Since I started with a 318is, I didn't have the mounts for the coolant resirvoir tank and it's been sitting there loose ever since I did the swap. So today I decided to throw in my almost brand new m42 radiator to see how it fit. For those who do not know, the m42 radiator has a built in coolant resirvoir. Thereby eliminating my loose, ghetto resirvoir problem.
It's the same height and depth, but the m20 radiator is about 5" wider, which is a significant amount of cooling surface area that I lose with this swap, however, the m20 fan shroud blocks off that extra 5" anyway, so I figured what the hell, it can't make that big of a difference.
It went in almost flawlessly, fan sits perfectly centered with the radiator, about 1/2" clearance, same as the m20 radiator has. The only problem is the upper hose, the m20 one is about 4" too long. I went through handfuls of hoses at the shop only to find that we didn't carry one that would work, so I tempted myself with the idea of cutting a 4" section out of the straight part of the hose and mating the two pieces of hose together using a piece of PVC pipe (it was readily available) and a couple hose clamps.
So now I have a pretty engine compartment without that damn ugly tank, and so far the engine temperatures have not altered from what they were with the m20 radiator, but I'm waiting for some hot weather to really try it out.
This is good news for the guys with 91 318ises who want to drop in m20s, as they don't need a new radiator, and for those who just think that tank is ugly and looks out of place in the engine compartment.
Just as a recap, you don't need to buy any hoses at all, everything fits using the m20 hoses. For 325 guys, you'll need the radiator and lower mounts (yes, they are different) and a pair of hose cutters, or bigass scissors
if anybody wants photos, let me know, I can snap some tomorrow
It's the same height and depth, but the m20 radiator is about 5" wider, which is a significant amount of cooling surface area that I lose with this swap, however, the m20 fan shroud blocks off that extra 5" anyway, so I figured what the hell, it can't make that big of a difference.
It went in almost flawlessly, fan sits perfectly centered with the radiator, about 1/2" clearance, same as the m20 radiator has. The only problem is the upper hose, the m20 one is about 4" too long. I went through handfuls of hoses at the shop only to find that we didn't carry one that would work, so I tempted myself with the idea of cutting a 4" section out of the straight part of the hose and mating the two pieces of hose together using a piece of PVC pipe (it was readily available) and a couple hose clamps.
So now I have a pretty engine compartment without that damn ugly tank, and so far the engine temperatures have not altered from what they were with the m20 radiator, but I'm waiting for some hot weather to really try it out.
This is good news for the guys with 91 318ises who want to drop in m20s, as they don't need a new radiator, and for those who just think that tank is ugly and looks out of place in the engine compartment.
Just as a recap, you don't need to buy any hoses at all, everything fits using the m20 hoses. For 325 guys, you'll need the radiator and lower mounts (yes, they are different) and a pair of hose cutters, or bigass scissors
if anybody wants photos, let me know, I can snap some tomorrow
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