eBay radiators

[DavidE9]

Many of the e28 aluminium radiators on eBay look the same. Im guessing these are all garbage from China and should be avoided ?

[turbodan]

Last radiator I got directly from BMW was Chinese garbage. Just paid a lot more for it.

Next one I get will be an all aluminum unit from ebay. 

[DavidE9]

I bought the Nissen. Nice fit, no issues----yet.

[Mike W.]

I bought the Nissen. Nice fit, no issues----yet.

I've had good luck with them on E36/39s.

[CanadianMiniFan]

Also happy with a Nissen’s rad. If the eBay garbage is cheap enough, give it a go, but if it doesn’t fit quite right, or fails quickly, don’t be too shocked. Upside of aluminium is if it’s merely a leak issue, a rad shop can repair it, unlike the aluminium/plastic factory set up. If you fit one and are happy with the installation quality, maybe update the thread with a link, other people may try it out.

[turbodan]

I bought the Nissen. Nice fit, no issues----yet.

Where'd you get it? 

[DavidE9]

I get my parts from Carl Nelson at La Jolla BMW.

https://www.bimmerdoc.com/

You won't find anyone more knowledgable or with a larger stash of parts---both new and unobtanium.

[jimoreno]

I decided to buy my last radiator when I rebuilt my engine and got a full aluminum from Wizard Cooling. Should have painted it flat black before installing it but it's too late now. The only trick is that the rubber separator between the radiator and the car needs to be trimmed. It's very tight fitting the clutch in there but it still fits. Haven't done any long trips yet but so far around town the needle barely moves. It wasn't cheap and I had to buy an American car NPT radiator drain cock (seems odd that for the price they don't include it) but It fits very well.

[Ju@n]

I bought an original BMW rad from FCPEuro, turned out to be a BEHR made in germany radiator, looks good, replaced the Nissens I had.
It's only been there for a month or 2, but for now no complaints

[DavidE9]

I drove the car today in +80F weather and here is what I see. The car runs cold...too cold. I need to swap the thermostat, but prior to replacing the radiator my gauge was at 12 o'clock. I thought this was interesting.
 

[topher800]

That's what my gauge always looks like.

[Mike W.]

That's what my gauge always looks like.

Yeah, mine might have been a hair higher, but really, really close. Definitely below 12 O'clock.

[Technician117]

The maintenance record shows the radiator in my M5 was replaced with a BMW unit about 10 years/10k miles ago. It's already leaking. I recently bought the CSF all aluminum direct replacement that was recently released. It's painted black and looks legit. Supposedly it fits exactly like stock. If they didn't release this I was going to buy the Wizard unit. All aluminum and looking OE is (to me) the best long term solution.