Mishimoto Radiators - STAY AWAY

[JGood]

I purchased a Mishimoto Z3M radiator (MMRAD-CON-99X) on 2/13/2012. I bought it because it came with a lifetime warranty policy.

On 6/13/2013, it began leaking. I contacted Mishimoto via their website warranty claim form, and obtained a replacement. Paid $25 to have the replacement shipped to me. It was identical to the old one, and worked great.

On 9/17/2014, that replacement radiator began leaking. I contacted Mishimoto, paid $30 for shipping, and received another replacement. It did not fit. The overflow nipple design was changed and there was not enough room to install a hose. I contacted Mishimoto and they sent me a replacement for free. I received the replacement and it had the same issue. There was a design change, and there is no longer enough room to install a hose on the nipple, rendering the radiator useless.

I sent pictures and a description of the problem to Mishimoto, and they checked their inventory in the warehouse, and found that all of them were like that. They spent some time trying to come up with a solution (there is none, other then reverting back to the original design). This went on for a few weeks.

Fast forward to now. I asked for a refund. They are refusing to give me one. They are unable to fulfill their end of the warranty agreement. They have offered me a store credit, which does me no good, because I can't use the radiator that I need for this application. They even had the nerve to offer me a free e36 radiator (the cheaper, smaller two core that they offer). Great, a downgrade, thanks so much! I'd obviously go for the stock Z3M radiator over that option, for 1/2 the price, thicker core, and likely longer lifespan.


Here is a pic showing the change. Old radiator on top, new on bottom. Look at where the arrow is pointing. On the old one, there is a 1/8" gap. On the new one, the gap has been reduced to 1/16". You cannot fit a hose and clamp in that small space. I know because I tried.







Another set of pics demonstrating the lack of space. The small screwdriver fits between the nipple and end tank of the old rad, but isn't even close to fitting on the new one.

OLD RAD:




NEW RAD

[glnr13]

wouldn't even slip on with a little soap/water?

[JPM_MRED_]

2 free warranty replacements and an offer to find something that does work and you are angry they won't give you a full refund? What else did you want, a handjob? damn man,,,,

[kojack]

wouldn't even slip on with a little soap/water?

Not look at the pictures? There isn't enough room to fit a hose and clamp in between the nipple and the wall of the radiator.

Sucks about the design change, someone wasn't paying attention. Hopefully they make it right OP.

[JGood]

2 free warranty replacements and an offer to find something that does work and you are angry they won't give you a full refund? What else did you want, a handjob? damn man,,,,

There is nothing else they offer that will work for me. It's a V8 e30. I don't want a little e36 radiator. If I did, I would have bought one.

I purchased a $300 Z3M radiator based on it's lifetime warranty. That was part of the sale. That's why I spent over double what a factory Z3M radiator cost.

If you bought a 2015 BMW M3 last year, and the engine randomly blew twice since then, which would be covered under warranty, but now they stopped making that engine or changed it so it no longer works in your car, so you were shit out of luck, what would you do? Be happy about it?

I've been on BMW forums for 13 years. I've done probably $30k or more in transactions. This is the first time I'm posting something like this. It's not for no reason, I assure you.

[She loved E]

Sucks man. How bout asking for e36 rad + cost difference refunded? Then sell the nib rad to get most of your money back. Seems like the best approach if they can't/won't get you a usable replacement.

[JGood]

Sucks man. How bout asking for e36 rad + cost difference refunded? Then sell the nib rad to get most of your money back. Seems like the best approach if they can't/won't get you a usable replacement.

That screws over the buyer of the radiator if they need to use the warranty, because you need an invoice when engaging the warranty process. I'd have to sell it deeply discounted to get someone to buy it, as it wouldn't have a valid warranty. And considering these things seem to last 1 year/10k miles, that's a pretty big deal. They also are not willing to refund me any portion of the purchase price. That's why I'm so aggravated at the offer to give me the lower priced radiator.

[Liquidity]

2 free warranty replacements and an offer to find something that does work and you are angry they won't give you a full refund? What else did you want, a handjob? damn man,,,,

What's free about it? $25 for shipping on first one, $30 on second one, and have you forgotten about the cost of coolant that needs to be replaced everytime? How about the downtime? Or the headache? Where do you get "free" from any of this? A radiator shouldn't fail after one year. Radiators should last 10 years or more. The odds of your radiator getting hit by a raccoon should be higher than it springing a leak.

[glnr13]

Not look at the pictures? There isn't enough room to fit a hose and clamp in between the nipple and the wall of the radiator.

I looked at the pictures. I saw that there's just under 1/8" between the wall and the nipple. e28 535i radiator has just as tight a clearance, maybe 1 or 2mm more, and I squeezed it in with a clamp and the thick overflow hose.

[JGood]

I looked at the pictures. I saw that there's just under 1/8" between the wall and the nipple. e28 535i radiator has just as tight a clearance, maybe 1 or 2mm more, and I squeezed it in with a clamp and the thick overflow hose.

Maybe you didn't look at all of the pics. Yes, the 1/8" clearance in the original Mishimoto radiator was plenty of clearance. The 1/16" clearance in the replacement radiator was not, hence the point of this thread.

1/16" = 1.5mm, just to put that 'maybe 1 or 2mm more' in perspective. You literally had 4x the amount of room as I did.

I built this car from scratch and spent the better part of a year fabbing stuff to jam a DOHC v8 into it. I know how to install a hose.

[nrubenstein]

I wasn't completely sure from the pictures, but it kind of looks like the new one screws in. Maybe unscrew it and extend the fitting?

[JGood]

I wasn't completely sure from the pictures, but it kind of looks like the new one screws in. Maybe unscrew it and extend the fitting?

It's a poorly tapped 1/16" npt fitting. I unscrewed it once and couldn't get it to seal afterwords.

[whodwho]

The old e36 ones were having this same issue, you would of though they already dealt with this and not repeated the problem. 8^(

[diegom6]

I remember I bought a e36 M3 rad from them for my e30 turbo. It did come nicely packaged and all. Once installed it worked good for a couple of miles then I noticed some leak on the cooler bar. Blew some air and figured to add stop leak powder until the warranty replacement was shiped. It ran for years with the powder stuff inside (even travked the e30) and the new radiator was storaged...I recently sold the replacement radiator so at the end I got a free radiator...not bad at all.

I remember fitting the over flow hose wasn't easy, very tight space but it did work. Seems like the new design won't let you achieve this no matter what you do unless you decide to take it for the shop to modify it and weld back that pipe at your own cost....I would that if I were you.

Don't you have now like three rads already?

[JGood]

I remember I bought a e36 M3 rad from them for my e30 turbo. It did come nicely packaged and all. Once installed it worked good for a couple of miles then I noticed some leak on the cooler bar. Blew some air and figured to add stop leak powder until the warranty replacement was shiped. It ran for years with the powder stuff inside (even travked the e30) and the new radiator was storaged...I recently sold the replacement radiator so at the end I got a free radiator...not bad at all.

I remember fitting the over flow hose wasn't easy, very tight space but it did work. Seems like the new design won't let you achieve this no matter what you do unless you decide to take it for the shop to modify it and weld back that pipe at your own cost....I would that if I were you.

Don't you have now like three rads already?

The e36 radiator and the Z3M radiator that they offer are completely different regarding that nipple. It's still difficult to get the normal e36 rad hoses on, but the Z3M is basically impossible.

Here's my issue with your idea (and yes, I have considered that):

I could go have the nipple hole welded shut, and have a new nipple welded on somewhere, and use the radiator. My issue with this, is that I'm spending my time and money to fix a $300 radiator so that it can be installed. Then, when this radiator fails in another 1 year / 10k miles like the first two, and I get another replacement, I again have to go get it fixed before I can even use it. That means at least 2-3 weeks of downtime, and an additional expense.

That's not what I paid for. Had I known that going into it, I would have just bought the stock Z3M radiator, for 1/2 the price. I bought this radiator based on it's so highly advertised lifetime warranty. Which generally works great, I admit.

But if they can't provide you with a usable replacement, they should offer a refund. It's that simple.