The Track, Aftermarket Tunes & Heat..... Anybody Done Any Independent Data Analysis?

[jmciver]

Doing some searching in this forum it appears that more and more people are successfully tracking their F8X cars with aftermarket tunes and modest engine modifications (i.e. drop in air filters, charge pipes, etc). By successfully, I am primarily talking about keeping engine and transmission temps under control, and keeping IATs low (enough to not pull timing excessively under track conditions due to the increased heat load). And many have commented on how robust BMW made the cooling system on the F8X to handle temps at the track, with or without a tune. The aftermarket tunes I am referring to are the typical Stage I & II offerings from different vendors, which all appear to produce similar increases in HP & TQ (I am referring to the 91/93 octane pump gas tunes, not the E85/methanol tunes out there now).

However, I am curious if any of the track rats out there with aftermarket tunes and data logging capability have analyzed any track temperature data of tuned vs OEM (oil temp, coolant temp, IATs, HX coolant temp, etc). My experience with OEM gauges are that they are not very accurate and will "filter" or "average" the actual temperature signal coming from the temperature sender. And I have no reason to think the OEM oil temp gauge in the F8X performs any differently (but someone in the know correct me if I am wrong). But I am curious about how much are the aftermarket tunes eating into the temperature "margin" built into the cooling system, even though the oil temp gauge stays in the "normal" temp range. This includes IATs and other temperature parameters for which we don't have a stock gauge in the car.

Anybody willing to share their experience and some of your data to show it?