RB N54 High Flow Oil Drains - Buyer advice

pmey335

Private
May 8, 2019
29
11
0
New York
Ride
335i
First off I'd like to point out I have nothing against RB or his business. In fact I would like to mention that once I got his N54 External PCV Kit (See here) my car went from clouds of smoke to barely anything visible—see my post Huge Clouds of Smoke After Turbo Swap. Rob also has great customer service.

I am aware that no kit is perfect, but I gotta say that his High Flow Oil Drains (HFOD from here on out) disappointed me a little bit.

A few weeks back I got a PM by a member on this forum linking me to his YouTube channel where he reviews Rob's HFODs advising me against them. At that point however I had already placed my order so I awaited eagerly with my car still on jack stands to see if I could make them fit.

I got my package in the mail and my initial impressions were that it wasn't bad, although for the price ($190) I sort of expected a bit more.

Package contents: Two ziplock bags with 2 aluminum fittings, 1 hose, 1 heat shield and 2 clamps each with "R" and "F" written in Sharpie marker for Rear Turbo and Front Turbo.
Additionally, the package includes instructions that specify that "some grinding may be needed" in order to make the front oil drain fit...I would expect some fabrication needed for an eBay 40 bucks solution but not for a $150+ part which I think could've been better engineered.

Anyways, on to the install.

I knew that the clamps were going to be a pain to install as Rob provides similar style hose clamps for both his PCV kit and the HFOD kit, but that was ok.

The rear HFOD came on after 30-45 mins — the fitment is extremely tight. Be ready to have your thumbs hurting for days as you have to bend the provided hose from the turbo to the oil pan and there's little room to play with, but we all know how BMWs are, everything is annoyingly tight.

After spending the rest of the day (from around 10ish until 6PM) trying to make the front HFOD fit to no avail, I emailed Rob and gave up.

Having the great customer service that Rob has, he emailed me within the hour with some advice on the coolant line that the drain needed to clear but I tried it and it didn’t work.

Also, I don’t see how the threaded rod and nut provided would screw onto the turbo since the nut would screw to the rod first. Just poor design in my opinion.

I proceeded to order the OEM $90+ part from ECS tuning, installed it and no more smoke.

The Aftermath
After a long rant, Rob said he would reimburse $50 and “toss the [front drain] in the trash” upon return.

In Short
I had a fitment issue with my (per Rob’s description) Alibaba-China cast DAW turbos but like I pointed out to RB, it does seem like it is more of a design issue as the person who PM’d me previously had a problem with his Pure 600s.
RB claimed via email that these HFODs are supposed to and do fit OEM turbos, but in my opinion, if you have an OEM turbo you're probably okay with the OEM drains.

The Good
I ran my car with just the Rear HFOD and ZERO SMOKE from the rear turbo. If you see in my other post in the video of my smoking turbos, my main issue was with the REAR turbo, it wasn't draining properly which RB's drain fixed 100%.
Rob's excellent customer service.
Rob's agreement to refund me 50 bucks (it's somethin').

The Bad
The front drain is plain and simple poorly designed. It doesn't clear the coolant line.

The Ugly
$190. Though I am sure you can email Rob and ask to only get the rear drain. I don't know. Maybe?
 
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Benji335i

Specialist
Jan 18, 2018
74
24
0
Auckland, New Zealand
Ride
335i DCT
Im about to buy RB two plus turbos so just fir clarification what is the moral of the story? I will agree robs service is really good but now im concerned about the oil drains?
 

pmey335

Private
May 8, 2019
29
11
0
New York
Ride
335i
Im about to buy RB two plus turbos so just fir clarification what is the moral of the story? I will agree robs service is really good but now im concerned about the oil drains?
He doesn’t sell the High Flow Oil Drains anymore: https://www.rbturbo.com/rboildrains

If I were to do my turbo job all over I would just get -AN lines and the adapters to the block (x2) and to the turbos (x2) tbh. I’ve heard it works fine too.
 

pmey335

Private
May 8, 2019
29
11
0
New York
Ride
335i
They are sold when you buy a turbo kit from them
I say try them out. I tried replacing the drains on my turbos which were already installed. Maybe you’ll clear the front coolant line in your fresh install. Maybe have the OEM handy in case you can’t clear it and you’re not left waiting for them to come in.
Do let us know how it goes it might help someone here
 

matreyia

Major
Apr 19, 2017
1,780
711
0
Ride
335i e93
First off I'd like to point out I have nothing against RB or his business. In fact I would like to mention that once I got his N54 External PCV Kit (See here) my car went from clouds of smoke to barely anything visible—see my post Huge Clouds of Smoke After Turbo Swap. Rob also has great customer service.

I am aware that no kit is perfect, but I gotta say that his High Flow Oil Drains (HFOD from here on out) disappointed me a little bit.

A few weeks back I got a PM by a member on this forum linking me to his YouTube channel where he reviews Rob's HFODs advising me against them. At that point however I had already placed my order so I awaited eagerly with my car still on jack stands to see if I could make them fit.

I got my package in the mail and my initial impressions were that it wasn't bad, although for the price ($190) I sort of expected a bit more.

Package contents: Two ziplock bags with 2 aluminum fittings, 1 hose, 1 heat shield and 2 clamps each with "R" and "F" written in Sharpie marker for Rear Turbo and Front Turbo.
Additionally, the package includes instructions that specify that "some grinding may be needed" in order to make the front oil drain fit...I would expect some fabrication needed for an eBay 40 bucks solution but not for a $150+ part which I think could've been better engineered.

Anyways, on to the install.

I knew that the clamps were going to be a pain to install as Rob provides similar style hose clamps for both his PCV kit and the HFOD kit, but that was ok.

The rear HFOD came on after 30-45 mins — the fitment is extremely tight. Be ready to have your thumbs hurting for days as you have to bend the provided hose from the turbo to the oil pan and there's little room to play with, but we all know how BMWs are, everything is annoyingly tight.

After spending the rest of the day (from around 10ish until 6PM) trying to make the front HFOD fit to no avail, I emailed Rob and gave up.

Having the great customer service that Rob has, he emailed me within the hour with some advice on the coolant line that the drain needed to clear but I tried it and it didn’t work.

Also, I don’t see how the threaded rod and nut provided would screw onto the turbo since the nut would screw to the rod first. Just poor design in my opinion.

I proceeded to order the OEM $90+ part from ECS tuning, installed it and no more smoke.

The Aftermath
After a long rant, Rob said he would reimburse $50 and “toss the [front drain] in the trash” upon return.

In Short
I had a fitment issue with my (per Rob’s description) Alibaba-China cast DAW turbos but like I pointed out to RB, it does seem like it is more of a design issue as the person who PM’d me previously had a problem with his Pure 600s.
RB claimed via email that these HFODs are supposed to and do fit OEM turbos, but in my opinion, if you have an OEM turbo you're probably okay with the OEM drains.

The Good
I ran my car with just the Rear HFOD and ZERO SMOKE from the rear turbo. If you see in my other post in the video of my smoking turbos, my main issue was with the REAR turbo, it wasn't draining properly which RB's drain fixed 100%.
Rob's excellent customer service.
Rob's agreement to refund me 50 bucks (it's somethin').

The Bad
The front drain is plain and simple poorly designed. It doesn't clear the coolant line.

The Ugly
$190. Though I am sure you can email Rob and ask to only get the rear drain. I don't know. Maybe?

I have tried to tell people this on many occasions.
 

matreyia

Major
Apr 19, 2017
1,780
711
0
Ride
335i e93
Appreciate that review buddy.
We’re they RB turbos as well?
What did you end up using oem?

Pure Stage 2 High Flows.
Like the OP here, I could only install the rear line and used new stock oem line for the front.
 

Benji335i

Specialist
Jan 18, 2018
74
24
0
Auckland, New Zealand
Ride
335i DCT
Pure Stage 2 High Flows.
Like the OP here, I could only install the rear line and used new stock oem line for the front.

Fair enough, now in RBs defence these two instances have been with different branded turbos could that be a factor?
Just to clarify I am impartial I do not have any RB products.
@martymil has had no issues with these so im just wondering why you both have.
 

matreyia

Major
Apr 19, 2017
1,780
711
0
Ride
335i e93
Fair enough, now in RBs defence these two instances have been with different branded turbos could that be a factor?
Just to clarify I am impartial I do not have any RB products.
@martymil has had no issues with these so im just wondering why you both have.

Pure stage 2 uses stock oe turbo housing.
 

pmey335

Private
May 8, 2019
29
11
0
New York
Ride
335i
Fair enough, now in RBs defence these two instances have been with different branded turbos could that be a factor?
Just to clarify I am impartial I do not have any RB products.
@martymil has had no issues with these so im just wondering why you both have.
wish I could tell you
 

matreyia

Major
Apr 19, 2017
1,780
711
0
Ride
335i e93
Fair enough, now in RBs defence these two instances have been with different branded turbos could that be a factor?
Just to clarify I am impartial I do not have any RB products.
@martymil has had no issues with these so im just wondering why you both have.

Martymill has rt hand drive 335i. He said he didn't grind at all. Don't know if that has anything to do with it.
 

AzNdevil

Lieutenant
Staff member
Nov 4, 2016
566
269
0
Hong Kong
just got these drains installed... rhd, pure stage 2 DD
no grinding needed..just a pain to install
IMG-20200522-WA0119.jpg


IMG-20200522-WA0128.jpg
 
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Cruizinmax

Corporal
Jul 18, 2018
121
70
0
Ride
09 335i
@matreyia I have never remove the turbos from an n54 but from what I've seen couldn't you have just slightly bent the coolant line towards the compressor housing to make the drain fit?
 

matreyia

Major
Apr 19, 2017
1,780
711
0
Ride
335i e93
@matreyia I have never remove the turbos from an n54 but from what I've seen couldn't you have just slightly bent the coolant line towards the compressor housing to make the drain fit?

Absolutely not. They are hard lines. They do not bend at all.
 

PupkinRacing

Specialist
Aug 31, 2017
79
21
0
Madison, Wisconsin
Ride
Bmw 135i
I was able to get them to fit my VIV chinabay 17t turbos. I used upgraded hoses those because the gates heater hose that was supplied didn’t meet the standard I was expecting. This is LHD vehicle
EBD91EB9-1B33-49E6-903D-C755A040060A.jpeg
 
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Cruizinmax

Corporal
Jul 18, 2018
121
70
0
Ride
09 335i
Absolutely not. They are hard lines. They do not bend at all.
? They were bent during production? They're not cast that way. Perhaps that's why some were able to install and others weren't.

I feel like I can almost see the marks on the coolant line where it was tweaked from the photo above.
 

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matreyia

Major
Apr 19, 2017
1,780
711
0
Ride
335i e93
? They were bent during production? They're not cast that way. Perhaps that's why some were able to install and others weren't.

I feel like I can almost see the marks on the coolant line where it was tweaked from the photo above.

Neither the original lines or brand new lines could fit. These high flow RB lines will not fit Stock or Pure turbos. So count yourself lucky by getting away with Chinese Turbos.