I just recently changed my radiator today in my 124. I had been away in europe for about 10 days, and to my return last night, eagerly ready to see my missed little baby, I enter the garage in exhaustion (jet lag) to the fact that there is a pool of radiator fluid covering the floor of my garage. Sitting on the step confused (pissed off), I was ready to shed tears (vulgarity). Due to my sleeplessness, I concluded that I would handle it in the morning. The next morning, I removed the upper radiator hose, and i saw that the inlet neck was cracked. I quickly retightened the upper hose, and poured in a gallon of anti-freeze. Drove 10 miles to my mechanic, when the anti-freeze poured out again. Luckily I was at my mechanics already. My mechanic changed the radiator with an aftermarket one, and told me it was of very good quality. Radiator and labor cost me $300 bucks. My question is how good are these aftermarket radiators? I know that Behr makes the OEM, but are these aftermarket ones as good as Behr? I just wanted to see a new radiator in there, and now the car actually runs alittle cooler. Does anyone have experience with aftermarket radiators? Any insight would be helpful.

Thanks in advance....


Agron
1989 300E (106K miles)

Agron,
How are you going to feel if 25 people tell you the aftermarket radiators are junk?? You already did it...
I'm not going to tell you that but I also replaced my '89 300E radiator about a year ago and purchased a rebuilt MB radiator from a place in Alabama. "Jim's Radiator" I think. A free plug for Jim. He sells new aftermarket and also rebuilt originals. There is not much difference in price so it basically came down to which was better. He felt that the rebuilt unit was better than new aftermarket. The warranty was the same also so I took his advice and did the rebuilt. It has only been a year but it looked brand new when received and works great!!!

Robi,

Thanks alot for your input--I was down at my local dealer shop and spoke to a buddy of mine who is head parts department manager, and has several years experience in MB cars. He gave me alittle reassurance that there is absolutely no difference between aftermarket and OEM radiators..."they're all the same *****"...I guess now all I have to do is wait and see how this radiator performs, and how long it will last. Car runs like a champ.


Agron
1989 300E (106k miles)

Last year I replaced the radiator of my 300SE with a aftermarket one.
The very independed radiator shop (the youngest partner looked like Santa Claus) did not approve of the modern aluminum radiators. They only use copper radiators, the ones that you can repair.

There is a Behr that is sold as an OE equiv. It is the One with the star on it, but they cover it with epoxy.

There are some aftermarket ones that are OK that are not OE quality, but do work OK...If you have a parts warranty, see how it works before getting discouraged. (It can't be any worse than the original without the instert can it?? They would break at any time)

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