OEM Parts

[bss325i]

Contitech - OEM suppliers of timing belts - Over £30 new from BMW in a BMW cardboard box - same Contitech Belt is £15.90 from ECP

I can confirm this. E46 drive belts are also made by contitech.

[cecotto479]

BERU HT leads IIRC

[bss325i]

Victor Reinz for gaskets.

[Royalratch]

I think the question is what BRANDS are OEM - where to get them is just a matter of who stocks those brands.

People can correct this list:

BEHR - Radiators, Heater Matrixes
LEMFOERDER - Bushes, Suspension Joints, Steering Joints
FEBI - Bushes, Suspension Joints, Steering Joints
MEYLE - Bushes, Suspension Joints, Steering Joints
JURID / TEXTAR - Brake Pads+ Discs
HELLA - Lamps / Bulbs, Exterior Trim
ZKW - Lamps
BILSTEIN - Dampers
BOGE - Dampers
BOSCH - Injectors, ECU's. Electronics
MOTOMETER - Clocks, Gauges


Lemfoerder are the supplier for E30 wishbones abut I know that Meyle / Febi do them for the E46?

Contracts change due to yearly for capacity I guess.

Just because they are an OE supplier, does not mean they are the same quality that is supplied to the manufacturer. That BEHR rad of yours has a poorly moulded thread for the cap for example.

Genuine BMW E46 arms are Lemforder btw.

Every genuine BMW bush or suspension part i have seen is made by Lemforder

Is this because you bought a Nissens one?

On some USA E46 forums, Meyle are the OEM supplier...? Maybe at the Spartanburg plant for Z4s and X5s etc.

[bss325i]

I think the question is what BRANDS are OEM - where to get them is just a matter of who stocks those brands.

People can correct this list:

BEHR - Radiators, Heater Matrixes
LEMFOERDER - Bushes, Suspension Joints, Steering Joints
FEBI - Bushes, Suspension Joints, Steering Joints
MEYLE - Bushes, Suspension Joints, Steering Joints
JURID / TEXTAR - Brake Pads+ Discs
HELLA - Lamps / Bulbs, Exterior Trim
ZKW - Lamps
BILSTEIN - Dampers
BOGE - Dampers
BOSCH - Injectors, ECU's. Electronics
MOTOMETER - Clocks, Gauges


Lemfoerder are the supplier for E30 wishbones abut I know that Meyle / Febi do them for the E46?

Contracts change due to yearly for capacity I guess.

Just because they are an OE supplier, does not mean they are the same quality that is supplied to the manufacturer. That BEHR rad of yours has a poorly moulded thread for the cap for example.

Genuine BMW E46 arms are Lemforder btw.

Every genuine BMW bush or suspension part i have seen is made by Lemforder

Is this because you bought a Nissens one?

On some USA E46 forums, Meyle are the OEM supplier...? Maybe at the Spartanburg plant for Z4s and X5s etc.

No, your cap fits shit.

Even Z's and X's suspension parts are Lemforder over here.

[pacerpete]

I think the question is what BRANDS are OEM - where to get them is just a matter of who stocks those brands.

People can correct this list:

BEHR - Radiators, Heater Matrixes
LEMFOERDER - Bushes, Suspension Joints, Steering Joints
FEBI - Bushes, Suspension Joints, Steering Joints
MEYLE - Bushes, Suspension Joints, Steering Joints
JURID / TEXTAR - Brake Pads+ Discs
HELLA - Lamps / Bulbs, Exterior Trim
ZKW - Lamps
BILSTEIN - Dampers
BOGE - Dampers
BOSCH - Injectors, ECU's. Electronics
MOTOMETER - Clocks, Gauges


Lemfoerder are the supplier for E30 wishbones abut I know that Meyle / Febi do them for the E46?

Contracts change due to yearly for capacity I guess.

Just because they are an OE supplier, does not mean they are the same quality that is supplied to the manufacturer. That BEHR rad of yours has a poorly moulded thread for the cap for example.

Genuine BMW E46 arms are Lemforder btw.

Every genuine BMW bush or suspension part i have seen is made by Lemforder

Is this because you bought a Nissens one?

On some USA E46 forums, Meyle are the OEM supplier...? Maybe at the Spartanburg plant for Z4s and X5s etc.

Don't worry Ratch, when the rad cap disintegrates for the 3rd time, I can sell you my top secret hi tech special tool to extract the bits stuck in the rad !

[Game]

This post may not be totally relevant. I work for a V.A.G specialist and we use OEM spec parts a lot of the time from ECP. The Lemfoerder and Febi suspension parts we buy have the genuine numbers grinded off them. So I'd think that using parts manufactured by them on a BMW will be of a good quality.
Padgid brakes are manufactures for a lot of brakes on german cars, V.A.G and Mercs I know for sure. Personally I think they're Sh*t. The discs have so much zinc coating on them. On test drive to bed them in a little it's pretty dangerous. You really have to give them a bit of a beating to get any feel out of them. ATE or genuine discs bed in a lot easier and feel better.
Only problem I get buying from someone like EPC is getting the right parts or getting the parts that haven't already been fitted or already broken. But then the people who work there are genreally useless monkeys But the OEM spec parts they supply are fine.

[Dezzy]

Only problem I get buying from someone like EPC is getting the right parts or getting the parts that haven't already been fitted or already broken. But then the people who work there are genreally useless monkeys But the OEM spec parts they supply are fine.

It's all about the staff in there. I have had exactly the same experience as you until recently. I have found a member of there staff now who is, 1 bothered and 2 has half an idea. He's great. I order through a mates account now as well if it's not for the business. He gets better rates and is also mates with above member of staff. Double bonus.

[Andyboy]

Lemforder is part of the ZF Group. Their stuff is always good.

Boge and Sachs are the same company, and both are very good OEM stuff.

Bilstein are good but the B4's are made in India I believe. That's why they're cheap! I've never had an issue though.

Febi is short for Ferdinand Bilstein. Timing chains in Febi boxes are made by JWIS who made the originals.

BMW exhausts are either Boysen or Eberspaecher, and both are superb. Bosal, Walker, Timax etc are all shite.

Rads are a moot point. The BMW branded Behr rads were okay but ten years is the life of them so even they aren't that great but this mainly applies to the later stuff like E39, E46 etc. Nissens ones are alright, Valeo aren't bad either.

Hengst filters are cheap crap to be avoided and they can fall to bits inside. Only use BMW oil filters - they're cheap enough.

[clipper]

Rads are a moot point. The BMW branded Behr rads were okay but ten years is the life of them so even they aren't that great but this mainly applies to the later stuff like E39, E46 etc. Nissens ones are alright, Valeo aren't bad either.

I bought a Valeo rad last year. The box was branded up Valeo but the rad inside was Behr anyway.

[Andyboy]

Rads are a moot point. The BMW branded Behr rads were okay but ten years is the life of them so even they aren't that great but this mainly applies to the later stuff like E39, E46 etc. Nissens ones are alright, Valeo aren't bad either.

I bought a Valeo rad last year. The box was branded up Valeo but the rad inside was Behr anyway.

Aaah, interesting!

[clipper]

Rads are a moot point. The BMW branded Behr rads were okay but ten years is the life of them so even they aren't that great but this mainly applies to the later stuff like E39, E46 etc. Nissens ones are alright, Valeo aren't bad either.

I bought a Valeo rad last year. The box was branded up Valeo but the rad inside was Behr anyway.

Aaah, interesting!

I posted the same comment in another E30 forum and one of the senior members said that it was to do with an amalgamation or take over about a year ago by Valeo of another automotive group which includes Behr.
Don't know if there's any truth in it and even he wasn't sure if the companies that merged were the manufacturers or the importers / distributors but Valeo certainly seem to be gaining strength over here.

[bss325i]

Xengst arn't oem and their M52/4 filter is different in design and of poor quality. They tend to go hard and break up!

Hengst filters are cheap crap to be avoided and they can fall to bits inside. Only use BMW oil filters - they're cheap enough.

[pacerpete]

Looks pretty genuine to me !

In several,cough, years of working on scrap I have used plenty of Hengst filters and never had an issue.

[capri_rob]

Pulled the air filter out of the touring today - Hengst again - stamped with the roundel as well.

[bss325i]

100% oil filters are not xengst.

I will pull the air filter out of my turd tomorrow.

[BEERBOY123]

I bought a Halfords E30 oil filter the other day. I wouldn't normally - but inspecting the thing in the shop, I thought it looked better, or at least as good, as the last BMW dealer part I'd bought last oil change. In fact the last dealer item looked wonky and badly made if I'm honest.

I've not used the Halfords filter yet, but why not?

[Dezzy]

I've not used the Halfords filter yet, but why not?

Is there any other part numbers or manufactures markings on it?

Normally everything halfrauds sell is over priced rubbish in my experience.

[Game]

Hengst are an OEM.
Car manufacturers will chop and change on what brand of filter they will use depending on which filter manufacturer will give them the best price.
Majority of paper cartridge oil filters tent to fall apart when service is due. Over due services and expect to be picking bits of them out the housing for a while.
Halfords isn't OEM.

[bss325i]

Hengst are an OEM.
Car manufacturers will chop and change on what brand of filter they will use depending on which filter manufacturer will give them the best price.
Majority of paper cartridge oil filters tent to fall apart when service is due. Over due services and expect to be picking bits of them out the housing for a while.
Halfords isn't OEM.

I have NEVER seen an OEM Xengst Oil filter and genuine BMW ones dont fall apart if changed at correct intervals where as Xengst ones do. I have seen all this first hand time and time again.

[Game]

I change Hengst oil filters every day. Although it's on V.A.G and not on BMW. Still majority of the time they come out in one piece.
I remember the Range Rovers built by BMW had issues with oil filters falling to bits. Could of been a fault with the element. Or could of been an issue with the design of the filter, filter housing etc. I can't remember who manufactured the filters.
There's other facts to consider as well. Incorrect oil used, engines driven hard and engines getting a little too hot can cause the elements to deteriorate faster.
I don't experiance a consistancy of elements falling apart. If anything it's fairly rare. I'd say 1 to every 100 cars on average I service.

[bss325i]

I used to work for an independent garage and the guy who owned it always used the cheapest parts available from ecp as he got a massive discount but he used to charge OEM prices for the parts!

I now work for a BMW main dealer. I have never seen OEM filters on BMW's fall apart even on engines that have done excessive mileage between changes.

I am well aware of other factors to consider but as i have said, time and time again i have seen Hengst filters (in BMW engines, M52, M54 most commonly) go hard and fall apart. Correct oil used and normal intervals.

For what a genuine filters costs, its a no brainer.

[Topblag]

I think this thread is ready to be mopped up as a wiki article. Watch this space.

[G-Bear]

I think this thread is ready to be mopped up as a wiki article. Watch this space.

Did this make it to the wiki? I've never come across it.. just did a quick search for it.

Could be valid although it seems to be ever evolving as to which manufacture BMW use, but good to have a general outline.

Either way, thought it good to dig this thread out for a revival..