How long does it take to replace a radiator on a 96 Bimmer 320 i?

[RiceCake]

Yeah cuz blew his radiator on the 96 320i and my uncle wants to do it himself and he's asking me for help now on replacing it..

anyone worked on bimmers? i did the radiator on a GM car a few years back, but i do believe its a more complicated process with BMWs.

thanx in advance

[GothicSmurf]

radiators are usually all the same, take the top and bottum rad hoses off and the sensor on the bottum

of course, drain it from the plug on the bottum first. .. thats like basic rad replacement, maybe bimmers are more complex, dunno

[4wheeldrift]

Hardest part is likely going to be getting the old one out of the car and the new one in.

[turboMiata]

I just put a dual core aluminum rad in my miata. The actual remove and replace took less than 1 hour. but here are a few tips:

- do a rad flush to clean out all tha old shit in your system.
- tape two pieces of cardboard to the radiator cooling fins to protect it from damage when you are installing it.
- pour the new coolant into the thermostat rather than through the radiator to reduce the amount of air bubbles.
- check your rad cap and hoses to see if you need to replace it.
- run the engine till the car is at normal temperature and the water pump kicks in and watch the coolant level. immediately pour more coolant into the rad when you see the levels drop. this is extremely important on aluminum blocks as insufficient coolant will warp the engine.

Otherwise, have fun. And if you remember, drop a vial of Redline's water wetter into the coolant mix.

[RiceCake]

job completed... damn those freaking bolts are big...

the damn book says size 22, but they're more along the lines of 30 :madred:

but yeah job completed... thanx guys!

[turboMiata]

Originally posted by RiceCake
job completed... damn those freaking bolts are big...

the damn book says size 22, but they're more along the lines of 30 :madred:

but yeah job completed... thanx guys!

So how long did it take you to do it?

Any improvements?

[RiceCake]

cuz just plans to prolly rice out the bimmer first...

dun think he wants engine mods yet... noticed hes buying up ac schnitzer badges and all...

ahh well... his car not mine..