OEM M3 radiator vs OEM Z3M S54 radiator

[KnudsonsM3]

every time this comes up i want to punch myself in the face. Stock E36 or Z3M S54 radiator is not going to make a difference. buy whatever is cheaper, if you want the stock oil cooler position, buy the Z3M S54. That's it. 99% of you think you drive this car SO HARD, i'm so hardcore bro i do autox. i'm so hardcore bro i take off ramps at 60mph. I'm hardcore because i do a HPDE. Let me give you a piece of advice, you're not hardcore and you don't drive your car harder than anyone else and the OEM cooling system is fine for you. If the OEM or Z3M S54 radiator is fully functional, you have an OEM or stewart water pump and if your coolant is in good condition, you have a functioning thermostat, the ducting is in place, the aux fan is working and/or you have an electric puller fan/mechanical fan you are going to be ok. If you have these things and you are overheating, then you have other problems and buying a $600 radiator is not going to fix the overheating issue. Read that part carefully. But wait camdinan...i sit in traffic and its 100 degrees on the highway, i NEED this fancy radiator. Nope. you don't. fix the other stuff first. sure the full metal pieces are nice, they do cool marginally better, but do YOU need it. nope. I run a Z3M S54 radiator, it was like $170 shipped and is going to last a long time and when it breaks i'll buy another but that's still 1/2 the total cost of the metal ones. my coolant temperature never moves past where it's supposed to (yes i have an ACTUAL coolant gauge)

During a few of my events with a stock rad and spal fan, my temps would go between the 1/2 and 3/4 mark. With my "hardcore" zionsville, I no longer have any issues. I use my car mainly for track so ya, I think I need the zionsville.

What do you care if people want to buy a good product? Maybe you've been punching yourself in the face too much lol

[KnudsonsM3]

The zionsville kit is pretty slick except for the fact that I can replace the entire cooling system with new for that price. Does everything bolt up to the zion like oe; expansion tank, shroud, cap, bleeder, and clears fan clutch..?

I have the Fatboy without any fans. It slides right in with zero fitment issues. A buddy of mine has the e30/36 radiator from them and has zero fitment issues.

[camdinans3]

something else is wrong. If i recall correctly your stock radiator was bulging out at the bottom.....100% something else is messed up and pressurizing your system.

i did several track days with my supercharged car on a completely stock setup, not even an oil cooler and my temps were completely fine on the idiot gauge and actual water temp gauge.

[E36forever]

every time this comes up i want to punch myself in the face. Stock E36 or Z3M S54 radiator is not going to make a difference. buy whatever is cheaper, if you want the stock oil cooler position, buy the Z3M S54. That's it.

99% of you think you drive this car SO HARD, i'm so hardcore bro i do autox. i'm so hardcore bro i take off ramps at 60mph. I'm hardcore because i do a HPDE.

Let me give you a piece of advice, you're not hardcore and you don't drive your car harder than anyone else and the OEM cooling system is fine for you. If the OEM or Z3M S54 radiator is fully functional, you have an OEM or stewart water pump and if your coolant is in good condition, you have a functioning thermostat, the ducting is in place, the aux fan is working and/or you have an electric puller fan/mechanical fan you are going to be ok.

If you have these things and you are overheating, then you have other problems and buying a $600 radiator is not going to fix the overheating issue. Read that part carefully.

But wait camdinan...i sit in traffic and its 100 degrees on the highway, i NEED this fancy radiator. Nope. you don't. fix the other stuff first.

sure the full metal pieces are nice, they do cool marginally better, but do YOU need it. nope. I run a Z3M S54 radiator, it was like $170 shipped and is going to last a long time and when it breaks i'll buy another but that's still 1/2 the total cost of the metal ones. my coolant temperature never moves past where it's supposed to (yes i have an ACTUAL coolant gauge)

You seriously missed the point. Of course the OE components work....when they haven't failed. Get it?

[camdinans3]

No I didn't miss the point. This is all hyberole and I'm not sure who started it. Its like e36 BMW plastic is super fragile and will fail immediately regardless of age. Its just foolish. The radiators are fine and work for a VERY long time. The OEM system works.

Then people say oh well I guess more is better and buy a radiator that costs 6x as much and maybe cools a bit better, which is a waste.

[KnudsonsM3]

something else is wrong. If i recall correctly your stock radiator was bulging out at the bottom.....100% something else is messed up and pressurizing your system.

i did several track days with my supercharged car on a completely stock setup, not even an oil cooler and my temps were completely fine on the idiot gauge and actual water temp gauge.

I bought a new cap and the system is able to work as intended. Just because you're supercharged doesn't mean you're pushing the car as hard as I am

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No I didn't miss the point. This is all hyberole and I'm not sure who started it. Its like e36 BMW plastic is super fragile and will fail immediately regardless of age. Its just foolish. The radiators are fine and work for a VERY long time. The OEM system works.

Then people say oh well I guess more is better and buy a radiator that costs 6x as much and maybe cools a bit better, which is a waste.

Which water pump do you have in your car?

[camdinans3]

oh i forgot we're all F1 drivers pushing our E36M's to 11/10th's 100% of the time.

i have a stewart pump.

[alwaysinboost]

if you ran an SC on track with the stock cooling system and didn't have any issues then you weren't driving hard at all.

Using your logic, why spend money on the blower if you don't need the power?

[camdinans3]

if you ran an SC on track with the stock cooling system and didn't have any issues then you weren't driving hard at all.

Using your logic, why spend money on the blower if you don't need the power?

ok this isn't even worth arguing. No i didn't have any cooling issues.

Not entirely sure how you could judge "how hard i was driving" but that is besides the point.

[KnudsonsM3]

oh i forgot we're all F1 drivers pushing our E36M's to 11/10th's 100% of the time.

i have a stewart pump.

I thought the stewert pump was an aftermarket pump...Stock not good enough?

I am running times adjacent to e9X M3s at The Ridge Motorsport Park in Shelton Wa with crappy H&R coils.

[dohcdoh]

this thread is classic bfc. I love you guys.

[crqflier]

Seriously, its not like the thing is going to explode and instant head gasket failure like many suggest. If it develops a crack and leaks, big deal. You should see wet spots were you park and you will definitely get a low coolant level message on the obc. If those signs arent enough for you to figure out that something might be wrong then i suggest you buy a Prius.

Not accurate. Cracked plastic neck can cause near instant total loss of cooling. Not some casual drip drip and subsequent low coolant warning light. With that said, properly functioning and maintained OE is on my rig.

[KnudsonsM3]

this thread is classic bfc. I love you guys.

[JETninja]

I got over 100k out of my last (and first) Z3 S54 unit, replaced it with a new one. We'll see how long the 2nd one lasts.....And it was great in SoCal, remember being in bumper to bumper 114 degrees outside, had AC blasting, did a 108 degree Auto-X at CA speedway, only bummer is up here in the PNW I don't get any real heat till I've gone over 5 miles, and on Mornings in the teens thats rough! Ha Ha

[hide1]

*bf.c challenge* Resolve radiator battle before 2015, winner gets title of bf.c #1 heat transfer systems engineer! I already see at least three in the running ;p

Here's my submission:

#1 - don't f with it because racecar but you are really a streetcar (aka stay w stock piece), there's no difference between z3m and s52.
#2 - if you have mad ayrton senna like track skills and you are pushing the limits of stock cooling, then f it go all out everyone else bow down to the bling. And don't hate if you are too slow to experience cooling issues. .

There you have it. Open shut case Johnson!!

[aeronaut]

^ lol

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I'm in the OEM is plenty good enough crowd, even though I have mish radiator I look back and wish I'd just installed an OEM replacement. I've seen 235 degs on my water temp gauge, on a HOT day, on a 3rd gear only track spending 80% of my time at 5k rpm and above (FYI, the stock gauge didn't budge). That's the worst I've seen. But I need to add a MotionMotorsports radiator baffle.

If I had OEM rad, I'd change every 50k to 100k (depending on heat cycles really), and I'd change any aluminum radiator at LEAST at 100k mi. But I'll likely never see an additional 100k mi on this car.

[camdinans3]

no one (that has been having cooling problems) has even acknowledged if they have all the proper parts of the cooling system functioning. yes that means you guys who don't have any of the under-panels intact.

nah...bmw engineers are dumb, i'll just slap in a $600 aluminum radiator, that'll fix it.

As in typical e36 bfc fashion, lets not actually fix the problem.

[E36forever]

no one (that has been having cooling problems) has even acknowledged if they have all the proper parts of the cooling system functioning. yes that means you guys who don't have any of the under-panels intact.

nah...bmw engineers are dumb, i'll just slap in a $600 aluminum radiator, that'll fix it.

As in typical e36 bfc fashion, lets not actually fix the problem.

You are truly a lost cause, and have no clue about failure analysis or quality control. EVERY manufacturer barring the best super cars have design issues. Of course there are actual issues that cause the OE cooling system not to function as designed and no matter how much you spend on a nice radiator is going to change that. As stated before once the neck breaks clean off you're done. However whatever "seems" to work at the cheapest price is what goes in your car without understanding that it can happen to you. The mentality of "it won't happen to me" syndrome is the phase you're in right now. The reality is you are simply rolling the dice. Yep, I and others just merely slapped in a $600 rad for no good reason at all. However I never had any cooling issues when I did that so now you must be thinking what a complete idiot. Try to think about it for a bit........I thought this much.

Bye Bye

[camdinans3]

Just as I suspected. Can't answer a simple question.

[pbonsalb]

I don't think there is anything wrong with the stock E36 or Z3 S54 Behr radiators. I would not worry at all about the plastic neck failing during a regular time/mileage service interval of 5-10 years or 100k miles. I changed the original radiator at 7 years and 60k miles and the Z3 S54 replacement at 7 years and 50k miles. I would not buy a $600 aluminum radiator because I was worried about the neck breaking on a $150 Behr.

[KnudsonsM3]

no one (that has been having cooling problems) has even acknowledged if they have all the proper parts of the cooling system functioning. yes that means you guys who don't have any of the under-panels intact. nah...bmw engineers are dumb, i'll just slap in a $600 aluminum radiator, that'll fix it. As in typical e36 bfc fashion, lets not actually fix the problem.

Why'd you buy a $200 water pump? The plastic impeller that came stock in our cars that was designed by Bmw wasn't good enough? Why'd you get aftermarket tires? Why'd you get aftermarket wheels? Why did you get aftermarket suspension? Why'd you get aftermarket power upgrades? How is upgrading a radiator any different than upgrading a cooling system? Point to a Bmw racecar or track prepped car that utilizes all of BMW's original designs.

My cooling system had issues until I bought the aluminum one. I don't like to bog the car when I track so I may keep the car at 6k rpms in some turns. I was overheating with the z3 radiator in extreme conditions. With a new cap and zionsville radiator I no longer have the issues I used to.

I have stewert water pump, OE hoses, zionsville rad, euro overflow and motion Motorsport underpanel with radiator baffle. Anything I should add, Andrew?

[camdinans3]

OK several of you are more hardcore racecar drivers than me. You drive your street...errrr uumm "track cars" much harder than I could have possibly imagined. You win bimmerforums. Congrats.

[KnudsonsM3]

Can't reply to my post?

[dohcdoh]

Who spent 600$ on a radiator? I know my all aluminum rad was nowhere near that.

[pbonsalb]

Who spent 600$ on a radiator? I know my all aluminum rad was nowhere near that.

Which one did you buy? I am not convinced the cheap ones are any better than the Behr. I bought a Mishimoto but only because it has the warranty.