Who sells the cheapest aluminum t-stat housing for the m50?

[mtechnica]

I need that as well as a set of belts :embarrasm

Is RockAuto legit? They have a $9 one...

[4500 RPM]

Screw aluminum housings, they are awful. The new one I ordered had a hairline crack in the casting. Apparently they corrode too...I'll keep the plastic one.

[mtechnica]

Screw aluminum housings, they are awful. The new one I ordered had a hairline crack in the casting. Apparently they corrode too...I'll keep the plastic one.

Well my plastic one cracked when I tightened it down. I don't really want to deal with that again.

[crazy0000]

purchase a torque wrench instead then?

[T444E]

You don't think an aluminum one will deform in some way if you over tighten it?

[mtechnica]

Yeah I'm sure it breaking had nothing to do with the fact that it is the old, brittle, heat cycled original one. I thought it was well known that the plastic ones are prone to failure.

[WolfStrong]

Aluminum or plastic, a cheap one is going to break easily upon installation, and not last long. Don't be cheap and just get a quality part, and while you are in there, you BETTER replace the thermostat or we all will have to kick you in the ***. I've been running an OE plastic one for the past 30k+ miles, and works beautifully, didn't break, and doesn't leak.

[mtechnica]

The plastic one works great until it breaks. And the reason I was tightening it down was because I just replaced the thermostat. I was torquing the bottom left bolt and it made a loud CRACK. Pretty sure an aluminum one wouldn't have done that but hey what do I know.

In other news I did the valve cover gasket and the engine was super clean inside for having 190k miles.

[PhoenixRX7]

I always say upgrade if something breaks....aluminum will always outlast plastic. With that said, won't an NEW OEM unit last as long as the original? How many miles on your car?

[M Quick]

The plastic one works great until it breaks. And the reason I was tightening it down was because I just replaced the thermostat. I was torquing the bottom left bolt and it made a loud CRACK. Pretty sure an aluminum one wouldn't have done that but hey what do I know.

In other news I did the valve cover gasket and the engine was super clean inside for having 190k miles.



"what do you know" ?
If i'm reading correctly, he's just explaining that you'd be stuck with a problem even if you purschase an aluminum one, as you seem to be overtightening it. If you overtighten an aluminum cover it'll probably bend and leak instead of cracking. I don't think he means any harm to you dude, otherwise i don't think he'd even say anything!

However, i think you should wonder why it was made of plastic in the first place, what reasons it has to be plastic and not aluminum, if it tends to be just because of that they wanna save money or if it has a safety reason.

[mtechnica]

You guys are assuming that I'm over tightening it. I've done the thermostat on my m3 with the plastic housing and didn't break that, I'm familiar with the small amount of torque needed to tighten those bolts. The housing still broke, so I want to upgrade to an aluminum one. I'm sure a new plastic one will last a long time but if I'm gonna spend the money I might as well get a sturdier one.

[LouieD]

To answer your original question I think $9 is as inexpensive as you will find. AFAIK RockAuto is "legit"... RM European has 3 versions of the cover and two are OE materials (which is a fibrous plastic mix, much like distributor caps) and an $11 aluminum one.
GL.

[zubbie]

Dealt with Rockauto many times. They are more than legit. Good product selection and in some cases great prices. Just be careful though as they sell the full spectrum of qualities from production line closeouts to oem.

[Mark@EAC]

I am running an aluminum housing on one of my M52 cars and so far so good. We carry them, and they are surprisingly affordable.

My take on them is this, some of the early offerings may have been hit or miss, but the part I installed on the M52 was excellent quality and has yet to cause any issues at all. Obviously I trust the material more than the plastic which gets brittle after some years of use.

Do not ever over tighten the fasteners for your Tstat housing or you will be an unhappy camper, even if you use the plastic version. Snapping one of the bolts here would be bad news.

[mtechnica]

To answer your original question I think $9 is as inexpensive as you will find. AFAIK RockAuto is "legit"... RM European has 3 versions of the cover and two are OE materials (which is a fibrous plastic mix, much like distributor caps) and an $11 aluminum one.
GL.

Do you know, by chance, if there is a difference between the cheap aluminum housings and the more expensive ones? To be totally honest I don't think I'd buy the $9 for my M3 :embarrasm


I am running an aluminum housing on one of my M52 cars and so far so good. We carry them, and they are surprisingly affordable.

My take on them is this, some of the early offerings may have been hit or miss, but the part I installed on the M52 was excellent quality and has yet to cause any issues at all. Obviously I trust the material more than the plastic which gets brittle after some years of use.

Do not ever over tighten the fasteners for your Tstat housing or you will be an unhappy camper, even if you use the plastic version. Snapping one of the bolts here would be bad news.

Thanks for the info. I wasn't tightening the bolts too much but I think I'd better get a 3/8" torque wrench soon as well.

[5mall5nail5]

Ive never seen an aluminum one broken that wasn't in an accident. Plastic breaks when the plastic brittles due to age and heat.

[Mark@EAC]

The reason I brought that up is earlier this summer I had put a new engine in my 528i and was just finishing it up. A friend was over talking to me while I put the Tstat housing on and I torqued one bolt down a bit much and of course snapped it off in the cylinder head.

added a few hours of frustration to the job but I got it finally. :) You can bet I will never do that again.

[E34ührer]

Cheap aluminum still > plastic. I love how everyone assumes you over torqued it...heat cycles in hundreds of degrees for 15+ years will make plastic OR aluminum brittle. You were screwed before you even touched the thermostat housing.

How anyone could think that a plastic one is superior, is beyond me. Plus if you ever want to add a water temp gauge, tapping a sender hole in a plastic housing is redic.

[5mall5nail5]

Aluminum doesn't really change it properties much at 212F.

[russiankid]

I have the one from Rockauto, bought over a year ago and put on 13k miles without any problems. As far as it bending...if you tighten the housing down evenly and then descide to torque the crap out of it...it won't bend the whole housing. It will just either strip the threads on the head or chew into the housing itself.

[E34ührer]

Aluminum doesn't really change it properties much at 212F.

The physical properties of aluminum won't change much at 212F.....but elasticity tension and torsion do change though. It's the same reason welding aluminum anneals it and makes it soft....this could happen over many heat cycles (even though it is only 212 degrees.) Pretty sure BMW doesn't use 4000+ series aluminum for t-stat housings.

[5mall5nail5]

Its a cast aluminum. It's not going to change properties in any form being bolted to the coldest spot of a cylinder head. 212F was worst case. Its more likely < 180F. Thats like, not even hot enough to outgas it. Its a non issue.

[moroza]

Rockauto is legit.

I'd get mine from a junkyard.

[russiankid]

Rockauto is legit.

I'd get mine from a junkyard.
Half of the BMW's I see at the junkyards have aluminum housings.

[Chinman]

I just looked at mine. The bolt flanges are 1/2" thick. Like Russiankid said, you'll strip the bolt or chew into the aluminium before you crack it.

[E34ührer]

I just looked at mine. The bolt flanges are 1/2" thick. Like Russiankid said, you'll strip the bolt or chew into the aluminium before you crack it.

Not true. Want proof?

[russiankid]

I was talking about it bending from over torquing.

[Chinman]

My bad. I just re-read your post.