Rotating oil filter 180 degrees M20

[dnguyen1963]

Nobody races 5 series. They are bloated whales.

[fresh_TD]

Can someone post pictures of their housing...I think I want to do this..

Sent from my Samsung Note 3

[nando]

5 series doesn't even have oil cooler. I really don't know why BMW equipped E30 with oil cooler. M20 is low rev engine, does not have piston oil squirters, does not have timing chain, and oil pan is exposed to incoming air so there is no real reason for oil cooler even if you use the car for racing.

more idiocracy from HakkenTT... guess you've never spent time on a track in hot weather. too busy posting stupid crap on the internet and stealing other people's ideas. ;)

I flipped mine around a long time ago because of the headers. you can just swap the oil cooler lines around. the only thing that has to be removed for sure is the A/C, but I think you can use an E30 M3 filter if you want to keep the A/C (it's shorter). no ill effects.

[digger]

that explains alot

[brads2002]

Yes my AC has been removed good point for others though. I'm sure it could create clearance issues with the filter facing front words. Fresh send me a PM and I'll email picture for you.

[richard.bratton]

I've been running my housing flipped with e30 M3 filters on my Spec e30 for several years. It works great and is much easier to change the filter

[dnguyen1963]

What's wrong with the factory position? There is plenty of room for filter removal.

[nando]

doesn't fit with headers/turbo plus if you don't have A/C it's a lot easier to get to the filter.

[Peelsbimmer]

Has anyone rotated their housing and kept the a/c?

[digger]

bumped, anyone rotated oil filter housing so filter is vertical and has A/C? did the hoses need to be disconnected and reconnected to get them to route correctly??

[nando]

I never tried that orientation, you might have to use a shorter filter (E30 M3 S14B23 might fit?) because it'll point towards the headers. I had to disconnected the hoses to rotate mine 180 degrees, so I'd imagine you'd need to do so to rotate it 90 as well. maybe it would fit at 180 degrees with the shorter filter too? I never used it because I didn't have AC so there was no need, but there must be a reason people recommended it.

[Andre3127]

I never tried that orientation, you might have to use a shorter filter (E30 M3 S14B23 might fit?) because it'll point towards the headers. I had to disconnected the hoses to rotate mine 180 degrees, so I'd imagine you'd need to do so to rotate it 90 as well. maybe it would fit at 180 degrees with the shorter filter too? I never used it because I didn't have AC so there was no need, but there must be a reason people recommended it.

On that same note, somewhat related, if anybody is ever in the need to find filters of different sizes for things like this, Napa has a simple oil filter cross reference. Helps match up exterior sizes, thread sizes, filter material, and various pressure ratings.

http://www.nfhconnect.com/Home

[digger]

i mean the filter is pointing/hanging down, i dont see why it would need to be shorter

[nando]

I guess you could point it down too. Hadn't thought of that. I think in my case, it would hit the motor mount or subframe. Not sure on RWD.

[digger]

I guess you could point it down too. Hadn't thought of that. I think in my case, it would hit the motor mount or subframe. Not sure on RWD.

On the UK forums I’ve seen people mentioned they had it hanging down but not much in way of details provided.
i’m only thinking it might be advantageous for a new header design as may allow better pipe routing between steering linkage and block.
Potentially alot easier to change filter.