It’s become increasingly common for owners to convert early E30 M20 cars to the later-style radiator setup. However, that conversion requires a long list of additional parts—new hoses, mounting brackets, water pump, coolant crossover, expansion tank, and more. In reality, this conversion is completely unnecessary.
The trend has largely been driven by the assumption that early-style radiators—both OEM and aftermarket—are no longer available (NLA). That assumption is incorrect.
While these parts have become harder to find through simple Google searches, they are very much still obtainable. Below are the currently available options.
OEM Radiators
The original North American part numbers are:
-
17111468074 — Manual transmission
-
17111712484 — Automatic transmission
Both of these North American part numbers are officially NLA.
However, the same radiators are still available under their European part numbers:
-
17111176900 — Manual transmission
-
17111176901 — Automatic transmission
These radiators remain available in Europe and can typically be ordered through most BMW dealers with an approximate two-week lead time.
Aftermarket Options
Several aftermarket replacements are also readily available:
-
Murray Heat Transfer Radiator – Part #433253
https://www.oreillyauto.com/detail/c/murray-heat-transfer/engine-cooling/radiator/radiator/02ac48565f9e/murray-heat-transfer-radiator/rht0/433253/v/a/975/automotive-car-1987-bmw-325i?q=radiator&pos=0 -
Carquest Premium Radiator – Part #433253
https://shop.advanceautoparts.com/p/carquest-premium-radiator-with-transmission-oil-cooler-433253/3898083-P -
Liland Global Radiator – Part #825AA
https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo.php?pk=10332548&cc=1011643&pt=2172 - Ebay, under sellers like Winner_racing and Worley Auto Parts WRCR008874
*Always flush out aftermarket radiators before installing to rid of any loose aluminum shavings from the manufacturing process.
Pictured:
17111176900
Pictured Murray Heat Transfer Radiator – Part #433253:
If you are interested in joining our mailing list, please submit your email below. 
This post does not paint a complete picture. The picture of of the o’reilly radiator is mine.
1. The BMW parts you listed are for the thinner eta radiator, which is different from the NLA 325i/is radiator
2. The BMW radiator costs $700 which is 2-3X comparable late model radiators.
3. If you want an OEM style replacement you need to wait 2 weeks, which is not doable for some people.
4. The Oreilly murray and carquest are the same chinese radiator. The core is very thin like the eta radiator and the welds are lower quality. It was filled with chips. The ports on it are slightly small so the hose clamps had to be tightened very tight. The biggest issue with this radiator is with all of the threaded ports for the fan switch and drain. The thread fit and quality is very bad. The threads are super loose and rough finish, would be very easy to strip. The ports use Buna orings to seal which will crack after 1 year of being exposed to the environment. The orings have no compression limiter which means you cannot securely tighten them without damaging them or only relying on the oring friction. The factory bmw diagrams call out a copper crush washer instead. I have tried to use this but the radiator ports have poor perpendicularity to the threads and the crush washer will not be able to seal fully. From experience it is very difficult to try to hand file the port faces flat enough to get a copper crush washer to seal.
5. The liland global option on rockauto is different from the other ebay options. The drain petcock is a giveaway. Many of the ebay options lack the bottom tabs that secure the radiator over top of the bottom mounting feet.
So basically if you want an oem quality early model radiator you can pay $700 and wait 2 weeks for a worse performing radiator than the factory one or you can buy a cheap chinese aluminum radiator with FOD in it that will not fit right and leak out of the ports once the orings crack or compression set, which they will do repeatedly since they are over compressed and over stretched by design.
OR you could spend the same $700 and convert to a late model setup, have a wide range of oem style radiators in the $200 price range, upgraded oem radiators like the Z3M radiator and quality aftermarket radiators. Since the radiator design is shared with the E36 and Z3 it is very unlikely these will go away in the near future. The hoses are extremely cheap too. The difficulty seems to be with changing the lower radiator mounting.
See this kit for the costs involved
https://www.bimmerworld.com/Radiator-Cooling-Overhaul-Conversion-Kit-E30-325e-325i.html
Thanks for taking the time to post your first hand experience with the Oreilly radiator.
On the BMW parts 17111176900 and 17111176901 are not ‘eta’ radiators, they are fitted to I/IS and only show up on the euro ETK; you’re probably thinking of 17111468068 and 17111468069.
ETK for 17111176900:
https://www.realoem.com/bmw/enUS/partxref?q=17111176900&series=E30
Further, there are euro based aftermarket options that tie off to 17111176900 and 17111176901, that are cheaper and can be delivered quite quickly via courier (DHL) – for example NRF 58338. Or if OEM is desired, you can buy from a European BMW dealer and have them ship via DHL (many online euro dealer options) as fast as overnight.