E30 Zone

Well, going to replace mine (88 325 touring), but the question is, where is the best place to deal with?, also, is there an alloy one available that's a direct fit?...I have tried the search and not come up with anythung, so sorry if this is a serial repost!...you comments and suggestions will be most welcome, cheers.

If you want a new one either GSF or ECP will be fine.

I got a very good secondhand one via the zone recently for about half the price of a new one - worth having a look in the parts for sale section.

Mr Moore suggests that radiators should be a 100,000 mile service item...
Worth bearing in mind that 325i's radiator incorporates an oil cooler that really is not needed,so this would be a good time to junk it and all related pipework.
So a standard 320i radiator from GSF will also show a saving in cash,and do exactly the same job.

Mr Moore would be right. I replaced mine at just over 100K.

In our part of the world radiators are considered to be weak. They fail. I replaced mine with a bespoke item in alloy and love it to bits.

And out here we also love our oil coolers.

daimlerman wrote:Mr Moore suggests that radiators should be a 100,000 mile service item...
Worth bearing in mind that 325i's radiator incorporates an oil cooler that really is not needed,so this would be a good time to junk it and all related pipework.
So a standard 320i radiator from GSF will also show a saving in cash,and do exactly the same job.

The oil cooler is separate isn't it

Standard cooler is on mine.

daimlerman wrote: Worth bearing in mind that 325i's radiator incorporates an oil cooler

Automatics have a transmission fluid cooler built into the rad, but the engine oil cooler is a separate thing.

daimlerman has got a secrete prototype radiator

to clarify the oil cooler is a totally separate item to the coolant rad.

AlpineAde in the UK the facelift cooling system is a very good system well up to the task of which it was intended. Seems to cope round the ring each year i go in the summer going some 20 laps in 30 degrees. i'm lost by the heat comment too.

What do people prefer hot hot oil with low pressure or cooled oil?!

Why do we have moderators giving totally false inaccurate conflicting infomation?!

Oil coolers are one of them things you dont notice doing anything but they are very handy for track days and fast road use, not something id remove anyway

Yeah, BMW thought "i know, ill tack on this extra cooler cause it looks good!"

bss325i wrote:Yeah, BMW thought "i know, ill tack on this extra cooler cause it looks good!"

exactly, and its not like its a troublesome part so why would you?

Simon13 wrote:Why do we have moderators giving totally false inaccurate conflicting infomation?!

Sorry, mate, I didn't think I had. Apologies if that is deemed to be the case. I don't think anyone was speaking as "a mod", just as an E30 owner.

Simon13 wrote: AlpineAde in the UK the facelift cooling system is a very good system well up to the task of which it was intended. Seems to cope round the ring each year i go in the summer going some 20 laps in 30 degrees. i'm lost by the heat comment too.

What do people prefer hot hot oil with low pressure or cooled oil?!

Running in near 40 degrees is a bummer. Systems tend to stress really badly out here. If everything is in tip top condition they'll last a while but they'll fail eventually. E30 cooling is a known weak spot out in Australia and we take a number of different steps to try and beat it. We also tend to find a load of cracked necks appearing in our radiators, which I don't think appear in cooler climates (?) ~ an alloy rad gets by that problem nicely. It's funny, my mechanic has a pile of 20-30 radiators from E30s where they've all failed through cracking. It's just how it is out here.

Oil coolers are nice, too, as without them you start seeing some pretty nasty oil temps and some very thin oil. Not good. I like the OEM unit ~ works well out here.

AlpineAde wrote:Running in near 40 degrees is a bummer. Systems tend to stress really badly out here. If everything is in tip top condition they'll last a while but they'll fail eventually. E30 cooling is a known weak spot out in Australia and we take a number of different steps to try and beat it. We also tend to find a load of cracked necks appearing in our radiators, which I don't think appear in cooler climates (?) ~ an alloy rad gets by that problem nicely. It's funny, my mechanic has a pile of 20-30 radiators from E30s where they've all failed through cracking. It's just how it is out here.

Oil coolers are nice, too, as without them you start seeing some pretty nasty oil temps and some very thin oil. Not good. I like the OEM unit ~ works well out here.

I know that in Oz and the far east that E30 325i's use a tropical spec rad which is essentialy wider. I guess A/C is also standard fit so they will have an electric fan as well as the viscous.

And all this is still marginal?

I have a good rad in the for sale section that has only covered 20k £35 posted

bss325i wrote:

AlpineAde wrote:Running in near 40 degrees is a bummer. Systems tend to stress really badly out here. If everything is in tip top condition they'll last a while but they'll fail eventually. E30 cooling is a known weak spot out in Australia and we take a number of different steps to try and beat it. We also tend to find a load of cracked necks appearing in our radiators, which I don't think appear in cooler climates (?) ~ an alloy rad gets by that problem nicely. It's funny, my mechanic has a pile of 20-30 radiators from E30s where they've all failed through cracking. It's just how it is out here.

Oil coolers are nice, too, as without them you start seeing some pretty nasty oil temps and some very thin oil. Not good. I like the OEM unit ~ works well out here.

I know that in Oz and the far east that E30 325i's use a tropical spec rad which is essentialy wider. I guess A/C is also standard fit so they will have an electric fan as well as the viscous.

And all this is still marginal?

Yep, it is, mate. Cooling on E30s out here is a known weak point. But as I said above, as long as everything is tip top the setup will last for quite a bit. Issues can arise in hot weather, though, especially in stop start traffic when the temperature is "summery" and on track, again in "summery" weather. My mechanic (mentioned above) keeps that collection of failed rads as a reminder to clients that radiators are, as Brian states above, a definite service item and need replacing, especially on cars that see the track.

Well known that the oil cooler is an 'over engineered' part of the 325i spec.
My 2.7 gets driven hard and does without this 'essential' item.When the oil cooler's 'stat is closed,like on an oil change,the thing is holding old,dirty oil.Not something that I would want circulating around my nice clean engine.

daimlerman wrote:When the oil cooler's 'stat is closed,like on an oil change,the thing is holding old,dirty oil.Not something that I would want circulating around my nice clean engine.

You perform an oil change with the engine cold?!

bss325i wrote:

daimlerman wrote:When the oil cooler's 'stat is closed,like on an oil change,the thing is holding old,dirty oil.Not something that I would want circulating around my nice clean engine.

You perform an oil change with the engine cold?!

i read they open at over 100oc or something like that, wether that is true or not?

i ditched mine simply because it had been removed and i was send the screw adaptor for a 5er