Genuine or Budget

[Mitchen]

I've touched upon this before in other posts but has anyone else thought about compiling a list of brands used by BMW for parts, maybe as a sticky or for the wiki?

Would be great for zone members to have an idea so we can all shop around and get the best value without compromising on quality.. and at the same time mentioning some brands which we should steer clear of, EIS for example.

We all know Contitech make the belts but what about other parts? For example I got a new stat through the post today from Cotswolds and it was made by Wahler. Now I saw a Wahler stat on eBay for £15 a fortnight ago, so I would of saved 100% of the cost if I'd known.

Would be doing it myself, but not had enough experience with this in comparison to you guys who've been buying BMW parts for 10-20 years.

Just a suggestion.

[daimlerman]

We have done this before....

[Mitchen]

We have done this before....

Haha did it remain saved somewhere or has it been lost in the archives of unpopular posts.

[e30Passion]

I spent years trying to find cheap OEM parts so i'll give it a go

First of all:
I'm sure BMW had and still has multiple OEM suppliers for many of the same parts during series production in case a supplier would have manufacturing problems. (like in case of a fire) The whole series production at the BMW factory could still continue with a secondary parts supplier.

Many brands make the same parts so BMW had to choose which brand they would make OEM supplier of that part. For instance, all ignition parts are available from Bosch but for some reason BMW chose Bremi for the distributor cap & rotor and Karlyn for the ignition plug wires.

BMW's OEM brands are shared with other auto makers. For example, Mercedes, Audi, VW, Porsche etc. all have Hella, Bosch, Boge, Sachs, Lemforder etc. as OEM suppliers for certain parts.

Some times you could receive different brands from the BMW dealer parts supplier concerning the same part like thermostats as Behr & Wahler both supply thermostats to BMW.

Some brands with different names come from the same factory, like Sachs & Boge.

Some parts like shocks could differ in brand depending on model. (316-325i, non sport-IS, M3).

Boge: Shocks, bushings, top mount.
Sachs: Shocks, clutch, fan clutch, bushings, top mount.
Febi Bilstein: Shocks.
Lemforder: Control arms, bushings, drop links, tie rods, top mount.
Bremi: Distributor cap & rotor.
Karlyn STI: Ignition leads.
Bosch: Lots of electrical stuff, from spark plugs to headlights, ECU, ignition coil, switches, sensors, relais etc.
Hella: Lots of stuff, headlights to switches, sensors, relais etc. Taillighthousings, headlight carriers & other plastic and metal parts.
Jurid-Textar-Ate: Braking parts like discs, pads, booster, master & slave cil.
Lucas Girling-Ate: Brake calipers/rear cylinders.
TRW: Repair kit calipers
Eberspaecher-Boysson: Exhaust.
SKF: Wheelbearings & other bearings.
ZF: Steeringrack & pump.
Vickers: Steeringpump.
Behr: Radiator & thermostat. Fan clutch.
Goetze: Headgasket set. OEM Top quality! DON'T buy ANYTHING else when it comes to headgaskets!
Contitech: Belts.
Mahle: Pistons.
Mann-Mahle: Filters.
Wahler: Thermostat.
Getrag: Gearbox.
Motometer: Instrument cluster & gauges.
VDO: Instrument cluster & gauges.
Hirschman: Antenna.
Metzeler: Aerodynamic accessories (M-tech) like spoilers, skirts etc.
Pfeba: Aerodynamic accessories.

Pelicanparts.com is also a good indicator as they list with the parts what brands are OEM!

Feel free to ad & correct if wrong.

(I tel ya its a pai i the ass to copy a d past all the time whe the dam n & b utto o the key oard do 't work!!)

[Mitchen]

Very good! This will be my reference going forward. Appreciate you taking the time.

[e30Passion]

No problem mate. Its a very logical question to ask for any caring owner!

I added Vickers as supplier of steering pumps as e30 came with 2 types of those.

Also wanted to add the brandname of more servicable parts like waterpump, camrockers, water & oilhoses but changing the timingbelt is still 3 years or 75.000km in to the future and i forgot to look last time.

Did a valve adjustment today and could not find any brandname on the rockers other than the BMW stamp. I quess for some genuine parts you'll have to go to BMW.

Cheers

(i thank god for the new keyboard)

[Mitchen]

Funny thing that I've noticed is when you buy a contitech belt from BMW it states made in Germany, whereas an ECP contitech belt states made in Mexico. Same for BMW Bosch from Germany and non BMW being from Spain.

I know for belts there's not much to fuss about as long as the manufacturer is right. But ignition parts etc. would be interesting to see if the standard requirements are the same across the board.. maybe the extra mark up is for a reason

[e30Passion]

Nice spot! Maybe its a financial advantage for BMW in term of export as you don't have to import from far compared to pattern parts distributors.

Interesting indeed although its hard to imagen something would differ in quality or requirements depending on where its made considering its wearing the name Bosch.

On second note ive read somewhere that e30's made in SA were equally or better put together than the Germans could do it. On the other hand the reputation of Merc vans build in spain where not so good as they had lots if little problems the same vans from Germany didn't, or so i heard.
I quess it eventually comes down to the folks actually building the stuff and doing the work and their discipline in culture. Germans are hard to beat on that one!