M2/S14 - what radiator is this?

[M3M3]

lots of rad suggestions for this conversion here. turbo, ingram 3 row, e21, custom, etc. have also seen one pic of an M2 with what appears to be an IE rad.

have not seen anyone mention this one. anyone know where it is sourced from or issues with install? seems to be on a bunch of M2 conversions.

[Lee]

M3 radiator

[M3M3]

the green car is from Nick's site. just found a reference to "rad sourced from E28". is the M3 rad (E28?) not recommended due to fab work or rqmt to use expansion tank?

thanks!

[Lee]

The ones with aluminum core are M3, perhaps Nick's is indeed e28, but from memory, even the e28 rads had alu cores.

I prefer to use an e21 radiator as I don't have to use an expansion tank. I have to disgard the aluminum coolant rail too. Lighter front end.

[M3M3]

lighter is better....;-)

thanks Lee. i have tons of pics from your build stored for ref. just picked up a second exhaust side water manifold so i can hack a section out of it like you did to make shorter. also just pinged Curt about getting a buy going on your S14 oil pans!

plotting for the swap!

[Lee]

If you run Megasquirt with EDIS, then you can remove the bulky distributor. Once you do that, you can also shorten the coolant rail, and it makes routing the rubber coolant hose much easier, and cleaner.

As for the shortened coolant tube, here's a comparo between stock and short.

[M3M3]

dumb q since i don't have one in hand to check out...on the m3 thermostat, what are the two plugs for? can temp sensors be put in those?

[Lee]

dumb q since i don't have one in hand to check out...on the m3 thermostat, what are the two plugs for? can temp sensors be put in those?

The two brass plugs can be removed, being replaced by thermo switches. Most likely you will buy an 85°C switch to trigger the electric fan. That sensor is not related to the engine temp (for the dash gauge) and ECU temp sensors that are located on the aluminum coolant rail.

No need to get a BMW switch, instead get a Porsche or other make switch. Two prongs. You can easily build a small harness with a relay.

[NickVyse]

Mine was from an e28 but the top and bottom are plastic and known to shear - esp in a custom fit where it's easy to put a slight amount of lateral pressure on the join. Mine did exactly that at the top-hose so I had a custom alloy one made to my measurements.

[M3M3]

excellent, thanks. I have switch in my current m10 setup and was wondering where to put it. it is bmw e30 part, will check "on" temp.

[M3M3]

thanks Nick. either the e28 and your custom one are shorter than the m3 version or you altered the support to mount it lower?

ps - your B&B looks nice! If i ever get over your way.....

[NickVyse]

thanks Nick. either the e28 and your custom one are shorter than the m3 version or you altered the support to mount it lower?

ps - your B&B looks nice! If i ever get over your way.....

e28 must be shallower as the support is stock. From very bad memory the bottom of the e28 rad had to be rotated 180 degrees to have the outlet on the correct side for the s14 (the botom exit was on the side not the back, if you see what I mean)

[Retrogroucher]

I made the following measurements a while ago and have this info:

1. e30 M3 radiator, height= 19" and width=19". The top right of the radiator at the coolant hose neck measures 21" high.

2. The '02 body opening for the rad. is about 16" H and 13.5" W. Without modifying the '02 body, the estimated maximum allowable height of a radiator is about 18".

mike

[M3M3]

thanks mike. a bunch of folks must have modified the bottom support to get the m3 rad to fit under the hood....

interesting price check. the m3 rad is a bunch cheaper than an E21 rad at bavauto. that just ain't right..an "m" part more affordable than an e21 part? :-)

[uber wagon]

Bumping another old one up (my search results tell me that M2 build discussions were a lot more popular 5 years ago!).  So I have easy access to an aftermarket aluminum M3 radiator (Mishimoto) for my build, but it seems like it will require quite a bit of hacking up of the front end to get it to fit properly.  While I am not afraid of that if it is a good final result, I was curious if someone has recently pursued a custom radiator with the hose inlet/oulet locations more amenable to an S14 while better fitting in an '02.  

 

Also, have people been able to fit a 14" fan in front of their radiators or do I need to stick to a 12" one?

 

Thanks,

 

Nick