pointman

I have an 04, if they put in a new radiator, is there anyway to tell if its a Behr or a Valeo? I looked for the Valeo sticker, but can't find it. THis is the most paranoid driven part of owning the 32 for me... worrying about the bad radiator.

If the dealer replaced it, are all replacements Behr now? Thanks.

C32AMGSC

You will see the Valeo sticker on top of the radiator. You'll need a flashlight to see the numbers clearly.

pointman

There is a plastic piece installed above it, so I would have to remove it to see it?

gnma

I'm not a C32 owner, but I did some research on the car in this forum. Correct me if I'm wrong, but NOT ALL Valeos are bad. They redesigned and corrected their flaw over time.

I THINK a general rule one can go by is if your car has a build date after 09/03, your radiator should be ok. This was mentioned in a discussion in this forum. Once again, please correct me if I'm wrong, but I think this is correct info.

DarkXerox

Just to be safe though, if you have a Valeo, it wouldn't hurt to have a glycol test done. Even though I have the "second version" of the Valeo, I still had it tested.

pointman

I have never read anything about Valeo's being updated, but you may be right. I have a mid 04 build so I should be ok off of the initial radiator. BUT it was recently changed by the dealer, and now I find myself worrying that my once safe car from the factory, is now not so safe.

calimax

Should be way updated by now. I just bought a new Valeo from the dealer, with the production date of something mid 07. I Replaced it due to damage, not for the "leak", and last month I performed the glycol test at the dealer with the original one, and it came back neg.

razormb

I got lucky when I bought my 2002, the history report from MB indicated that the radiator had been replaced at the 50K mark. MB replaced everything with BEHR even the HE. It was kind of apparent from up top if you looked along the side -there is a part # that is consistent with BEHR and of course when you remove the under tray you will see the sticker. Good Luck!

c32used

Believe it or not guys I posted a thread with a poll on Valeo and Behr and quite alot(won the poll) had the original Valeo without issues...now I did replace my Valeo cause it was a great deal but I really wasn't to worried before...I guess since I have the warranty I never was worried when it was a valeo.

here is the link: https://mbworld.org/forums/c32-amg-c55-amg-w203/226467-valeo-radiator-behr.html

I know it not alot of votes but the average was without issue with the original Valeo.

The problem is a few post a issue and it seems like all have it also.

pointman

Thanks. That actually made me feel better. I have been debating whether to dump my c32 cause this issue alone. I love the car though.

gnma

The E-class, (and others I believe) have suffered from glycol contamination, and they had the Valeo radiators. Guess which years those cars suffered the problem in?...Not trying to scare anyone, but from that poll, 52% had no problems with the original Valeo, but go read that MB bulletin, which acknowledged a flaw in those early Valeos.

Your poll also shows 0% of owners with no problems with the original Valeo. As you state, its "not a lot of votes", and you're right. Search for the word "glycol" and you'll see how many C32 owners had the problem. You only have about 23 reponses. I easily counted 5 owners who had problems within just one thread. Right there is 20% of your total.

To the original poster, I had to choose the E500 due to space requirements, otherwise today, I would be driving a C32, I would just replace the orig. radiator. I've done it on my Supra, I imagine it should be a piece of cake on the MB too. Either way, good luck!

pointman

Thanks for the insight. I have a mid 04 build, and should be free of the issue. But my concern is that I had the radiator changed at the dealer, and wonder if its possible a replacement could be a bad one.

c32used

My thread only show the results of the people who cared to share which obviously not all did. If you want truer percentages then I suggest some take all the complaints and compare them to the amount of the amount of cars created that year and also check the year and model that way its much easier to to get a more accurate percentage of the model and year it effects. As long as warranty is active honestly who cares. If no warranty then change it to be on the safe side. As I stated I changed mine to a Berh just to be safe. But at the same what garranties it will happen? I say if you worry change it.