E85 N52 radiator

B

BEN99W

Member
Hi

I have an E85 with N52B30 and wanted to do a bit of preventative maintenance, because all of the cooling system components aside from the water pump and thermostat are original. I bought a new rad and a new expansion tank and pulled it all apart, only to find the radiator was slightly different. It seems the 2006-2009 versions of the E85 have a slightly different rad incorporating an extra outlet in the lower drivers side on a RHD car (part number is 17117551635) this unit is $1300 from BMW in New Zealand. Has anyone found a more affordable replacement? Searching on here Ive since seen a few other people come up against the problem. I've no idea how long the original plastic rad is meant to last.

Thanks

Ben
 
I've checked and my E85 with N52 LHD also uses part number 17117551635, it is exactly the same as e46. Just buy a E46 radiator and it will fit. Mine doesn't come with the little outlet you mentioned, and there's nothing to connect to it. Many recommend nissan radiator, for me I just replace with an all aluminum one. There's no reason you spend 1300 on just a massive production radiator.
 
It's not for the automatic gearbox cooling is it? It's been a while since I replaced an E46 radiator, but I remember them having a take off for the automatic transmission coolers, which you just blanked off if you have a manual. It's not something related to this is it?
 
FWIW BMW never fitted the N52 to the E46 3 Series in the UK market, only the next generation E9* 3 Series.
 
I went with CSF 3055 when I had my manual N52 3.0i. Worked well, and kept temps consistent on track compared to the stock rad. Only issue I ran into is that it was a tight fit as its thicker than the stock rad. It's full metal, so no issues with heat cycles. Also decently affordable.
 
Zedebee said:
According to RealOEM, the radiator for a manual (17119071517) is shared with the E46, whereas the version for automatic (17117551635) is exclusive to the E85/86.

I think you mean Nissens.
Click to expand...
I'll check mine, l wonder what connects to it if there's really a connector. From realoem there's nothing connects to it.
 
It seem like cooled coolant return line. After further studying, the auto trans uses number 11 hose and there's no tube connect to the lower connector.
So just get a regular E46 auto trans radiator

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Thanks for the replies so far, and maybe its a RHD thing, maybe a silvertop N52 thing, maybe an Auto thing. My car originally was sold in Japan, although my local BMW dealer states they've got one of these radiators in Germany.

To be clear, I had previously bought one of the generic E46/E85 radiators and having pulled my one, it definitely has the additional port. The port is best shown on this E90 forum post which is also an N52 engine (albeit a 3 series) with the same problem

I wonder what the pipe does, perhaps its not needed, as it obviously isn't used universally or was maybe discontinued. Perhaps I could run without it although Im reluctant at this stage.

Ben
 
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