aka the wallet diet

my new aluminum radiator

So, my temperature was still rising slowly while driving.  Only turning on the heater made it go down.  Even though I had cleaned out the radiator, and worked ok for a few days, the temps rose.  Everything had been changed, except the rad, until now.  My wife bought me this Mishimoto radiator for by birthday last week.  It cost about $230 shipped.  Not bad considering the OEM piece is about that price.   The fit was almost perfect.  The lower support mounts with the rubber stops needed a little grinding, no biggie.  But here she is!  Now to see if it still gets warm…

 

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UPDATE:

I’ve had this radiator on for a couple of weeks now. It’s great! No more overheating issues. The temp is pegged between 1/4 and 1/2, even in L.A. traffic. This piece is recommended!
Note:

Since this radiator is wider than the original, there is a minor hitch in installation. The stock lower supports need to be grinded a bit where they are tacked to the body. Just shave the areas down as flush as possible.  Not doing so will definately gouge the soft aluminum.  Shown below:

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4 Responses to “my new aluminum radiator”

  1. Does the car run cooler with this radiator compared to the stock radiator?

  2. Yep, cooler indeed. I don’t even need the electric fan. Never goes passed half.

  3. Nice website! Trust your Mishimoto radiator is still working fine? I just bought one, but found that my stock radiator has a coolant sensor (3pin connector) that screws into the radiator on the lower end tank, left side, but the Mishimoto radiator did not come with a mounting boss for this. It only has the drain plug in the middle, but that is a different thread size than the sensor. Was this also the case for you, and what did you do? Thanks.

  4. Hi. You have an early build M3 with plugs on the radiator. Mine is later. That’s a good question though. How are the early builds using this radiator? Maybe they convert everything to later components.

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