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after going through and replacing 3 thermostats (apparently due to a really rusty and tired radiator), replacing the radiator, and water pump, it seemed today my cooling issues may be over. i fitted the thermostat which should be fine now as the radiator is brand new. driving home, in traffic it didn't budge above half way, and down the motorway it was actually (just) below half.

i'm happy mostly because in the summer heat, i don't need to drive with the heaters on

Which is it? Regular, tropical or central heating?

RetroBeemer wrote:Which is it? Regular, tropical or central heating?

regular 80 degrees. BMW apparently seemed a bit funny, it was a warranty claim (again) for thermostat and they said they only replace with the same part, so i'd have to pay for a 75 deg one. seems to have done the trick though. i think the fact the radiator is brand new, it's way more efficient which is probably helping. they said a 3rd warranty claim i could get another thermostat (so if this one fails in under 1 year). but hopefully it won't come to that!

Ross.

I bought my 320is twenty-three years ago. I went to a 70 degree in 1990 when I moved to memphis, Tennessee. Now, I'm north in colder climate and wanted better gas mileage and a new 75 degree did the trick bought from BMP Design, it's from a french mfr. The 75 degree is a good choice.

i think the 75 degree will be my choice if this one fails. having said that, apparently the thermostat failures were most likely due to my appalling radiator. now that has been replaced with a brand new one, in theory, this one shouldn't be failing any time soon. today was fairly warm, not baking (only 23-24 degrees) and sat in traffic it didn't budge above half. it's just as i wanted. on the motorway doing about 75mph it was marginally under half until i got around town again near home, and it went back up to half, not a bit over.

well chuffed.

its nice to hear youve got it sorted theres nothing worse than worrying
about boiling a car you love a weight off your mind

jimbob wrote:its nice to hear youve got it sorted theres nothing worse than worrying
about boiling a car you love a weight off your mind

exactly. on the drive into work this morning the temp went up as per normal, reached about 1 needles width above half, and then went down to half and sometimes 1 needles width below half. in traffic, 1 needles width above. so it fluctuates a very small amount for varying conditions. i couldn't want it any better

This yank has the same original radiator, but a thorough cleaning was done in Newport News, VA at Smith's Radiator in 1996. They had to crimp the top seal, and quite nicely, too. I've been good at renewing my coolant every 2-3 years. I have a 1.8 and it's original. I still have the same clutch. Tell me, was this vintage bimmer hand assembled?

jpupster wrote:This yank has the same original radiator, but a thorough cleaning was done in Newport News, VA at Smith's Radiator in 1996. They had to crimp the top seal, and quite nicely, too. I've been good at renewing my coolant every 2-3 years. I have a 1.8 and it's original. I still have the same clutch. Tell me, was this vintage bimmer hand assembled?

you have the original clutch? how many miles has it done? mine is the original engine which is sweet as a nut. i was told my old radiator had clogs of crap in it which was acutually blocking up small holes in the rad. thus, i couldn't have it properly flushed. i decided a new one was for the best, to rule that out as a source of the cooling problems. now it runs just where i'd like it.

it's not vintage just yet i thought vintage was over 50 years? though i may be wrong!

Yep, orginal clutch! I have over 200, 000 miles on the car. I have own it since 1987. I am the second owner. Antique or vintage is 25+ years old here in America. Nothing like a cool running car.
Cheers!

will a e30 rad fit ae21, what hoses would you use?

everything will be the same if it's an M10 motor. So you can, use the same hoses.

e30 has different size of hoses and lower inlet of tube has different angle than e21 radiator has got.

Of course you can fit, but take hoses from e30 that will help some how but not perfectly.

In this pic you can notice, that lower hose is bent a bit abnormal:

thats odd becuase your rad lower inlet on the rad is at a different angle to mine, im running an e30 thermostat and it fits perfectly, the pipe is a straight 90 degree bend

If you have 90 degree bend then you have e21 radiator, like on this picture: