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Removing the existing
radiator Top of Page |
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The Haynes manual describes this which is pretty obvious and easy. Drain the
coolant. |
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Getting the right radiator Top of Page |
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RealOEM.com Home => Select another car => RADIATOR => RADIATOR
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My semi retired mechanic (and e12 owner) says never bother with second
hand radiators unless they are obviously new. In particular with e28
because the tanks on the side are plastic and prone to break when brittle
with age.
Finding which new radiator to get started out really hard because none of the parts catalogues showed where the temp switches for the aux air fan went. (More about them later) It was only when I actually took one out of the box that I knew it had them. Note - the illustration does not show the location or existence of the holes for the temp switches for the aux air fan but they are located in the top right hand end. Note also - the way an e28 is attached to the car body is different to the e12. (parts 2 - 6 in the illustration) The one piece fan shroud from your e12 (part 9 in this illustration) is not a direct fit but you may be able to make it fit somehow. I suggest you get the e28 one from a wrecking yard. Any e28 528i or 535i should fit. The upper shroud (part #7) is not needed as our bonnets are front hinged unlike e28 where you access the engine bay from the front and hence the additional shroud.
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I understand that
all e28 528i and 535i auto's use the same radiator but I have not searched on
all variants to check that. According to the box mine came in this appears to be
the case and a 6 series e24 is also the same.
WHAT YOU NEED e28 RADIATOR If you have a manual I believe you need For the benefit of Australian readers it cost approx $400 with GST in Dec 2004 from Hanvic South Yarra Autoparts. Phone 03 8416 8416 (Kim) |
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Mounting the e28 radiator
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The mount on the left side is welded to the
car and I left it in case I could not complete the install for some reason
and also because I hate butchering things unless you have to.
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Firstly I cut about 1cm off the lower section of the radiator e28 mount (used a hacksaw) because the radiator needed to move slightly to the left. Sit the radiator in and you will see that the bottom hose on the RHS is too close to the bodywork. Then I cut a notch out of the e12 rubber mounting block with a sharp knife so that it held the new radiator securely in place. The first one didn't work but you have 2 and wont need the other one anyway. This worked fine and I did not need any bolts or to drill any holes in the car. |
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The e12 mount on the right hand side bolts
in and I removed it all together. You need to remove this to get the
existing radiator out anyway. The bolts are 10mm.
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In it's place I used a self drilling bolt
and some rubber bushes either side of the plastic mount on the e28
radiator. You could get the proper mounting hardware as shown in an earlier illustration but at the time I was keen to keep my project moving along. Click here to go back to that illustration |
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On the bottom there are two rubber mounts that
sit in metal retainers. I retained these but had to cut them a bit as the
e28 is narrower on the bottom.
On the left hand one there is a small metal tab on the bottom of the radiator. Bend it flat so the radiator sits down on the rubber mount. No pictures worth showing unfortunately but its pretty obvious what to do. It is shown as part #17 in the final illustration of this FAQ. Click here to go to that illustration.
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The hoses and the
thermostat cover Top of Page |
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E28
535i COOLING SYSTEM-THERMOSTAT/WATER HOSES RealOEM.com Home => Select another car => ENGINE => ENGINE COOLING
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Hoses –
The e28 radiator is different and Top hose (e28)
11 53 1 276 647 (#15) You DO NOT NEED the thermostat housing (part #1 in the illustration) nor do you need to remove it. Just leave it alone. You may also want to replace the hoses going to the additional air valve (for cold starting) located under the intake manifolds if you’re really keen. The link below takes you to the parts catalogue for those parts. e12 Additional air valve
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E12 528i COOLING SYSTEM-THERMOSTAT/WATER HOSES RealOEM.com Home => Select another car => ENGINE => ENGINE COOLING
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Thermostat and cover - Some owners said they needed the e28 thermostat cover 11 53 1 268 650 (part #5 in the illustration) I bought one but it was basically the same as the e12 part.I then got one off an e28 from the wreckers and it to was the same. So maybe there is a difference with USA spec to Euro? If you do need it a new one is surprisingly expensive so try your local wrecking yard for this one. Get a new thermostat, gasket and O ring (parts 7, 8 & 9 in the illustration) while you’re at it. They’re cheap and important and prone to occasional failure. They are usually supplied as a kit. e12 and e28 part numbers are different and are
e28 Thermostat 11 53 1 713 040 I stayed with the e12 thermostat.
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The temperature switch/s for the auxiliary fan Top of Page |
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This car is an '86 euro e28 535iA showing the two temp switches. All e28 528 &
535's have this setup as far as I know. One switch activates the auxiliary cooling fan at
91° C and the other increases the fan speed if the temperature reaches
99°C
Note also just below them how the radiator mounts to the body using the factory fittings. By comparison not all e12’s are the same. I have two 528iA’s and they are different. One has provision for one 91°C switch in the bottom and the other doesn’t (because it has no A/C and no auxiliary fan). My good car has just one switch but has the wiring for both. That may have been because it originally had both but a different radiator was later fitted. After 25+ years anything could happen. By fitting the e28 radiator I now had a dual speed fan again. To test which wires are which simply bridge them (which is what happens when the switch closes) and listen to how fast the fan spins. If for some reason you don't need both switches just block off the spare one. (Maybe with old switches from the wreckers that are not connected) |
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Auto transmission cooling
hoses Top of Page |
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E12 528i TRANSMISSION OIL COOLING RealOEM.com Home => Select another car => ENGINE => COOLING
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If you have an auto there will be two hoses
connected to the right hand side of the radiator to cool the trans fluid.
The connections are the same as e28 and screw straight on.
The top hose is a direct fit but the bottom hose connection is much closer to the bottom radiator hose which prevents it bolting straight on. Its not shown in the illustration here but mine has a 15° connector on the end of the hose and to make it fit you need to rotate the hose 180°. Easiest way to do this is to loosen the hose at the other end (hard to get at), rotate it 180° and re-tighten. It may also be secured to the car half way along its length (parts 5 & 14 in the illustration). Disconnect it because you will need all the length on it you can get. You should now be able to attach it quite easily to the radiator. CAUTION Having detached the hose from the car MAKE SURE it is not going to contact the hot exhaust by re-attaching it somehow. I used big cable ties. Hot exhaust + rubber hose + trans fluid = fire. Top up your trans fluid. I used about 500ml. |
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Finally - a parts list summary
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