Owner reviews for engine radiator

2004 E46 320i manual with 116k miles. Bought it just over a year ago for \u00a32000 probably spent around \u00a31000 on it (radiator, air con, rocker cover gasket, oil sensor, boot switch, coil pack), not too bad for a 20 year old car I don\u2019t think. Only thing that doesn\u2019t work on it is the cruise control, it used to but recently stopped.

I bought the mishimoto rad and it works well, the main benefit to the mishimoto is that they have a no questions asked lifetime guarantee. I had to replace it after a year due to a leak and mishimoto replaced it completely free with very good customer service. So the rads might not be as good as CSF but my dealings with the company have been very positive.

I had a leak/split in the top of the radiator and bought a factory DENSO replacement part from Rock Auto with free shipping for my 2001 Camry that fit like a glove for $100.

I was recommended Nissens as a OEM quality radiator replacement. No issues so far in 30K miles with lots and lots of hard driving, drifting and 1 track training day on top of dailying it come rain or shine.

Bought a Nissens like I should have in the first place and all was well.

im steady at 75°C (167°F) with stock Ka, koyorad radiator, fanshroud and oe/oestyled clutch fan. and iirc, a stock nissan thermostat. hottest ive seen was like 89°C (192°F) and that was sitting in traffic on a hot summer day. idk how im running so cold lol.

If that radiator is shot replace it with a Denso.

The crap-tastic mishimoto MMRAD-E36-92 that I use these days do come with a lifetime warranty and I send them photos of the leak and they just send me a replacement in a week or so. I have purchased 6 of them and replaced 2 under warranty. The "Z3" raditator won't fit as its too thick, but the Z3 IS and e36 so its confusing.

It started overheating while I was on I-95, and I managed to limp it to an off-ramp. It needed a new radiator, and that was the last straw for me.

I drove 200km to go camping, oil was ok when I left, drove 200km back and made it home fine. Then 2 days later when I tried to drive it again for the first time my radiator was pouring steam after 5km and it turns out she had leaked all the oil on the drive over the weekend which made it overhead and blew the radiator. The hot radiator expanded and cracked the plastic tank where they joined, once the engine cooled overnight that crack showed up and leaked ALL the coolant out and I had no idea. Had to replace the radiator but she's ok again now.