Service/Cambelt parts Advice

Post Tue Jul 08, 2014 9:47 am

Hi Guys , just picked up my very first E30 , she's a rust free 89' 325I . unfortunately the previous owner doesn't know when the cambelt/ waterpump was last changed , he never serviced or even washed it in the 3 years he had it ! criminal I know.
wondering where is the best place to get a full cambelt/ water pump kit from . thanks

Post Tue Jul 08, 2014 9:50 am

Your local GSF or ECP.
Your local motor factor.
Your local BMW dealer.

Listed in price order,you may find that GSF/ECP list several qualities,buy the more expensive brand.

Post Tue Jul 08, 2014 9:59 am

cheers .. GSF ? I'm not familiar with . I guessing ECP . is "Euro Car Parts" ?

oh of course ! no penny pinching with things like this haha.

Post Tue Jul 08, 2014 10:05 am

There's also Carparts4less, which is an online only offshoot of ECP, but without the silly fake 'sales'. The more expensive versions of parts from these sites is often identical to the genuine BMW article, just missing the BMW logo., and in some cases you will find that the BMW logo was on the part, but has been physically removed before sale.

Post Tue Jul 08, 2014 10:30 am

MattenE30 wrote:cheers .. GSF ? I'm not familiar with . I guessing ECP . is "Euro Car Parts" ?

oh of course ! no penny pinching with things like this haha.

GSF=German Swedish and French.

Branches is most towns/cities.

Post Tue Jul 08, 2014 10:39 am

looks like ContiTech or SKF
same price on ECP but the SKF is more expensive on CarParts4 less . cant decide which is likely to be better quality.
i'm thinking play it safe an get the lot from the dealer unless someone else has used one of these before.

I suppose the best question is what do you use on yours ?

Post Tue Jul 08, 2014 10:59 am

Contitech will be fine.

Water pump?

http://www.gsfcarparts.com/parts/coolin ... water-pump

Post Tue Jul 08, 2014 11:27 am

just rang my local dealer here's the price quotes
Cambelt £42
Tensioner £65
Waterpump £118
Gasket £1.86

I'm liking your idea

cheers for the link , ill give those two a try
anything else ? obviously i'm going to do oil/plugs/filters. just checking there isn't something else I should be changing whilst i'm in there

Post Tue Jul 08, 2014 11:39 am

If you go to a BMW dealer, take your old water pump back to them, as they give a discount of around £20-30, even if it's not a genuine BMW item.

Post Tue Jul 08, 2014 11:50 am

Brianmoooore wrote:There's also Carparts4less, which is an online only offshoot of ECP, but without the silly fake 'sales'. The more expensive versions of parts from these sites is often identical to the genuine BMW article, just missing the BMW logo., and in some cases you will find that the BMW logo was on the part, but has been physically removed before sale.

That's interesting to know.
Thanks & Cheers

Post Tue Jul 08, 2014 11:53 am

yes very interesting ! thank you

Post Tue Jul 08, 2014 12:21 pm

Speedtouch wrote:If you go to a BMW dealer, take your old water pump back to them, as they give a discount of around £20-30, even if it's not a genuine BMW item.

That's nice of them, it makes the BMW pump only 3 x the price of a decent replacement part instead of 4 !

Post Tue Jul 08, 2014 1:12 pm

MattenE30 wrote:just rang my local dealer here's the price quotes
Cambelt £42
Tensioner £65
Waterpump £118
Gasket £1.86

I'm liking your idea cheers for the link , ill give those two a try
anything else ? obviously i'm going to do oil/plugs/filters. just checking there isn't something else I should be changing whilst i'm in there

Go for the contitech kit, they do the belt and tensioner for about £45 at CP4L last time I checked..

Post Tue Jul 08, 2014 1:12 pm

pacerpete wrote:

That's nice of them, it makes the BMW pump only 3 x the price of a decent replacement part instead of 4 !

Indeed, but the genuine pumps do tend to last quite well, unlike some cheaper ones.

Post Tue Jul 08, 2014 6:13 pm

Speedtouch wrote:pacerpete wrote:
That's nice of them, it makes the BMW pump only 3 x the price of a decent replacement part instead of 4 !
Indeed, but the genuine pumps do tend to last quite well, unlike some cheaper ones.

Never replaced a KWP pump . I've replaced plenty of genuine BMW pumps !

Post Tue Jul 08, 2014 6:14 pm

Yes, but they probably will have been on there for 5 years or more.

Post Tue Jul 08, 2014 8:14 pm

MattenE30 wrote:looks like ContiTech or SKF
same price on ECP but the SKF is more expensive on CarParts4 less . cant decide which is likely to be better quality.
i'm thinking play it safe an get the lot from the dealer unless someone else has used one of these before.

I suppose the best question is what do you use on yours ?

SKF kits tend to use a Gates belt and SKF tensioners.

Contitech kits tend to use a Continental belt and Litens or SKF tensionsers.

Each are of equal quality. Chances are the kit from BMW uses Gates or Continental belts and SKF or Litens tensioners.

Post Tue Jul 08, 2014 10:11 pm

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Water-Pump-BM ... 3f284d4d34

I got my waterpump from BMW motormec.. Bargain for a Hella.. only one left though!

Post Wed Jul 09, 2014 7:16 pm

Funny I should come across that.

Don't use carparts4less.

They just sent me a crappy dayco belt instead of a contitech an refuse to admit its an inferior part or that sending it is out of line.

See the post I just put in general chat.