Thermostat housing recommendation?

[notMpowered]

As far as thermostat housing goes, what is Conesus between Febi ($18), Uro ($15),Genuine ($55)? Surprised to see the aluminium Uro going for cheaper than the rest.

OE lasted 20 years, Uro lasted 8 minutes (thanks to the "best" Porsche shop in western canada for using that when I specifically said use OEM) and the new OE one is 3 years and counting.

[Braymond141]

Use whatever housing you want, just use the correct OE gasket as we’ve gone over a number of times now.

Do not use the gasket that is included with Genuine housings if it matches the fat one shown earlier in the thread.

[bluptgm3]

Hi guys, for liability reasons, Engineering is going to stick with the same (thick) gasket dimensions as is currently being provided with the Genuine BMW housing.

OE housing from 1998 S52 used OE Seal
Early URO with thick silicon seal
Late URO with (maybe) new OE seal
4B9AD52D-5B4B-4132-8580-7CAC8D519E4B.jpg

Respective seals
58292799-E6D9-4052-BAF4-7B2530C5D56B.jpg
9E381E3D-93A5-4FD3-9E80-42CD5A009A83.jpg
1767227B-D040-4553-8CF0-25E8EF08A7DE.jpg
9E52B1DA-8610-4772-BCFB-16839DE0A7D1.jpg

[brianc]

you can clearly see the used BMW and the new Elring gaskets are thinner overall - including the height. The URO part is too thick and more importantly too tall and you snap bolts or it gets deformed and leaks. The comment from URO implies the current BMW gaskets have changed and are now taller and thicker as well. I do not think this is the case so I will buy a couple and reply again w/ another comparison.

[brianc]

OK so I bought the OE gasket to confirm the latest parts are still the orange part w/ 5.9mm thickness. Confirmed. So the answer to the OP question is here in the thread many times but I'll try to summarize.
1) Use whatever housing you want. I'm a fan of the URO housing because every one I've had has been machined perfectly flat - and I can hi-temp powerdercoat or cerakote them and keep them looking good.

therm_housings.jpg

2) Use only OE BMW / Elring gasket. Do NOT USE the URO gasket or the one that BMW is currently shipping along w/ their housing. Yes, that's correct - buy an additional OE BMW / Elring gasket-only, they may be different than the one included w/ the current BMW housings. The URO gasket is basically a copy of the current BMW gasket that is shipped w/ the housing. They are too thick.

therm_gask.jpg

Thermostat Housing (BMW)
https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/bmw...ic-11531722531
https://www.ecstuning.com/b-genuine-...ng/11531722531
https://www.pelicanparts.com/More_In...SVSI=BE36&fs=0

Thermostat Housing (URO)
https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/bmw...ro-11531722531
https://www.ecstuning.com/b-uro-prem...531722531~uro/
https://www.pelicanparts.com/More_In...SVSI=BE36&fs=0

Thermostat Housing Gasket (OE BMW)[Made by Elring]
https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/bmw...-11531740437oe
https://www.ecstuning.com/b-genuine-...et/11531740437
https://www.pelicanparts.com/More_In...SVSI=BE36&fs=0

Thermostat Housing Gasket (Elring)[Aftermarket]
https://www.ecstuning.com/b-elring-p...531740437~elr/
https://www.pelicanparts.com/More_In...SVSI=BE36&fs=0

[propcar]

awesome information and summary.

[URO Parts]

Great info!

The coated housing looks AMAZING, btw.

[E85STI]

awesome information and summary.

I agree with this statement. Great job on a all the work, information and summary in one post!

[brianc]

I agree with this statement. Great job on a all the work, information and summary in one post!

Thanks. I'm invested in this issue as I'm one of the many that snapped an M6 bolt. I was even using my fancy 1/4 drive matco torque wrench. I have never ever snapped a bolt in my beloved M3. Fortunately the stud came out w/ just my fingers. It was w/o question the thick gasket that was at fault. It's just wrong.

[bluptgm3]

Great info!

A BMW OE orange ‘thingie’ gasket recently removed from a 1998M3 had compressed and took a set @ 5.4 mm w/OE thermostat housing.
The following are approximate dimensions of new Elring, early URO and current URO gaskets. The left side of each illustration is the coolant/pressure side. There is no way there is room in the T-stat Housing gasket slot to accommodate a .75mm height compression of the nearly rectangular/firm silicon ‘early’ URO or the 1.3mm height compression of the current tall URO supplied gaskets.

Approximate housing slot are shown at the bottom.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[aviation_hacker]

Hey folks,
Sorry to bump an old thread but thought I'd just add to it - I've just bought a Febi Thermostat Housing (Well SWAG, but they're the same company and it's stamped with Febi on it) that came with a gasket. I thought the gasket looked a bit big, and after measuring it against the measurements listed in the thread (which are awesome by the way!), it's come out at 6.7mm - essentially, add this to the "Do Not Use" pile. I'll have to go source another gasket it appears, but hey - I'm just glad I didn't break my housing and end up stranded somewhere, as it's a daily still

Annoying we've still got the same issue in 2024 though!