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Has anyone done a radiator replacement on a w211 E63 themselves? If so, is there anything I need to know (special tools needed ect..)? And aprx how long did the job take?

I plan on doing it this weekend so any input is appreciated.

Also, any suggestions on replacement brands? Seems like these OEM Valeo radiators have their fair share of issues.

After this job my entire cooling system will be pretty much brand new..
This car hasn't given me many issues (knock on wood) but when it does they all seem to be related to the cooling system

Thanks,

 

Did you finally change your radiator ?

 

i had my buddy do it at his independent shop...he said it was a pain in the *** due to all the additional heat exchangers the E63 have.

 

Finally removed the radiator. I confirm it is a pain to remove. I will post some tips and pictures when I'm done installing the new one.

 

Just to confirm; an average DIY'er can do a radiator swap on these W211 E63's without any specialty tools or anything. It just take a lot of patience and finagling. Id set aside a whole day for the job and have some beers in the fridge for after cause its frustrating Most of the aggravation is do the the lack of space and the additional fittings only the E63 has as mentioned above (there are fittings on both the front and back in our case). In retrospect if you have the extra scratch I would just have a competent indy shop do it lol

 

It was very straight forward to do, no special tools required but all the rubber seals on the trans cooler dam were so brittle it all broke off and the plastic clips holding all the seals were a PITA to take off with out breaking. I did mine by myself but need some help at the end of the job holding the radiator since the transmission lines were not seating correctly and clipping in. The biggest issue I had was the drain plug for the radiator was plugged up and radiator fluid was all over my floor. PITA to mop up 2 gallons of fluid.

 

I can't get my transmission cooler lines to clip in either. what did you do exactly?
my car is a 2006 e55 but they work the same way.

 

you have to make sure its perfectly lined up straight and also use some of the radiator fluid as lube on the seals and they should snap night in.

 

that's what I'm trying to do. Thanks for the input. It's hard to do when it's just one person doing it.