Wizard Cooling radiator

[Bhart]

I bought an aluminum rad from Wizard Cooling in New York state recently and, while it's a nice looking piece, fitting it was not straightforward.

The #1-949-500 rad is advertised for '87/8 M5/6 and it may fit directly into the M5 but the tight confines of the M6 mean it's not just bolt-in. I initially put it in the car, tightened up the mounts and then proceeded to install the cooling fan - no luck. There was not enough clearance to get the fan nut over the threaded shaft of the water pump. I also noticed that the distributor cap cover was in direct contact with the rad. I did search Wizard Cooling on this forum and came up with a posting from Carlp336 who stated that he'd eliminated the rubber bushings to create the clearance to install his.

I was not sure I wanted to totally remove the rubbers so I decided to trim the back side of the rubber bushings and corresponding steel spacers by 7 mm (9/32"). This allowed me to still use the, now thinner, rubber mounts and still lock them in place with the shorter spacer. This provided the clearance required to mount the fan and gave approximately half an inch (14 mm) between the fan and matrix at the lowest part. There was now also a gap between the fan shroud and the distributor cover.

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[86_6series]

I did the same mod installing my Wizard in an 86 635 US

[85MSteinway]

I installed one in my M635 and didn't have any issues and no modifications were needed. It is a tight fit though, but once the fan is bolted on it looks about the same as with the old radiator. tight! No issues with the shroud and distributor either. I have one ready to install on my L6 this week, i'll let you know if I have any issues with it, though it is a different radiator. However, side by side they seem the same in regards to dimensions.

Jay

[Dmckim]

I am in the process of trying to get one for my Series 1/e12 based model. The website lists the Series 2/e28 models as compatible, but they are definitely different.

If anyone had measurement specs for the early radiator, I would appreciate it; it would help me in maybe getting one listed in the catalog for an early car.

Thanks,

Dale