Alloy radiator M52

[Hopchop]

Can anyone suggest a decent alloy radiator for an M52 E30, I'm sick of the shitty plastic radiators. cheers

[jimbom30cab]

http://www.mishimoto.co.uk/bmw-e36-alum ... 92-99.html

http://www.e30zone.net/modules.php?name ... &start=325

Brilliant rads

[Hopchop]

http://www.mishimoto.co.uk/bmw-e36-alum ... 92-99.html

http://www.e30zone.net/modules.php?name ... &start=325

Brilliant rads

Thanks Jimbob, did the little hoses come with the header tank.

May be a stupid question but are m52 supposed to run at 88 degrees, correct me if I'm wrong.

[DanThe]

As standard they come with a 93/94 thermostat, I use an 80 degree in E30's

[Motorhole]

Just purchased one of these myself, but still have to get an expansion tank and required pipes, clips etc. Seems nice quality on the face of it.

One question though - where's the bleed screw, if there is one at all? There isn't one on the radiator and there isn't one on the tank. If there isn't one, are there any special bleeding procedures? Or just follow the same procedure as I have done on the stock M52 Rad?

[DanThe]

No bleeder, the rad vents back into the filler neck of the expansion tank same as an M20 would. These coupled to a 24v are without doubt the easiest rads to fill/bleed!

[KW355]

I have just fitted one of these to my v10 m3, it copes fine with that.

http://www.e30zone.net/modules.php?name ... c&t=261908

[jimbom30cab]

you have to buy the hoses seperate, and of course the expansion tank cap. The hoses are standard size, the larger one being the same as the fuel hose 8 ID 13 OD. The smaller one (overflow) being similar to vac hose if i remember right. They are easy to bleed as Dan said. I did drill a 5mm hole in the top of the thermostat to help things, but got a solid system on the first fill with hardly any bleeding needed.

80 degree stat is perfect like Dan said but I used a 68 degree stat which keeps it just below the normal M20 running temperature and means the fan only kicks in when stationary in warm weather for a while, say longer than 10 mins.

A couple of weekends ago i was in stationary traffic, stop start sort of thing for over an hour. It was 33 degrees outside and the temp never even touched the 12 o'clock mark.

Well worth doing in my experience.

[Motorhole]

Cool. Thanks guys, look forward to the results. No more creeping temp gauge on track, fingers crossed.

[Hopchop]

As standard they come with a 93/94 thermostat, I use an 80 degree in E30's

Dan where could I purchase an 80 degree thermostat?

[DanThe]

BMW ECP GSF etc, pretty much anywhere that sells thermostats

[Hopchop]

BMW ECP GSF etc, pretty much anywhere that sells thermostats

Tried GSF and ECP all they have is 88-92 operating temperatures so I'm assuming that it has to be a certain type to fit an M52?

[DanThe]

Tell them you want a stat for a different engine, the M52's only came with a choice of 88 or 93 thats why, tell them to look at E36 325i or 320i instead