Most liked posts in thread: COOLING :: The New BIG Radiator

You run your car through Death Valley or something? How bad is the stock radiator?

 

I think it's kinda funny how we take these cars that are celebrated for being small and make everything bigger... that said, I'm interested to see where you're going to take this.

 

Can you please pchop the radiator images to show us what parts are going to be red?

 

Yeah, the plastic end tanks are shall we say, not the best solution. BMW has had issies with high mile cars. The plastic doesn't hold up like an all metal does. Plus you can't braze the plastic if a pinhole leak develops.

I'd imagine the exorbitant price of $1K for this rad, before red, is mainly due to the market share.

Does this one support A/C?

 

So you don't think the bypass valve should be replaced as a precautionary measure, but you do with the radiator?

Hope these will be more readily available. Hate those frikkin' plastic end caps.........:mad2:

 

I'd side with Nitro on this one, it is a performance enhancer for your cooling system and while a failed BPV will be a loss of some performance, a failed radiator is usually found on the hottest day of the year 90 miles from home and directly results in some nice damage to the headgasket, I know this from personal experience with a past car.

 

ut:

No confusion here, just pointing out that you seemd to be advocating replacing the OEM radiator before it fails. But don't think the same of the BPV.

 

What's the weight OEM vs this one? Capacity? I assume mounts in the same spot without having to hack anything?

P.S. Keep it on topic.

 

So is this new radiator a performance improvement, a preventative maintenance issue, or both? How much performance benefit over stock can this radiator offer, and what kind of mileage are these failed radiators seeing? In short, what's the chance that I'll be looking to replace my radiator?

 

Nothing wrong with going to a bigger volume radiator. I know plenty of people outside of Mini who do that as a measure of precaution for their track cars. A little insurance never hurt anyone.

 

Threads have a life of their own and this one happened to go towards longevity of the OEM. People want to know if it aint' broke and don't leave the driveway why fix it. I understand both sides and if I had the money and the time I'd consider one. Probably good for a track car but we'll not find in practice from this install.

Looking forward to seeing the creativity that flows forth on this install.

 

Ok let me see if I have this correct so far:

*nice welded aluminum construction
*75% more capacity mainly from bigger end tanks
*stock mounting and A/C points [plug-n-play]

While I agree with the extra insurance aspect of going with a larger radiator, just as important is ensuring the fan and shroud fit correctly to baffle and draw air with the same efficiency as stock. As such, I have 1 more fitment question:

1) Uses stock fan shroud and baffles correctly to front panel?

And finally; how much moolah are we talking here? Is there any chance someone in the U.S. can take over production and improve the value?

Thanks,
Ryan