Hi Charlie Brown
No worries , i should be the one to apologies , I didn't mention if the car was Auto or Manual , so sorry .
Yup from what I gather , through the net , speaking to mechanics at BMW etc , The expansion tank does crack due to age as its plastic , but on an auto, when the thermostat seizes , it causes a higher then normal pressure inside the tank , which can also lead to cracking . When I replaced my tank , and the tank of my aunts 325ti , in both cases , the thermostat had seized , in my case the plastic itself was extremely brittle , Just touching it broke the piece . I don't understand this use of plastic everywhere on our cars , its a joke . High pressure , expansion contraction and heat . These parts are just not built to last that long anymore.
As mentioned , I replaced my radiator with an NRF radiator , I found this website that has some good info on who makes what parts for our cars . I think it may be specific to the M3 but it seems like good advice .
http://www.m3forum.net/m3forum/showthread.php?t=566749
It states Modine / NRF as the manufacture , and from what I found , Modine owns NRF so this radiator was identical to my old radiator . Though once I had removed the radiator , I found that the original brand of my radiator was made by SMITHS from Pinetown in Sa , The plant is less then 5 minute drive from were I live ( If I had known I would have gone there haha) , which was stamped and marked all over with the BMW logos , part numbers etc. So it looks like BMW fitted these to our SA cars from factory . Makes me wonder if Smiths made our original expansion tanks as well .
http://www.smithsplastics.co.za/
Charlie Brown said:
Apologies Zippy
I have idea how or what autos do or work.
The rate that there all fail manual and autos is rather irritating,
