German & Swedish Patent Parts??

Tue Mar 18, 2008 4:40 pm

Greetings one & all!

I have been advised that German & Swedish sell componants that are manufactured in Germany by the same companies who produce certain parts for BMW. The quality is the same as BMW boxed parts, however, the price is considerably lower!

Eg E30 318i M40 clutch kit is Ã‚£60 as opposed to Ã‚£130 from BMW. Both clutches are manufactured by thesame company to identical standards-allegedly....

Any comments on this guys? Is this true?

Cheers,

Pete

Tue Mar 18, 2008 5:00 pm

ummm not sure about that one i will do a google and see what i find

Wed Mar 19, 2008 12:47 am

The clutch kit supplied by GSF is made by LUK. They're a specialist company that only makes friction components and they are at least as good as what you would get from a BMW dealer. Whether the dealer supplied clutch is a rebranded LUK I don't know.

Wed Mar 19, 2008 1:10 am

why would the dealer rebrand LUK.

Wed Mar 19, 2008 8:05 am

stevotheevo wrote:why would the dealer rebrand LUK.

LUK would (possibly)make the clutch for BMW as original equipment as well as sell it under their own brand..BMW don't make clutches

Wed Mar 19, 2008 8:25 am

I thought Sachs was the OEM supplier to BMW.

EuroCarPartd are better - they clearly label the part as an OEM supplier if they have it, such as Febi, Lemfoerder & Billstein etc.

GSF just call it 'German'.

Wed Mar 19, 2008 8:25 am

And it's 'Pattern' parts mate.

Wed Mar 19, 2008 9:19 am

The ARB links, rear axle bushes, prop donut and center mount, diff mount and front control arm bushes were all GSF stuff and they were eiethr made by the same companies that BMW use or even had the the BMW part number on, the ARB links even had BMW cast on them but it had be drilled out.
Ive got no dramas with GSF parts and BMW dont make parts themselves all made by out side companies.

Wed Mar 19, 2008 9:23 am

BMW are a relatively small car manufacturer, and sub contract the supply of loads of their parts. They don't generally just rely on one supplier, though, so many different brands can be considered OEM, and some of these OEM brands are known to be better than others.
The last clutch I replaced had identical markings on it to the one that was removed, except that the original was stamped Sachs-BMW, and the replacement, just Sachs. The last exhaust I fitted had identical markings to the original as well, just with the omission of the BMW roundel.

Wed Mar 19, 2008 9:42 am

just like bosch spark plug, a german company with "made in india" staped over the enamal, or even better

i saw a spark plug with "made in vietnam" stamped.

j

Wed Mar 19, 2008 9:59 am

Must be good quality then!

Wed Mar 19, 2008 10:01 am

they are and the lead itself is like 4 in one and thick HT lead. Good Shyte...

j

Wed Mar 19, 2008 9:34 pm

Just had a result!
Ordered some new brake discs and pads from GSF for my 325 had the normal discs they sell, didnt say what make they were and the cheapest pads, either Jurid or Textar which were twice the price, i know bmw use both but if im correct a 325 uses Textar T444!
Anyway when the discs came they were brembo and when fitted to the car they feel better than the OEM BMW ones i had fitted before, just happy with the feel and the price i paid.