M52B28 Swapped E30 cooling Issue

[Leonsutanta]

Hi guys,

I'm running into a little issue after my swap. I live in Indonesia where the ambient temperature is always between 85-95 Deg F all day and with stop and go traffic condition. My cooling system setup at the moment is:

New E36 323i radiator
new water pump for M52B28
72 deg C thermostat
all new hoses and pipes
Slightly modified fan shroud
16 inch pusher fan (on all the time)
stock clutch fan

I drove my car yesterday (ambient temp around 32 Deg C) in stop and go traffic with AC on and noticed that the temp gauge is creeping up to about 3/4. And my VDO gauge indicate around 95 deg C (sender is located at the top rad hose).
It would come down when I increase the speed. It has been going on like this since I finished the swap around a year ago.
Any one can enlighten me what cause the temp to fluctuate? I did a bit of looking around and found that my AC condenser, which is located at the front of the rad, the fins are quite mangled. Could this be the culprit?  I'm at lost tbh. 

[DanThe]

As you suggest a new condenser will help your problem, you need to force air through the radiator, if your fan is not mounted close enough or there is no shrouding the air will just take the easy route and go around it

Is that a shroud on the back of the radiator? If there is no viscous fan inside it then its doing nothing

[Leonsutanta]

As you suggest a new condenser will help your problem, you need to force air through the radiator, if your fan is not mounted close enough or there is no shrouding the air will just take the easy route and go around it

Is that a shroud on the back of the radiator? If there is no viscous fan inside it then its doing nothing

Regarding the condenser, it is just a hunch. I'm at lost as to what cause temp fluctuation. As I mentiined before, I have a pusher fan, fan clutch and everything is new. And yes there is a shroud in the back of the rad with fan clutch in it

[DanThe]

Yes if the fins are mangled it will slow down air flow through the radiator

Can you hear the viscous fan pulling the air? Should make a good noise if its working properly

The brown temp sensor that operates the gauge should be fitted to the head, not in the top hose so there is a good chance your gauge is reading high because of this

[Leonsutanta]

Yes if the fins are mangled it will slow down air flow through the radiator

Can you hear the viscous fan pulling the air? Should make a good noise if its working properly

The brown temp sensor that operates the gauge should be fitted to the head, not in the top hose so there is a good chance your gauge is reading high because of this

Yes viscous fan is working at full chat. Not only I can hear it but feel it too. As for the sensor, I'm using two sensors. One on the block (factory gauge) and one for additional gauge VDO (for this, I install the sender on the top hose)

[Leonsutanta]

I forgot to mention. When the factory temp gauge on the dash at 3/4, my VDO temp gauge showed 195 deg F (90 deg C). Which one should I believe?

[Leonsutanta]

I bought a THINKDIAG scanner just to check what is going on. So here's what I've found. The ECU reads 88 deg Celsius (190F), the VDO is bang on 90 deg Celsius (around 194F), but on the dash shows past half way mark. 2 different readings. Is my dash gauge wrong? 

[DanThe]

The ECU is taking its reading from the side of the cylinder head, the VDO gauge from the top hose, so you should expect them to be different temperatures, especially while the engine is warming up. The instrument gauge looks exactly where id expect it to be
I still think your problem is most likely down to airflow