Nissens and Behr Radiators

[danzee]

I have gone through two OE (Behr) radiators. They start to leak at the expansion tank interface. Time to try something new. Does anyone have first-hand experience with the Nissens (Danish) aftermarket radiator for the E34? I am interested both in fit/connections and in longevity.
I have 1 1995 525i with auto trans.
Thanks,
Dan Z

[shogun]

Behr is OEM, Nissens a good copy and works w/o problem. Many people buy the Nissen and are happy.
I think no big difference in longevity, connections fit.
Here in Japan someone offers now a kit in aluminium for the parts originally made from plastic by Behr/Nissen. But for the price I can also buy a new radiator (almost).
Had 3 rad's in 11 years now, so not that big problem of you consider a price of 200-220 $ for a new one. First one was damaged by a stone chip, so that one I should not count actually.

[ejhiggins]

i've had the niessen for 6 months now and is fine , fits just like oem but make sure you get oem hoses i got after market ones and the top one had a small leak around the rad neck they seem not to fit as thight as oems

[Aaron Bakos]

I had a Nissens that was bad out of the box, kind of pissed me off, put in a Behr and no problems. That was last March.

[danzee]

I pay $188 for the OE radiator, the Nissens is $160. I always use OE hoses. This will be my third replacement in 160,000 miles and 9 years. Kinda irritating since the last one was only two years ago. Ah well, not a big deal . . .

[danzee]

That is not very encouraging. But, on the other hand the Behrs keep leaking. Maybe I'll buy a Nissens and pressure check it before putting it in.
Thanks,
Dan

I had a Nissens that was bad out of the box, kind of pissed me off, put in a Behr and no problems. That was last March.

[uscharalph]

Thanks for the info.

[rps1072]

I just replaced a Nissens that I bought in October. It overheated, splitting the expansion tank. I made a good temporary repair (on the thrid try), but I could not get a replacement expansion tank. You can get one for the Behr. I even contacted Nissens directly, and they said that it would be cheaper to get a new radiator. I did. A Behr.
the Nissens worked fine until it overheated--a fan issue not the radiator's fault.

[uscharalph]

Wow, it split the tank? Isn't the cap suppossed to release some pressure when that happens?

[rps1072]

Yep. The cap released pressure and so did the bleed screw. I must have just done a very god job of overheating. There was about a 2" tear on the radiator side of the tank.