@Bluetec - It was built in March 09 and it's a 3.0 gasoline engine.

From what I understand, there was a change in the part, in 2011, and a bit of a "campaign" to use the new ones in case of problems - as far as I'm concerned it's as good as an admission, that the old design was flawed. There is no "modified" area as per se - it's just different looking, and seems to be made out of a slightly different material (almost like a different grade of aluminum).

@fast4d - The cracks were in the actual aluminum rad, on both sides (i.e. left and right) near the bottom.

@ECS - while I'm very mechanically inclined, there was a time factor involved I got the rad from BMW, with a 15% discount, and paid very little for the labour - only around $150, so the convenience factor was the deciding one. At the same time, you would have saved me $300 on the part, so shame on me for doing this in a hurry, however I didn't have much choice - cracks were widening, and I was literally topping up every few days. Oh, and there is warranty on it now, for a year, and I'm changing my car next year Either to the new 2014 Х5 or an X6.