Upgraded to the Mo-Powa PLM Heat Exchanger on my Q50 Red Sport. Learn from my oil cooler line mistake!
What’s up guys, just wanted to make a quick post about my Mo-Powa PLM heat exchanger install on my Red Sport in case it helps somebody avoid the same headache I ran into.
Install itself honestly wasn’t too bad. Took the front bumper off, just clips and bolts like usual. Pulled the tiny OEM heat exchanger out, disconnected the coolant lines so make sure you’ve got something ready to catch fluid, then wiggled it out.
The Mo-Powa PLM heat exchanger is WAY bigger than stock though, so don’t expect it to fit into the factory brackets. You have to use the relocation brackets that come with the kit to move the stock oil cooler up higher above the new HX in front of the radiator.
Now here’s where I messed up and hopefully save y’all some time. Since the oil cooler gets relocated, the factory lines won’t reach anymore. I tried extending them with 1/2” lines thinking it would work. Bad idea. As soon as I started the car and oil pressure built up, it leaked everywhere.
The fix was using the correct 3/8” I.D. high pressure oil lines with proper clamps. Once I swapped to the right size lines and tightened everything down, zero leaks.
For refilling the coolant system, I used a vacuum filler. Highly recommend doing that on the VR30 because it helps avoid air pockets completely.
Overall though, the Mo-Powa is legit. Recovery times are way faster now and the car doesn’t heat soak nearly as bad after back-to-back pulls.
If you’re planning on doing this install soon, definitely pay attention to those oil lines when using the relocation brackets and use a vacuum filler if you can. Feel free to ask if y’all got any questions.
Edit: I used a BMS install vid because the hx is virtually the same, red hoses on the tarp are the 1/2 ID lines which looked sick but leaked like crazy. Also my red sport is the fully loaded with all the bells and whistles