Behr w124 Radiator Reinforced or not?

[Joloke]

I know many sing the praises of Raysons Radiators in Yeovil so I ordered a Genuine Behr Replacement as I was told "all" new ones have reinforced necks......................

My Replacement Genuine Behr turned up today after a long wait only to find neither of the necks are reinforced!

I am beginning to wonder now if its even worth the bother replacing the old one when the brand new one is no better?

I believe they are an official Behr stockist and the radiator came direct from the Behr factory it is the correct radiator in every way but has no reinforcement :frown

Its easy to say take it back but where will that leave me?

Mercedes want more than twice the price for the same item?

Ill have to either pay to have a radiator fitted that appears to be no better than the one I already have or chance the one I already have

Some choice huh?

I thought every single Behr radiator now had reinforced necks?

Seems somebody has been telling me porkies

Thoughts guys as I am now quite ****** off and £112 out of pocket for something that seems to offer no better protection from dreaded snapping necks than the original factory item.

Whats your thoughts guys?

Sorry to put this here but its more a case of is it genuine is it supposed to have reinforcement or not?

Everybody is telling me they all do now I feel I have wasted a shed load of cash now to be no better off

Jodie

 

[RichardF]

If your radiator is okay then keep it.

 

[hotrodder]

The reinforcement you were told about... are we talking about the short length of metal tube stuffed inside the inlet/outlets of OEM Behr rads that's too short (and thin wall) to do anything except maybe* stop a gorilla cracking the plastic neck when overtightening hose clips? Or have Behr changed the way it's reinforced so it's less noticable... Nissens rads use thicker wall plastic instead which smoothly tapers out causing less of a stress riser than the sharp step you get from stuffing a piece of metal tube inside.

While locally increasing the wall thickness is a much better way IMO every pic of a w124 rad with a snapped inlet that i've seen broke past the point where the neck was reinforced. The origional Behr in mine got replaced 'cause it was leaking but FWIW the copper reinforcing ring was only just long enough to support the area directly under the hose clip so wouldn't stop this from happening

If someone accidently bashed the thing hard enough or used brute force and ignorance to try and lever off a tight rad hose and the plastic had gotten brittle from age/heat cycling

* I'd wager most hose clips would strip before the neck cracked

ETA if the only reason for changing it is because it might fail in this way then could always get someone to turn up a length of 0.8 - 1.0mm tube to stuff inside the origional. If this appeals don't make it too tight of a fit as metals typically expand more than plastics with temp.

 

[Joloke]

Sorry about the poor Photographs due to poor light this is what it says on the new rad

Seems its from China,I thought they were made in South Africa?

 

[WDB124066]

Factory fit in 1996 were made in South Africa, new Genuine part @ approx 2010 also made in South Africa.

 

[hotrodder]

I thought they were made in S Africa too but as Hella have had a presence in China since the '80s i'm not surprised... Behr Hella Service adds lower-priced radiators - Automotive Service Professional

Chinese doesn't necessarily mean cheapnese tat and if the cheaper Behr-Hella survives more than 5 years it's similar, maybe even better value, than a genuine rad costing over 4 times as much IMO. The Nissens rad (made in Denmark not that it really matters/means much) i threw in mine a few years back mine cost ~£100, fitted perfectly and works better than the 20 year old origonal did even before it sprang a leak. The way the inlets/outlets are reinforced makes more sense on the Nissens, cosmetically it's not quite as well finished and the drain tap isn't as well thought out as the origional.

 

[rorf]

Longevity of Mercedes' radiators is dependent on using Mercedes coolant and changing it every three years.

Other coolant types can actually damage the plastic of these radiators.

And do not over tighten the hose clamps

 

[renault12ts]

You have a 1989 car? Is it the original radiator?

If yes...does it matter about the reinforcement?

If no...how old is the radiator?

 

[hotrodder]

MB don't make coolant (or radiators, oil, exhausts and so on) and like other car manufacturers they're more interested in selling finance than cars these days

There's nothing magical about the coolant flavours they specify/approve, same recipes as used by several others for example G48® | Glysantin® or G05® | Glysantin® were the two suspects when 124s were in production. I suspect stealers are probably selling 124 owners something based on BASFs Gysantin G40 Si-OAT recipe these days?