[Unspec]

First, Stuck's excellent guide on the actual OEM retrofit:

https://f10.5post.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1399982

It's a pretty complicated and involved retrofit that requires removal of the downpipe and such. I think we all know how much of a pain in the ass doing that downpipe removal is, so I never really gave it much thought. After all, it's not like I track this car.

However...I recently stumbled upon THIS gem:

Kit: https://www.aliexpress.us/item/22558...b-36456f41c3a8

Plate only: https://www.aliexpress.us/item/32568...3-d0d5eb7365e4

For 32 BUCKS SHIPPED! It states for N20's, but the OFH is actually the same part across all N20's and N55's, so any plate for the N20 will fit the N55. It has 3 ports: two for oil and, most importantly, one for coolant, all AN10. The Kit includes a nice 90 to barb adapter, and that's exactly why this kit is so exciting to me. It allows you to put the old coolant line for the coolant-to-oil heat exchange on and just act a straight return. Does it waste bit of cooling capacity? Sure. But it's not like the N55 really suffers from coolant cooling issues, and this would be minuscule. Alternatively you could probably plug the old line and achieve the same thing, but I have concerns with potential leaks given the pressure the system is under. This allows you to just simply flow the coolant back into the loop.

Some concerns, obviously:

• Thermostat. This is just a plate, and could potentially over cool the engine oil during the winter or result in longer warm up times. However, inline thermostats aren't hard to source.
• Sourcing fittings if you go plate only option.
• Kit's cooler is...questionable. Looks like it could get overwhelmed pretty easily
• Routing the lines to the driver side wheel well. Shouldn't be TOO challenging though.

Interested in hearing people's thoughts on this and if they foresee any issues that I haven't seen.