Fitting an alloy radiator?

Fri Jan 23, 2015 4:50 pm

My new ish radiator is leaking so I bought an alloy radiator to replace it. I have a question concerning the setup. The car has an m50b25 engine.

The radiator I bought has only two port as opposed to 3 on the oem one. Am I right in thinking the lower hose is for recirculation and can be blanked off at the block? And is 1.3 bar of pressure enough for an expansion tank cap.

Many thanks,

JF

Fri Jan 23, 2015 6:43 pm

Images taken from the internet to illustrate the difference in piping.

Fri Jan 23, 2015 6:50 pm

Looks like you might be short an expansion tank/reservoir.

Fri Jan 23, 2015 6:56 pm

there a nice looking rad and also look to be a straight bolt in! they seem to be about the same size capacity wise as the tropical rad! which i have in my car and it never shows any sign of over heating! it doesent go any higher than the blue mark! also i believe there made in the nederlands instead of the usual chinese crap so might be worth a try!

Fri Jan 23, 2015 6:59 pm

Brianmoooore wrote:Looks like you might be short an expansion tank/reservoir.

An M20 expansion tank and suitable pipework should sort it?

Fri Jan 23, 2015 7:09 pm

madmax1410 wrote:it doesent go any higher than the blue mark!

Assuming you have the correct temp sender fitted so the gauge reads right, over cooling an engine isn't good. It needs to get up to temp to run properly and not cause damage.

Fri Jan 23, 2015 7:15 pm

Its all chinese crap and it shows. I need someone to draw me a picture : ( I looked at e30 expansion tanks, seems complicated with the hoses pattern, I may just get a new oem one and no more head ache : )

Fri Jan 23, 2015 7:19 pm

jmc330i wrote:
Brianmoooore wrote:Looks like you might be short an expansion tank/reservoir.
An M20 expansion tank and suitable pipework should sort it?

Should do the job. Small pipe at the top of the rad. needs to be connected to the vent. inlet on the E30 320/325 tank, and the hose from the tank on the original rad. needs to be diverted to the bottom of the new tank, or a modified M20 pipe fitted.
As said above, it's not good to run an engine too cool (hotter the better, for efficiency, and you ought to be using at least a 1.4 bar cap, preferably 2 bar.

Fri Jan 23, 2015 11:23 pm

solution taken from an american forum
http://i.minus.com/jJu4eRFLjo9en.jpg

Sat Jan 24, 2015 12:53 pm

Is BEHR the brand of the original oem radiator? I have an EIS that cracked after 4 months and have a choice between BEHR and Hella. I called BMW this morning and an e36 rad is £262, no brand given. Online finds BEHR £108 and Hella £97. Is BEHR a good brand?

I decided not to install the alloy radiator!

Sat Jan 24, 2015 1:17 pm

get a nissen radiator from ecp. cant fault the one i have.
EIS rads are shite

Sat Jan 24, 2015 1:30 pm

EIS are shite, avoid at all costs, they are the cheapest rads ive ever seen.

BEHR is OEM yes, one of the best available

Fitting the ally rad is not difficult at all but with an M50 it depends on what sort of airbox you want to use, I moved the expansion up onto the battery tray on my track car

Mon Jan 26, 2015 9:55 pm

Thanks for the info guys, I chickened out of installing the alloy radiator, I did not find suitable expansion tanks and have no room for the m20 one due to my air box and my battery is still at the front

I ordered a Behr from c3bmw but what I did not know is that Behr is the same thing as Hella?... I'll see if that one holds pressure better then the EIS anyway and take it from there.

http://www.behrhellaservice.com/behrhel ... n/303.html