car I couldn’t pass up. It’s a one owner car that had just over 50k miles on it, full records and maintenance done on it from day one. Literally perfect. I put the full cooler stack into that car and it also overheats. 65 degree ambient temp at COTA all day and the car went into limp mode about half way into the first session.

Really informative post above! Sucks to hear that PWR isn’t plug and play. Any other options?

OmairK wrote

Really informative post above! Sucks to hear that PWR isn’t plug and play. Any other options?

I’m working on getting the PWR to fit with some other custom cooling parts. When I get it on and validate the concept I’m going to see if there’s any interest.

In the mean time I’m swapping in a CSF rad I found to see if I can get the car to a few events still, a few heavy hitters in the e92 sphere run them on silly fast cars and have had no issues as far as I know (for what that’s worth). Koyorad and airtec also come to mind but I have zero experience with their stuff.

Not an expert but just a thought, could the oil diverter be clogged or damaged causing no oil to flow through the oil cooler. I was chatting with someone and he mentioned the oil diverter thermostat was shut close pretty much when he was doing the diverter valve upgrade. That could explain the quick high temp.