If your M50, M52, or M54 engine takes a few seconds to build oil pressure after sitting, there's a good chance that your factory oil filter housing drain back valve has failed. Over time, the factory plastic check valve degrades, allowing oil to drain completely out of the housing and back into the oil pan while sitting. Every cold start essentially becomes a dry start, resulting in a loud ticking noise and causing unnecessary wear on your engine's internals.
Unfortunately, BMW does not offer this check valve as a standalone part, forcing you to purchase a costly, complete oil filter housing assembly just to fix one failed plastic component. Thankfully, our team of BMW enthusiasts took note of this common failure mode and designed a permanent, cost-effective fix.
Our Billet Oil Filter Housing Drain-Back Valve is designed as a direct-fit upgrade for your factory oil filter housing. CNC-machined from high-strength billet aluminum, this upgraded valve restores positive sealing to keep the oil filter housing fully primed. Maintaining this hydraulic prime ensures rapid oil pressure stabilization upon startup, directly mitigating dry-start bearing wear and top-end lifter starvation without requiring the purchase of a complete OEM housing assembly.
Heat is the enemy of lap times and engine longevity. BMW calibrated the factory oil thermostat on the N54, N55, and S55 platforms for rapid warm-up and emissions targets, running oil temperatures uncomfortably hot under prolonged load. When you’re pushing full throttle down the straight or stacking laps in midsummer, you need thermal headroom long before factory thresholds are reached.
The Turner Motorsport Oil Cooler Thermostat Housing drops your thermostat threshold to 70°C, circulating oil through the cooler early to build a buffer against heat saturation. Engineered for hard-driven road course and track day cars, the housing is protected with a Type III black hardcoat anodized finish for maximum resilience against thermal cycling and harsh track environments. Build flexibility is built right in: retain your OEM hard lines for a simple, direct-fit cooling upgrade, or adapt to full braided lines using our Turner AN Adapter for dedicated competition oiling systems.
Keep your S55 running cooler, longer. The factory oil cooler thermostat on the S55 waits until the oil reaches roughly 110°C (230°F) before sending it to the cooler. By then, the cooling system is already playing catch-up, especially on track days, spirited canyon runs, hot summer traffic, or tuned cars making well beyond stock power.
Our S55 Billet Oil Cooler Thermostat design addresses this issue at the source. Our proprietary low-temperature 70°C (158°F) thermostat routes oil through the cooler much earlier, so temperatures stay controlled before they climb instead of being pulled back down after the fact. The result is more consistent oil temperatures, more stable performance lap after lap, and less heat stress on bearings, turbochargers, and other critical components.
Unlike thermostat delete or “always open” bypass solutions, our kit uses a real working thermostat. Your engine still warms up properly on cold starts, which protects internal friction surfaces and keeps the oil at the right temperature for daily driving in any climate. Housing the thermostat is a CNC-machined billet aluminum cover, which is much stronger than the factory piece and looks great under the hood. Our thermostat solution is compatible with both factory and -10 AN oil cooler lines when used in conjunction with an AN Line Adapter (see T#59331100).
