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just checked mine again its all bad not only are the welds not all that great but there are bunch of aluminum shards coming out thats why it rattles for some.
Given the amount of issues I showed you, and the few I didn't (places where the aluminum was clearly not cleaned prior to welding, and the cold welds clearly ground down), I highly doubt an exchange would yield a better quality product. The end tanks being off by 3/10ths of an inch ought to serve as a strong indicator.
I'm either going to return it or call it a $400 mistake. Given the amount I spend on parts in a month, I can take the loss.
The decision is yours and I would be highly pissed to not trying to give bad advice. Plus it's your dime and the bad experience to match. Call them and request a full refund.
My unit has arrived. It shows no problems described earlier by @karpetcm. My unit is straight, welds looks good, fins look good, and no rattling inside the unit. A few aluminum shavings fell out of the core fins, but they get caught in the exterior during manufacturing. This happens if you bang the unit on wood - small debris may fall out. The important point is these aluminum shards are caught in the fins, not inside the unit. I put air and ran water through it - appears sealed. My heat exchanger is ready for installation. Hope this helps.
Received mine today and all appears to be well. Nothing rattling inside and violently shaking it for several minutes resulted in two small shards of aluminum. Sucks some received a vastly different product, but hopefully PLM makes it right on a satisfactory manner.
Bigger isn’t always better, has anyone checked the flow rate and returning water temp?
There’s a bit of engineering that goes into heat exchangers (of all types not just for cars) and while this part looks big and pretty, I’m interested to hear what the actual change in air temps are.
And does HP Tuner have a data point for the IAT? We could answer the question if someone want to let me borrow their IC!
Bigger isn’t always better, has anyone checked the flow rate and returning water temp?
There’s a bit of engineering that goes into heat exchangers (of all types not just for cars) and while this part looks big and pretty, I’m interested to hear what the actual change in air temps are.
And does HP Tuner have a data point for the IAT? We could answer the question if someone want to let me borrow their IC!
HPT does record IAT. I'll try to get a comparison under similar conditions.
Yes, I can confirm in EPC that 2014+ W212 E63S has 2 heat exchangers, both the same part number A0995003203. Also, if I recall correctly PLM stated they sold out, but VRP stated they nearly matched group buy. Best of luck. Hope this helps.
It looks like a really good quality! Nice piece. Did you measure IAT before/after? Or is it connected to main engine water cooling system and you don't know? I did install original AMG extra heat exchanger to my IC system like S AMG models and it did add about 0,5l liquid on system and get temps down a bit. This Alpha is 38% bigger than original AMG (according to their website), so the benefit maybe not so big if any att all?