E30 Zone

Hi Guys


I previously posted a long rambling post about our broken radiator yesterday (thanks for the comments on that one BTW).

Again the car is:

K-reg 325i Cab Auto with AC imported from Hong Kong by previous owner.

I have ordered a Nissen radiator from Europarts (£125 +£12 delivery, BMW wanted £325 with no delivery option) on the advice of BMW and Europarts for a part ending in 851 (440mm long matrix) which had me slightly worried as they couldn't tell me the size.

Checking further, it seems we may have a tropical radiator with a larger size of 550mm matrix”¦ (the overall rad size I measured this morning is 650x470mm so definitely large) I tried to stop them sending it and re-order the correct one but it has been dispatched and they don’t stock the larger ones anyway.

So, the question. If the rad turns up and is smaller, but presumably correct for Europe with oil cooler etc. will I be able to fit it?

Will the mounts be different, and will the pipes reach?

I can already see I will require a different fan cowl, which should be easy to source, but is there anything fundamentally wrong with down-specing this car back to a Europe rather than tropical version?

All comments welcome (particularly from Mr Moore”¦)

Thanks,

Frank

Looking into this if you mentioned Air con they should of ordered a 550mm rad
standard without air con is 440mm.

The car may run slightly hotter if you fit the 440mm rad because the air con condensor will take most of the air flow before the radiator.

You may also need to order the top and bottom hoses as they would be shorter to fit to the 440mm rad without and kinks in.

The 851 BTW is for cars with a/c and should be 550mm

A new rad from me £268.01 delivery within 5 days

Hi Zimmerbimmer,

I thought the difference between the tropical and 851 was that the 851 was shorter? If that is not the case and the 851 is 550mm as you say, it sounds like I may be okay. I have ordered an 851 equivalent.

Looks like I need to stop panicking till it turns up tomorrow.

Thanks for your comments.

Regards,

Francis

My air con rad came from Germany via eBay and cost £90 ish inc delivery
I had a nissens before and didnt think it cooled/flowed well enough (M50 engine)

This one is much better, I would send that nissens back to euro crap parts when the driver turns up

predictably the rad has turned up too small. Zimmer, for what its worth, the box says auto ac on it. Back it goes. Will pm on the rad. I'm not prepared to change all the connections and fan cowel to accommodate the wrong part.

Danthe, rad make was recommended to me by my service garage. Build quality seems good, but the top mounting points are not present so it won't will rattle around more. As above, its going back.

Frank

Hi Guys,

Just to let ya'll know that I got the parts (inc rad) from Zimmer yesterday and fitted them after work last night. A little messy, but easier than i thought. My first bit of engine surgery on any car...

Quick run last night shows no problems so should be good to go for a run up the motor way tonight.

Cheers

Frank

i recently bought a air con rad on here and it wasnt untill i fitted it i found the cowling to small ordered the cowling from bmw and found out that my rad is the tropical one its twice the size of my old 325 one....bit wider but goes down a long way goes a good 8 inches further past the old rad stops had to change the mounts too for smaller ones so it could fit