had my 05 R52 at dealer for a recall
while there they did an inspection and said my radiator core support was broken

i noticed the cost on them varies between $91 to to $240

does someone here have knowledge how different they are from cheap aftermarket to OEM

thanks

 

What is broken? Can a zip tie be used to hole it in place?

 

A few years ago, I hit a groundhog at VIR's Turn 7. It broke my splitter and some plastic trim but no sheet metal damage. The shock was transmitted to the radiator core support which cracked. I bought OEM from the local dealer using my MINI Club discount and installed it myself. Just put it in "service mode" and, while it took some time, not a bad job at all.

 

thanks
i am going to replace the radiator header panel but not sure what one to order
don't want to go cheap and have it break soon

but no need to spend all the money if its pretty much the same part

can't see all the damage but do see few cracs in it around the bumper impact bat attachments

so wondering which to get

 

IMHO, go OEM (or OEM supplier). Why go to all that trouble and have a cheap one break on you? Shop local dealers for the best price and they absorb the shipping. (It's a BIG box!)

 

thanks NC
may i ask have you seen the aftermarket ones and can confirm they are inferior?
or are u making a general statement about oem vs aftermarket?

i do agree in general the OEM tends to be better but some times the aftermarket is an exact copy made by same supplier but with out company name or may actually have improvements over a known weak OEM piece, or just be a better value for some used cars

not sure where the mini radiator cowl support fits in this scheme

 

No, I haven't seen the aftermarket ones and you're right in that, if you can find the vendor that is an OEM supplier but selling generic, you should be o.k. I just didn't want to take that chance and have to do the job twice.

 

NC
thanks for the clarification

 

I have not seen an aftermarket core support. Just the OEM one. They can break when replacing the radiator and people bend them back to slip it in so they don't have to remove the whole front end.

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...-assembly.html

Cooper S Gen 1 version.