Radiator combatibility

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JM2012
E30 Zone Newbie
E30 Zone Newbie
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Joined: Mon Apr 23, 2012 11:00 pm

Post Tue Jan 21, 2014 11:06 am

I checked on real oem and the radiator and fan and even the front panel etc seem to be the same on the 4 cylinder models as the 6.
I just wanted to check with you guys for your input on this.

Cheerz,

Jon
Grrrmachine
E30 Zone Wiki / Team Member
E30 Zone Wiki / Team Member
Posts: 8043
Joined: Sat Feb 09, 2008 11:00 pm
Location: Warsaw, Poland

Post Tue Jan 21, 2014 11:23 am

Radiators are just metal cores; you can fit anything you like in the nose of the E30.

The key is the length of the rubber pipes feeding the rad, and which plastic mounts you use to hold it in place. When upgrading to an aircon rad on my M20 I had to change the top hose and one mount, although that was a very simple job.

If you're not sure, try and find the physical dimensions of each rad from your supplier. That will tell you whether they're a drop-in replacement or not.