[SfValley335i]

It's been a couple years since I owed my 335i which was FBO and made 400+whp. I recently got a 135i and within a month Im FBO again Things have changed since 2007/2008, mainly prices of parts have come down.

I recently purchased a VRSF 7" intercooler for my 135i. The purchase was quick and smooth, I had the intercooler shipped to my buddies house since thats where I planned to do the install. I opted for the free shipping and received it in 6 days (West coast). The intercooler was packaged really well, it was wrapped in bubble wrap, it had hard foam all around and then popcorn. The supplied hardware included quality t-bolt clamps, mounting brackets and thick hoses.

I've had experience with Helix intercooler back in 2008, I had Long tran aka LTBMW do the install but failed because the intercooler was not a good fit. Eventually after a few phone calls to Helix, they refunded me some money and I had to do a lot of trimming/modifications to make their intercooler fit. The Helix intercooler did work great once it was installed and helped me break 400whp.

The install on the VRSF intercooler is pretty straight forward. You need to trim off a few plastic pieces and the intercooler slips right in. I did not remove the bumper off my 135i, nor did I have to adjust/move the radiator fan.

After the install of the VRSF IC, I can say the engine has a deeper sound, the car pulls better than it did with stock IC but best and most important part of all, is that after numerous runs from a stop the car continues to pulls hard. I will get logs this week once the weather warms again. I took logs of the stock IC when the temp was in the 80s.

Comparing the VRSF IC to the Helix IC I had previously, going off memory, I can say both feel about the same throughout the power band and dealing with heat soak. I can say for a fact that the Helix IC did weigh more than the VRSF IC.

At the end of the day, I'm really happy with my purchase, I did PM VRSF to ask a few questions prior to purchase and received replies within a couple hours . I do not think you can find a better fitting and functional IC for a cheaper price than the VRSF IC. I without a doubt will make future purchases from them on their exhaust/charge pipe.

One thing I did not like is that the fins on the VRSF IC seem to bend easily.



Below are some pictures from the install.

Stock IC on top and VRSF IC on bottom




Fins and lower plastic bar removed


VRSF IC mounted


Fitment is nice and snug


Passenger side IC Hose



Driver side IC Hose

[Beemw335]

Good review!
Post up logs whenever you can

[bmw335idizzle]

Nice post

[SfValley335i]

After a day of driving Ive noticed im hitting about 1psi more than I was with the stock IC.

[Tiago@VRSF]

Great review man, thanks for taking the time to post this!

Glad you're enjoying the new intercooler!

[etichi]

Does the kit come with necessary hardware to do an install?

[SfValley335i]

Originally Posted by etichi

Does the kit come with necessary hardware to do an install?

Yes it does

[SfValley335i]

Here logs from yesterday. Temp outside was 70deg F. I did about 15minutes of driving before taking this log, this log was from my 3rd and final run of the night. Other runs were not good because of road conditions...



This log shows a run from 3rd gear and to the end of 4th. I dont remember the mph I started at but I let off throttle around 120mph.

Starting IAT was 86deg and at the end of 3rd gear IAT was 95deg. So in 3rd gear with VRSF IC temps only went up 9 degrees.

Without stopping I shifted into 4th gear, starting IAT in 4th was 96deg and by the time I left off the throttle it had gone up to 111deg. Thats a 15 deg change.

So all in all, running through two complete gears WOT, the VRSF IC kept temps from rising more than 24 degrees.


Here is a log of my car with stock IC. All else kept the same.



This log was only a 3rd gear pull, IAT started at 75deg and at the end of the run IAT were 95deg. Keep in mind that in this run I only went to 5k rpm where as the VRSF IC runs I went to 6k or higher.

So it shows that the stock IC heats up much faster than the VRSF IC. Stock IC heated up in a 1 gear pull as much as a VRSF IC heats up in a 2 gear pull.

[ihc95]

Thanks for the logs. The VRSF FMIC looks like its working as advertised. I have a couple questions though.

1) Do you feel any increase in lag with the new FMIC?

2) Does the top of the intercooler fit flush against the bottom of the radiator like the HPF FMIC?

Thanks.

[SfValley335i]

Originally Posted by ihc95

Thanks for the logs. The VRSF FMIC looks like its working as advertised. I have a couple questions though.

1) Do you feel any increase in lag with the new FMIC?

2) Does the top of the intercooler fit flush against the bottom of the radiator like the HPF FMIC?

Thanks.

No I didnt notice any lag after installing the VRSF intercooler. The radiator has a .25 inch lip near the fan... So any long intercooler will have a .25inch gap between it and the radiator. So it does sit flush against PART of the radiator. Any IC greater than 5" will have this .25 space.

[ihc95]

Ok cool. As long as there is no air leak from the fan.

[solow]

how much hp did you increase with the vrsf fmic

[FirstBMWLA]

Nice writeup. I'm happy with mine as well.
VRSF FTW!

[oshusttoley]

This makes me want to pull the trigger on buying te 7inch ic

[Simple5]

Love mine. Don't really feel a difference down low but up top is where this thing shines.

[Tiago@VRSF]

They're expected to arrive within the next 2 weeks