I have the PLM heat exchanger installed, and wanted it to look as OEM as possible. The sides of the exchanger are a bit ugly, as you can see the coolant lines and pump. Airflow is not optimal either since air can pass around the exchanger instead of through it.

Since the factory exchanger side plastic baffles won't fit any aftermarket exchanger, I decided to cut a couple pieces of ABS plastic to do the same job.

Held the pieces in place on the front edge of the exchanger, using heaving duty . A small square ABS piece fits perfectly. If you really want to you can cut the plastic to have a small 'L' bottom to cover the open space on the sides of the oil cooler (then all airflow must go through an exchanger).

End result is a more inconspicuous install, and as a bonus I've noticed AIT are consistently ~5 degrees lower.

Nice.. Could have just gotten the E63 bumper though

I'm considering doing the E63 bumper conversion, but I'm slightly apprehensive it might hurt resale value. I could install the original bumper back on before selling it, but that's more work than I'd like (not to mention I don't have anywhere to store a huge *** car bumper)

Are you going to spray the heat Exchanger black, to complete the factory look?

mine was done black and the other day i made it shiny silver LOOKS AWSOME.

and OP nice job on hiding those hoses looks great.. as far as front conversion, i dont see how that will hurt your resale value when your simply updating the front

Thanks for sharing, my PLM HE arrived the other day.

Did you have the exchanger anodized, or use a really thin layer of spray paint? Paint would decrease the heat transfer, but since it's just on the front the difference is probably insignificant.

its an extremly thin layer just to get it to show...